The Land Registry: what to check before you buy
The title deed (list vlastnictví, LV) is a single page holding everything essential about a property: who owns it, what belongs to it, what encumbers it and how the current owner acquired it. It can be read in ten minutes and tells you more about a flat than an hour-long viewing. This text goes through the title deed part by part, A to F, and for each part describes what to look for in it and what it means when it stays empty.
What the title deed is and what you will not find on it
The Land Registry (katastr nemovitostí) is a public register (veřejný seznam), and everything else follows from that. Where a right to a thing is entered in a public register, no one may plead ignorance of the entered data (§ 980(1) of Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the Civil Code (občanský zákoník)). A servitude (služebnost) of passage on foot across a plot, a prohibition of alienation (zákaz zcizení), an enforcement order (exekuční příkaz) — all of it applies against you, because you could have read it.
The other side of the same coin is protection. Where the registered state is not in accordance with the actual legal state, the registered state benefits the person who acquired a right in rem (věcné právo) for consideration in good faith (dobrá víra) from a person entitled to it according to the entry (§ 984(1)). Good faith is assessed as at the time of the legal act (právní jednání); but where the right in rem arises only upon entry, which is also how a flat is acquired (§ 1105), it is assessed as at the time the application for entry was filed — which is why the date on the extract (výpis) carries a weight that almost no one gives it. An extract downloaded three weeks before signing does not evidence good faith on the day the application for registration is filed.
What you will not find on the title deed: arrears in contributions to the repair fund (fond oprav), a lease agreement (nájemní smlouva) not entered as a note, the technical condition, or whether the area in the advert (inzerát) matches the owner’s declaration (prohlášení vlastníka). Those are obtained from the building manager (správce domu), from the minutes of the owners’ meetings (shromáždění) and from the drawings (výkresová dokumentace).
Three details without which the title deed cannot be discussed
A title deed is identified by its LV number, by the cadastral area (katastrální území) together with its six-digit code, and by the district (okres). Prague has more than a hundred cadastral areas, and the name of a neighbourhood (čtvrť) is not an address: a building on a boundary may belong to a different area from the one in which you are looking for it. A unit is designated by the building number followed by a slash and its sequence number, for example 1284/12. These three details must match the purchase agreement (kupní smlouva) and the application for registration (návrh na vklad) character by character — a discrepancy in a single number means a request to remedy defects (výzva k odstranění vad) and extra weeks.
The viewer, the extract and the certified output: three documents at different prices
Three routes lead to the same data, and each produces a different document.
The Land Registry viewer (Nahlížení do katastru) is a free web application. It shows the owner, the list of properties and the existence of a Land Registry seal (plomba), but it does not reliably display the entire content of the title deed and produces no document that anyone would accept as an attachment. It is for a first look, not for a decision.
The Land Registry extract (výpis z katastru nemovitostí) is an image of the whole title deed at the moment it is produced. Via remote access (dálkový přístup) it costs CZK 100 per title deed, the same in PDF and HTML. At the cadastral office (katastrální úřad), under item 119 of Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on Administrative Fees (zákon o správních poplatcích), you pay CZK 100 for every 20 units of measurement (měrná jednotka) or part thereof, where a unit of measurement is a land parcel (parcela), a building or a unit.
The certified output from Czech POINT (ověřený výstup) carries a verification clause (ověřovací doložka). The first page is charged at an amount whose maximum is limited by law to CZK 100, each further page to CZK 50. A model title deed with one unit and two entries in Part C, running to two to three pages, therefore comes to no more than CZK 150–200.
For a single flat we take the extract three times: before the listing (nabídka), on the day the purchase agreement is signed and on the day the escrow agent (schovatel) is due to pay out the purchase price. Via remote access that is CZK 300 for the whole transaction — against the risk that an enforcement order appears in Part C between signing and payout, the cheapest insurance in the process.
A seal on the title deed: what it means and when there is reason to wait
A seal is a mark the cadastral office places on a property as soon as an application concerning it arrives on which a decision will be made. It is marked no later than the working day following delivery of the application (§ 9 of Act No. 256/2013 Coll., on the Land Registry (katastrální zákon)). On the extract you will see it twice: as a mark before the designation of the property in Part B and as a line with the proceedings number in Part D.
In itself it is not a defect. It only means that proceedings concerning the property are under way. What matters is which proceedings, and that can be told from the file number (spisová značka) at the start of the line:
- V- is registration proceedings (vkladové řízení): someone is transferring a right or establishing or deleting a lien (zástavní právo),
- Z- covers records of rights (záznam), entries of notes (poznámka) and changes of other data, i.e. entries without registration,
- OR- is the correction of an error in the cadastral documentation (katastrální operát).
On a flat you are buying, a V- seal is in order when you know what lies behind it — most often the deletion of a lien (výmaz zástavního práva) of the seller or an earlier transaction that was not completed. It is a defect when the seller cannot document the proceedings number. Then nothing is signed. The status of the proceedings can be looked up by its type and number in the Land Registry viewer, and an enquiry at the cadastral office is one sentence.
Part C is the page you get the extract for
Everything in Part C passes on with the property unless it is expressly dealt with. That is why we read it before the owner’s name.
Contractual lien (zástavní právo smluvní). The title deed shows the principal (jistina), not the current debt — the figure does not change as it is repaid. On a model flat for CZK 9,800,000, Part C may show a lien securing a principal of CZK 4,200,000, while CZK 1,650,000 remains to be paid. This is dealt with by two documents we request before signing: a statement of the outstanding balance (vyčíslení zůstatku) as at the expected payment date, and consent to deletion of the lien (souhlas s výmazem) from the lien creditor (zástavní věřitel). Without the second document, the application for deletion cannot be filed and the unit is transferred encumbered. In escrow (úschova), the purchase price then flows in two directions — part to settle the balance, the rest to the seller — and the payout is tied to the extract, not to a promise.
