Words to know
The words you meet when you own, rent out or run a home in a shared building, in plain language, with the Portuguese and Polish words for each.
Reviewed on October 16, 2026
Ancillary room
An ancillary room is a room that belongs to a home even if it isn’t next to it, such as a cellar, an attic, a storage room or a garage. In Poland it’s the pomieszczenie przynależne (art. 2 ust. 4 of the ustawa o własności lokali), and its floor area is added to the home’s when the share is worked out.
Budget
A budget is the year’s plan of the building’s expenses, such as cleaning, insurance, the lift and the building manager, approved by the owners. In Portugal it’s the orçamento, approved by the owners’ meeting. In Poland it’s the plan gospodarczy, which sets out income as well as costs and is adopted by the owners, usually at the annual meeting (art. 30 ust. 2 pkt 1). You can draft one with the free budget template.
Building deed
A building deed is the document that divides a building into separate homes and fixes each one’s share. In Portugal it’s the título constitutivo da propriedade horizontal (article 1418 of the Civil Code), which identifies every home and gives its permilagem, and can also hold the house rules. In Poland the share is written in the notarial deed that creates separate ownership of the home, the akt notarialny ustanowienia odrębnej własności lokalu, and in the land register, the księga wieczysta.
Building fees
Building fees are what each home pays towards the budget, usually in monthly instalments, according to its share. In Portugal they’re the quotas. In Poland they’re advance payments, the zaliczki, due in advance by the 10th of each month (art. 15 ust. 1 of the ustawa o własności lokali). If one is late, you can send a late-payment letter.
Building manager
A building manager is the person or company that runs the building day to day: collecting fees, paying suppliers, organising repairs and meetings. Some buildings are run by the owners themselves. In Portugal it’s the administração do condomínio, an owner or a company elected by the owners’ meeting. In Poland the owners elect a zarząd (board), which is compulsory when the building has more than three homes and can only have individuals as members, and they can also hire a professional zarządca by a contract signed before a notary (art. 18 ust. 1).
Certificate of no debt
A certificate of no debt is a statement from the building manager of the charges and any debts of a home, needed to sell it. In Portugal it’s the declaração de não dívida (article 1424-A of the Civil Code), which the manager must issue within 10 days of the seller’s request. There’s a guide in Portuguese.
Common areas
Common areas are everything in a building that belongs to all the owners together, such as the roof, the stairs, the entrance and the lift. In Portugal they’re the partes comuns. In Poland it’s the nieruchomość wspólna, which also includes the land (art. 3 ust. 2 of the ustawa o własności lokali).
Common costs
Common costs are the expenses of looking after the shared parts of a building: repairs, energy and water for the common areas, the lift, insurance, cleaning and the manager’s pay. In Portugal they’re the despesas comuns, paid in proportion to each home’s permilagem unless the deed says otherwise (article 1424 of the Civil Code). In Poland they’re the koszty zarządu nieruchomością wspólną, and owners pay them in proportion to their shares (art. 12 ust. 2).
Deposit
A deposit is money a tenant pays at the start of a lease, kept by the landlord as a guarantee and returned at the end, minus any agreed deductions. In Portugal the caução can’t be more than two months’ rent (article 1076 of the Civil Code). In Poland the kaucja can be up to twelve months’ rent in an ordinary tenancy and up to six in an occasional or institutional one, and the landlord returns it within a month of the home being emptied. See the guide to the handover report and deposit in Poland.
Discharge
Discharge is the owners’ approval of the board’s or manager’s work over the past year. In Poland it’s the absolutorium, given by a resolution (art. 29 ust. 2 of the ustawa o własności lokali), usually at the annual meeting after the board has presented its report.
Handover report
A handover report is a document, signed by both sides at the start and at the end of a tenancy, that describes the state of the home, its fittings and the meter readings. In Poland it’s the protokół zdawczo-odbiorczy. The law doesn’t require one, but it lets landlord and tenant settle the deposit without arguments. See the handover report guide.
House rules
House rules are a building’s rules on using and looking after the common areas and the homes. In Portugal they’re the regulamento do condomínio. They can be part of the building deed or be approved by the owners’ meeting, and they are compulsory when there are more than four owners.
Individual vote collection
Individual vote collection is a way for owners to pass a resolution without a meeting, or to finish one after it, by the board gathering each owner’s vote on the same draft. In Poland it’s the indywidualne zbieranie głosów (art. 23 ust. 1 of the ustawa o własności lokali), and every owner must then be told in writing what was decided. There’s a guide in Polish.
