The first wave of lofts in Lithuania broke out more than a decade ago. At that time, it was mostly admired by people looking to buy their living space at a slightly cheaper price, as well as by artists looking for unconventional spaces. The low price and space outweighed all other doubts and uncertainties.
The new owners faced a number of problems when they bought the premises - the premises were often registered as administrative or other uses, which led to property tax charges for the owners, people were unable to declare their place of residence, credit institutions applied less favourable financing conditions, and changing the status of the premises took a long time and was often not possible at all.
"So, before you buy a loft, the first thing you should do is to make sure what you are buying and that it is not a non-residential premises," says Laurynas Staniulis, Partner at AVOCAD, Lawyer
The Code of Administrative Offences stipulates that the use of a building and its premises for a purpose other than its intended use is punishable by a fine of between €280 and €3,000. Repeated use of the use of the premises is punishable by a fine of between €400 and €6,000. "It is quite difficult to detect the offence and so far there have been no fines in practice, but anyone acquiring non-residential premises and intending to live there permanently should be aware of this possibility," warns the lawyer.
According to Laurynas Staniulis, in addition to the above-mentioned concerns, owners of lofts may face even more complex issues regarding the maintenance of common-use objects or objects owned under shared ownership and subject to a set procedure for use.
For example, some time after the first renovation, questions arise: who is supposed to maintain and take care of the common structures of the building where the lofts are located, and whose money is needed to organise roof repairs, or to replace or repair the plumbing and sewage networks?
According to the lawyer, on the one hand, it seems very simple and understandable - the Civil Code clearly states that owners of flats and other premises are obliged to manage, properly maintain, repair or otherwise manage the common use objects. Decisions in such cases can be taken by majority vote. However, this applies only when independent premises are formed and registered.
However, in some cases, lofts are not sold as separate properties but as shared ownership with a set of rules for use. In this case, any maintenance or repair of the property must be decided unanimously, except in the case of emergency repairs.
In this case, the legal rule is that the object of joint ownership is managed, used and disposed of by agreement between the co-owners and, in the event of disagreement, the procedure for management, use and disposal is determined by a court order, following an action brought by any of the co-owners.
"So if you decide to repaint the walls of a staircase, replace a faulty lock or carry out other minor work that is not related to remedying the emergency, you will need to get the consent of all the co-owners, and if you don't give your consent, not only will you not be liable for the costs, but you could also be in danger of interfering with the work," warns the lawyer.
The situation is even more difficult if you decide to carry out works that require a building permit, as a building permit is only granted at the request of all co-owners, and you cannot force a co-owner who refuses to do so, even in court.
According to Laurynas Staniulis, this certainly does not mean that a loft cannot be used as a residence, but when deciding to buy a non-residential property, especially when acquiring a share of the property, it is necessary to consider all the pros and cons of such an object.