CONCEPT AND EXERCISING OF CO-RIGHTS IN HOUSING RELATIONS

Abstract

The article examines the legal nature of co-housing rights and the limits of their exercise in contemporary housing relations. Co-housing rights cannot be equated with collective rights in their classical understanding, as their “joint” character is determined by the form of exercising individual subjective rights through a shared object, primarily a multi-apartment building. The study analyzes the constitutional prerequisites for the collective exercise of rights, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the realization of rights through organizational forms, as well as Ukrainian legislation on the exercise of ownership rights in multi-apartment buildings and on homeowners’ associations. The theoretical foundations of the relationship between individual and collective rights are explored, particularly through the lens of the German theory of association, as well as modern doctrinal approaches that define collective rights as those exercised exclusively through joint actions. It is substantiated that, in the field of housing relations, a specific model exists – namely, the joint exercise of individual rights – determined by the indivisibility of the object and the need to coordinate the interests of co-owners. The article further analyzes the specific features of the legal regulation of co-ownership in multi-apartment buildings, including decision-making mechanisms among co-owners and the functioning of homeowners’ associations. It is established that such forms of organizing joint legal relations acquire features of “quasi-legal personality” or are implemented through the establishment of a legal entity. Attention is drawn to the transformation of housing relations driven by the development of housing infrastructure and the emergence of shared spaces, which creates preconditions for rethinking the limits of joint rights and the potential formation of new approaches to their legal nature. As a perspective, the improvement of the legal status of property managers and institutional mechanisms for the protection of housing rights is proposed.