Institutional tenancy
An institutional tenancy is a residential tenancy where the landlord is a person or company that runs a business renting out homes. In Poland it’s the najem instytucjonalny (art. 19f of the ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów). The agreement is for a fixed term, and the tenant gives a statement, in a notarial deed, that they accept enforcement. The deposit is limited to six months’ rent, and the contract, not art. 8a, decides how the rent is updated (art. 19j).
Minutes
Minutes are the written record of an owners’ meeting: who attended, what was decided and how each decision was voted. In Portugal it’s the ata, and the minutes that approve the fees are an enforceable title against any owner who doesn’t pay (article 6 of Decreto-Lei 268/94). In Poland it’s the protokół z zebrania. The law gives no form for it, but it is worth keeping with the attendance list and the votes of each resolution. There are guides in Portuguese and Polish.
Occasional tenancy
An occasional tenancy is a fixed-term residential tenancy, of up to 10 years, where the landlord is a private person who doesn’t run a business renting out homes. In Poland it’s the najem okazjonalny (art. 19a of the ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów). The tenant’s notarial statement accepting enforcement is attached to the agreement, the landlord must tell the tax office within 14 days of the start (art. 19b), and the rent can rise only on the terms in the agreement (art. 19c ust. 2). The deposit is limited to six months’ rent.
Owners’ association
An owners’ association is all the owners of the homes in one building, acting together. In Poland it’s the wspólnota mieszkaniowa (art. 6 of the ustawa o własności lokali). It exists by law from the moment the first home in the building is separated, and it can acquire rights, take on obligations, sue and be sued. In Portugal the owners act together through the assembleia de condóminos, the owners’ meeting.
Owners’ meeting
An owners’ meeting is the meeting where the owners approve the budget, elect who runs the building and decide on works. Its decisions are written down in the minutes. In Portugal it’s the assembleia de condóminos, held at least once a year, in the first half of January, with 10 days’ notice. In Poland it’s the zebranie właścicieli lokali, which the board must call at least once a year, by the end of the first quarter (art. 30 ust. 1 pkt 3), with written notice at least a week before. There are guides in Portuguese and Polish.
Proxy
A proxy is a written authorisation for someone else to vote on an owner’s behalf at an owners’ meeting. In Portugal it’s the procuração, and in Poland the pełnomocnictwo. It’s best to say in it which meeting it covers and, in Poland, which resolutions.
Rent update
A rent update is the yearly change in the rent that a tenancy agreement allows, usually following inflation. In Portugal it’s the atualização de renda, which follows a coefficient published each year: 1.0256 for 2027, an increase of 2.56%. In Poland it’s the waloryzacja czynszu, which usually follows the yearly inflation figure of the statistics office GUS: 3.6% for 2025. Figures as of October 2026. See the rent update calculator.
Reserve fund
A reserve fund is money set aside each year for future works on the building. In Portugal it’s the fundo comum de reserva, and the law asks for at least 10% of each owner’s contribution to the other costs (article 4 of Decreto-Lei 268/94). In Poland the fundusz remontowy has no amount in the law: the owners set it by resolution, most often as a monthly rate in zloty per square metre.
Resolution
A resolution is a decision of the owners. In Portugal it’s the deliberação, and on a first call it needs more than half of the building’s total permilagem. In Poland it’s the uchwała, passed by a majority counted by shares (art. 23 ust. 2 of the ustawa o własności lokali), at a meeting, by individual vote collection or by a mix of both.
Share
A share is each home’s part of the building, as written in the building’s deed. It decides how much of the common costs the home pays. In Portugal it’s the permilagem (‰ of 1000), and it also gives votes at the owners’ meeting: a home with 42.5‰ has 42 votes. In Poland it’s the udział, worked out from floor area (art. 3 ust. 3 of the ustawa o własności lokali), and it also decides the weight of the owner’s vote. You can work one out with the share and fee calculator.
Unit
A unit is a part of a building that can be sold or rented by itself, such as a home, a shop or an office, with its own share. In Portugal it’s the fração autónoma. In Poland it’s the lokal, and its owner belongs to the building’s owners’ association.
Utility charges
Utility charges are the cost of supplying a home with electricity, gas and water, and of taking away sewage and waste, which the landlord doesn’t set. In Poland they’re the opłaty niezależne od właściciela (art. 2 ust. 1 pkt 8 of the ustawa o ochronie praw lokatorów), and a tenant pays them on top of the rent.