Gross vs net apartment area in Albania: how it is measured and what you pay

The net area of an apartment is the space inside the walls that you use yourself: the rooms, kitchen, bathrooms and internal hallway. The gross area adds the walls and, in many offers, also a share of the stairs, corridors and lift. To compare two offers when you buy an apartment in Albania, divide the total price by the net area, and write both figures and the measuring method into the contract. If the apartment turns out smaller than in the contract, the Civil Code gives you the right to a price reduction, under certain conditions and within two years of handover.

Main photo: Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels

Area difference above which a fixed lump-sum price changes (Civil Code, article 753)

1/20 (5%)

Deadline from handover to claim a price reduction (Civil Code, article 755)

2 years

Copy of the property record at ASHK (State Cadastre Agency), showing the registered area

1,500 lek

On-site survey or verification of the property by ASHK

5,000 lek

What is the gross area and what is the net area of an apartment?

Net is what you measure with a tape inside the apartment; gross is any figure larger than that, and you have to ask what it includes. In the laws we checked (the Civil Code, Law no. 111/2018 on the cadastre and Law no. 55/2025 on co-ownership) we found no definition of the words “gross” and “net” for apartment sales. That is why the same word “gross” can mean only the apartment's walls with one developer and the walls plus a share of the common areas with another.

The property record (kartela e pasurisë, kept by ASHK, the State Cadastre Agency, Agjencia Shtetërore e Kadastrës) must state the area of the property (Law no. 111/2018, article 13). For a new building, ASHK takes this area from the construction documents: the permit is filed with the cadastre together with the floor plans of every floor and every apartment, and after the occupancy certificate a property record is opened for each buyer (articles 48 and 51). The law does not say whether this figure is measured inside or outside the walls, so always compare it with the floor plan. How to obtain the record and the certificate is explained in documents for buying a home.

What does the law say about the apartment boundary and the common parts?

Law no. 55/2025 “On the administration of co-ownership in buildings”, in force since August 2025, places the boundary of the apartment at the inner face of the walls that separate it from the other apartments, at the ceiling and at the floor, unless the co-ownership deed or the building project provides otherwise. Within this boundary are the windows, doors and internal stairs that serve only the apartment; load-bearing walls are not part of it (article 5).

Everything else that is not for individual use is common property: the land, foundations, load-bearing walls, roof, roof terrace, stairs, landings, lifts, basements, parking and courtyards, unless the ownership deed provides otherwise (article 6). The cadastre law gives the same list and adds that common parts are registered as a whole, with a share for each owner, not as a separate area belonging to each (Law no. 111/2018, article 52).

How your share is calculated

The share is the area of your apartment divided by the sum of the areas of all units in the building (Law no. 55/2025, article 3, point 8). For an 80 m² apartment in a building where the units total 4,000 m², the share is 2%. This share is entered on the property record of every apartment (Law no. 111/2018, article 51) and determines how much you pay towards common expenses and how much your vote counts in the building assembly, as explained in building management.

How are the balcony, terrace, basement and parking counted?

The terrace, basement and parking are common, unless your title of ownership says otherwise (Law no. 111/2018, article 52; Law no. 55/2025, article 6). A private terrace or a parking space of your own must appear in writing in the contract and in the ASHK documents; otherwise, even if you have paid for them, the law treats them as property of the whole building. How a parking space is registered separately is explained in the article on parking spaces and garages.

For the balcony we found no rule that says whether it counts in full, at half or not at all in the sale area. This depends on the project and on the offer, so ask for the balcony area to be written separately and find out whether it is paid at the same price per m². If you plan to enclose it later, first read the rules on enclosing a balcony.

How much do you really pay per usable square metre?

The real price per m² is the total price divided by the net area. Three simple offers, with example figures, show why the price per gross m² can be misleading:

Offer A looks the cheapest per m², but for every metre you actually use it costs more than the other two. The net-to-gross ratio is 78% for A and about 89% for B: the lower this percentage, the more you pay for walls and common areas.

Bear in mind too that the prices per m² on the Tirana apartment prices page and in hyrja.al listings are calculated as the asking price divided by the gross area. When you compare an offer with these averages, use the same basis.

The registered area also has consequences after the purchase. The annual building tax for housing is 0.05% of the value, and the value is calculated as the price per m² multiplied by the area (Law no. 9632/2006, articles 22/1 and 22/2; Council of Ministers Decision, VKM, no. 132/2018); examples are in property tax in 2026. The calculator below shows the notary and ASHK costs for the price of offer A:

How do you measure the apartment yourself?

Measure inside the walls, room by room, and compare the total with the net area on the floor plan. This is the same logic that Law no. 55/2025 uses for the apartment boundary.

Photo: Erik Mclean / Pexels

1. Ask for the floor plan with the area of every room and for the property record or, for an apartment under construction, the floor plan attached to the permit.
2. Measure the length and width of every room from wall to wall, at floor level, with a laser measure or a tape.
3. Split rooms with corners into rectangles and add up the areas.
4. Measure the balcony separately and do not add it to the net area, unless the contract counts it that way.
5. Compare the total with the net area in the contract and ask for a written explanation of any difference you do not understand.
6. If you do not agree, ask for a professional measurement. ASHK carries out an on-site survey or verification for 5,000 lek (VKM no. 389/2020, as amended, service 46).

Measure before the final contract and again on handover day, with the figures in the handover report. The other points to check during a viewing are in checking an apartment before buying.

What should you write in the contract?

Write both areas, what the gross area includes, how it was measured and what happens to the price if the area changes. For apartments under construction, the law requires the contract to identify the unit according to the floor plans of the permit, otherwise ASHK will not register it (Law no. 111/2018, article 50), and the final contract must carry the same references (article 51).

How to build the rest of the contract, from the deposit to the deadlines, is covered in the preliminary sale contract, while the risks of buying off-plan are in the guide how to buy an apartment under construction.

What do you do if the apartment turns out smaller?

Your right depends on how the price was set in the contract, and it expires two years after handover (Civil Code, article 755).

• Price per m². When the contract states the dimensions and the price per unit of measurement, you are entitled to a price reduction whenever the actual area is smaller (article 752). Example: 100 m² at 2,000 €/m², the measurement gives 96 m², so you can claim a reduction of 8,000 €. If the area turns out larger, you pay the difference, but you can withdraw from the contract when the excess is more than one twentieth.
• Fixed lump-sum price. When the price is for the apartment as a whole, even if the area is stated, the price does not change unless the difference is more than one twentieth, that is 5% (article 753). With 100 m² stated, 96 m² does not change the price, while 94 m² does.

Make the claim in writing to the seller or the developer, with the measurement and the floor plan. If the dispute goes to court and concerns the areas of the property, ASHK must take part as a third party (Law no. 111/2018, article 66).

When the error is in the certificate

If the apartment is exactly as it was sold but the certificate states a different area, ASHK corrects the map, the register or the title to match the actual state of the building (Law no. 111/2018, article 39). Correcting an error in the property record or the certificate costs 1,000 lek and is free when the error was made by ASHK. When the area on the ground is larger than in the title, ASHK checks whether any works were carried out without a permit. The step-by-step procedure is in correcting errors in the ownership certificate.