The meaning of Condominium is a Building or Complex of Buildings containing a number of

individually owned Apartments or houses. Though this concept is very old one of ownership
for buildings in Mumbai, it is the Co-operative Housing Society model which has been and
even today, is the most popular and preferred so far. Buyers who purchase premises on an
'ownership' basis require to come together to manage the building and for that purpose, one
of the ways is to form a Co-operative Society, which is regulated by the Maharashtra Co-
operative Societies Act, 1960.
An alternative to a Co-operative Housing Society was introduced by the Maharashtra
Apartment Ownership Act, 1970, which provides for the formation of a Condominium. The
buyers of premises in a Condominium are called Apartment owners who form an association
known as an 'Association of Apartment Owners' in case of both i.e. residential as well as
non-residential premises.
The meaning of an Apartment means an part of property intended for any type of
independent use, including one or more rooms or enclosed spaces located on one or more
floors in a building intended to be used for residence, office, practice of any profession or for
carrying on any
occupation, trade, or business or for any other type of independent use
and with a direct exit to a public street, road or highway or to a common
area leading to such street, road or highway.
The distinction between Apartment and Flat is that in respect of
Apartment ownership, the legal title of the flat as an object, along with a
proportionate share in the common areas of the building and also
proportionate share in the land on which the building stands, vests in the
Apartment owner. That means, the building belongs to jointly but each
Apartment owner has an independent right to his Apartment to the
exclusion of others. Whereas, in the case of ownership flat, the title to the
building and the land vests with Co-operative Housing Society or a
Limited Company and the flat owner is not an owner of the flat in real
sense but he has only a right to occupy the flat. This is a species of
property, which is heritable and transferable.
Although the basic purpose of both the formation is similar, there are
many differences between a Society and Condominium. Some of the
differentiations are as under and we advise our patrons to read carefully
and understand:
1. Generally to form a Society, 10 persons would be required and each of
them is to be from a different family who reside in the area of operation of
the Society (within the same city) and who have purchased premises in
the building. However, in case of Condominium, even one person who
owns the entire building can form a Condominium provided there are at
least five Apartments in the building.
2. In the case of a Society, the title of the land and the building is
transferred and conveyed to the Society, which becomes the owner