Blog · New construction
Common parts: why and what you pay for.
According to Deloitte, a typical two-room flat in Sofia is 85 sq m, and in Prague 55. No, people in Sofia do not live a third more spaciously. In Bulgaria floor area is simply sold with walls, stairwells and corridors included. Here is exactly what you pay for and how to compare offers fairly.
Data: Deloitte Property Index 2025 · National Statistical Institute — Census 2021 and new dwellings 2025 · market practice in new constructionA typical two-room flat in Sofia
Prague 54–57 sq m, Bratislava about 64 (Deloitte)
Common parts in new buildings
In older blocks usually 5–9%
How balconies count in the advertised area
In Germany usually one quarter
Per sq m for a parking space in Sofia
Sold separately from the flat (Deloitte, 2024)
Three different areas
Total, built-up, net — which is which?
When a listing says “two-room flat, 85 sq m”, that is almost never the area you will furnish. Bulgaria uses three different figures:
| Area | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Net | The floor you walk on — measured from the inside of the walls |
| Built-up | Net area plus internal walls, external walls, half of the walls shared with neighbours and the stairwell, and terraces in full |
| Total | Built-up area plus your share of the building’s common parts — the entrance, stairwell, corridors, lift shaft |
The price per square metre in listings and contracts is almost always based on total area. In new buildings common parts are usually 12–20% of it; in older panel and brick blocks, 5–9%. Add the walls and terraces, and it is not unusual for net area to be 15–20% smaller than the advertised figure.
None of this is a trick — the common parts really are yours as a share of the building, and you pay for them every time the roof or the lift is repaired. But what you live in is the net area.
Why we pay for them
The common parts are yours — by law.
When you buy a flat, you are not buying only the rooms. Bulgaria’s Property Act lists what in a building belongs to all the owners together: the land under it, the yard, the foundations, the external walls, the load-bearing walls, columns, floor slabs, stairs and landings, the roof, the lifts, the main utility lines and anything else that serves common use.
Each owner holds a share of these parts. The share depends on the value of the home relative to the others in the building and cannot be sold separately from it. That is why it appears in the notarial deed, and why it is in the price.
The share also decides how much you pay from then on. Each owner contributes to the upkeep and repair of the common parts in proportion to their share. When the building repairs the roof, replaces the lift or insulates the façade, the bill is split by these shares. A larger share means a higher price today and a larger contribution to every repair.
Against Europe
Why is a two-room flat in Sofia bigger than in Prague?
Deloitte compares the typical size of new homes in European cities:
| City | Typical size of a new home |
|---|---|
| Sofia | 85 sq m (two-room) |
| Copenhagen | about 79 sq m |
| Bucharest, Cluj | 65–70 sq m |
| Bratislava | about 64 sq m |
| Belgrade | 61 sq m |
| Prague, Brno, Ostrava | 54–57 sq m |
| Ljubljana, Maribor | 52–54 sq m |
Deloitte Property Index 2025, 2024 data. According to the same report, about 60% of sales in Sofia are two-room flats.
Part of the difference is real — Bulgarian two-room flats are genuinely not small. But part comes from how area is measured. In Germany, for example, living area is measured between the walls, and balconies and terraces usually count at a quarter of their area and at most half. In Bulgaria the terrace counts in full, and the walls and common parts are in the figure too.
For comparison, statistics institute data show that new homes completed in 2025 had an average of 89.7 sq m of usable area and only 64.6 sq m of living area — the rooms, without kitchen, bathroom and hallways.
The sums
Which flat is cheaper?
Two flats in the same building:
| Flat A | Flat B | |
|---|---|---|
| Total area in the listing | 90 sq m | 88 sq m |
| Listed price per sq m | €2,600 | €2,700 |
| Price | €234,000 | €237,600 |
| Net area | 72 sq m | 76 sq m |
| Price per sq m of net area | €3,250 | €3,126 |
Illustration.
By the listing, A looks €100 per square metre cheaper. By net area it turns out to be €124 per square metre more expensive. The difference comes from a larger share of common parts, thicker walls or a bigger terrace, which raise the advertised area without adding living space.
So ask the seller for an area schedule for the specific flat — net area, built-up area and the share of common parts — and compare by the price per square metre of net area.
What the price leaves out
Parking, VAT, level of finish.
Parking is sold separately. Deloitte notes that in Sofia parking in new buildings is usually sold separately — for about €1,500 per sq m in 2024. At 12–15 sq m that is tens of thousands of euros that do not show in the flat’s price. If you buy the parking space in the same deal as the home, it can be included in the mortgage.
VAT. New-build prices usually include VAT, but not always. A price “excluding VAT” looks about 17% lower, and 20% VAT is added on top.
Level of finish. “Turnkey” and “plastered and screeded” are very different things. Finishing is a separate cost that has to be part of the sums.
The same price per square metre can mean very different things. Before comparing two offers, check that you are comparing like with like: net area, including VAT, with parking and at the same level of finish.
Before you sign
What to ask the seller for.
- A floor plan of the specific flat, not a sample plan.
- An area schedule: net area, built-up area, and the share of common parts in square metres and per cent.
- How the terraces count towards the area.
- Whether the price includes VAT and what it covers — parking, storage room, level of finish.
- A clause in the contract on what happens if the area on handover differs from the contract.
The bank will value the property too. The valuer looks at the actual area and condition, not the listing figure — and if the two differ a lot, the loan may turn out smaller than expected.
- Property Act — Arts. 38, 40 and 41 — what the common parts are, how shares are set and how costs are split (in Bulgarian)
- Deloitte Property Index 2025 — sizes of new homes by city, parking in Sofia
- National Statistical Institute — new dwellings completed in 2025 and Census 2021: dwellings (in Bulgarian)
- TV Property — net area, common parts and the real price per square metre, Greathome — calculating shares of common parts, Imoti Premier — what built-up area includes (in Bulgarian)
- Wohnflächenverordnung, § 4 — the German living-area ordinance (in German)
This article is for information only. The shares of common parts are typical values from market practice — check them in the documents for any specific property.
Comparing offers?
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