Servitude. Read the scope, not the name. A servitude of residence (služebnost bytu) in favour of a specific person means that someone may live in the flat for life. A utility servitude (služebnost inženýrské sítě) means that a line runs across the plot and nothing is built above it. With a unit, the servitude is usually entered on the title deed of the building and land, not on the title deed of the unit — which is why both are read.
A prohibition of alienation or encumbrance (zákaz zcizení nebo zatížení) is entered as a right in rem, and without the consent of the entitled person the transfer will not be permitted. An enforcement order to sell immovable property (exekuční příkaz k prodeji nemovité věci) rules out an ordinary transfer; this is the only place on the extract where there is nothing to negotiate. A pre-emption right (předkupní právo) entered as a right in rem binds the new owner as well.
Part E and discrepancies between the title deed and reality
Part E contains the documents on the basis of which the owner acquired the property: a purchase agreement with the proceedings number and date, a deed of gift (darovací smlouva), an inheritance resolution (usnesení o dědictví), an owner’s declaration. Three things in it are worth a look.
How old is the title of acquisition (nabývací titul)? It is connected with the holding period test (časový test) for income tax (daň z příjmů) — 10 years for property acquired from 1 January 2021, 5 years for property acquired by 31 December 2020. It does not concern the buyer directly, but it explains why the seller negotiates harder over the signing date than one would expect.
Did the owner acquire by inheritance? On inheritance from a relative in the direct line or from a spouse, the period is shortened by the time for which the deceased (zůstavitel) demonstrably owned the property.
Do the titles follow on from one another? A person who claims that their right has been affected by an entry made in the public register without legal grounds in favour of another may seek deletion of such entry and request that this be noted in the public register (§ 986(1)). If they request annotation of the dispute (poznámka spornosti) within one month of the day they learned of the entry, their right has effect against everyone in whose favour the contested entry operates or who obtained a further entry on its basis; if they were not duly notified of the entry, the period is extended to three years from the day the entry was made (§ 986(2) and (3)). The practical conclusion: a note of dispute in Part D is not a footnote, it is a stop sign.
The unit, the share and the figures that must match the advert
For a flat, two title deeds are read: the one on which the unit is entered and the one on which the building and land are entered. In Part B the unit is recorded by its number, its type — “flat” (byt) or “other non-residential space” (jiný nebytový prostor) — and its type of use (způsob využití), and it comes with a share in the common parts of the building and land expressed as a fraction, for example 6,480/248,900.
That fraction can be checked. Unless the declaration determines the shares otherwise, they are deemed to be determined by the ratio of the floor area of the flat to the total floor area of all flats in the building (§ 1161 of the Civil Code). In a model declaration in which the numerator gives the area in hundredths of a square metre, 6,480 means an area of 64.80 m²; if the advert says 74 m², the figures differ by more than nine square metres, and that calls for a question. The usual answer is that the advert added a loggia (lodžie) which the owner’s declaration does not include in the floor area. It is not fraud, it is a different definition — but the buyer pays for what is in the fraction.
A garage parking space (garážové stání) is more often a share in a garage unit than a separate unit. Part A then shows a share of, say, 1/38, and the specific space does not appear on the title deed at all; its location follows from the site plan with numbered spaces in the owner’s declaration. With new builds this is standard, and it relates to the chain of documents that buying a flat from a developer goes through.
And one thing the title deed cannot tell at all: in the Land Registry, a cooperative flat is owned by the cooperative (družstvo), not by the member. Whoever buys a cooperative share (družstevní podíl) is not buying real estate, and the extract tells them nothing about their right — we discuss the difference between cooperative and personal ownership separately.
How we read the title deed and where our approach has a weak spot
Our order is fixed and runs against intuition: we start with Part D, not Part A. Seals and notes decide whether it makes sense to read the rest. Then Part C, then B and the shares, then E, and the owner last of all — it is the one detail the counterparty reliably knows too. We obtain the extract ourselves via remote access; the one the counterparty sends is information about what the counterparty knows, not a basis for a decision.
This approach has one weak spot, and we cannot close it. A seal is marked no later than the working day following delivery of the application, so an application delivered to the office this morning need not yet appear on an extract produced this afternoon. Between the last extract and signing there remains roughly one working day that cannot be read. We cover it with a declaration by the seller that they have filed no application and know of none — but a declaration is a promise, not an entry.
The second drawback is operational. Taking the extract three times and waiting for the consent to deletion and the statement of the outstanding balance lengthen the preparation of every mandate. A seller in a hurry does not take kindly to it. We do it all the same.
Annex: analysis of the title deed part by part, A to F
A model extract for a flat in a Prague tenement building (činžovní dům). The numbers and designations are model ones, not from a specific mandate. The annotations below the extract refer to the fields by the numbers in brackets.
Title block of the extract (1)
| Field | Content on the sample extract |
|---|---|
| District | CZ0100 Capital City of Prague |
| Municipality | 554782 Prague |
| Cadastral area (2) | 727164 Vinohrady |
| Title deed | 4127 |
| Produced (3) | via remote access, 22 September 2026 at 9:14 |
A — Owner, other entitled person (4)
| Share (5) | Owner |
|---|---|
| 1/2 | natural person A |
| 1/2 | natural person B |
B — Properties (6)
| Designation | Description | Share in the common parts (8) |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1284/12 (7) | flat, type of use: residential, in the building with house No. 1284 | 6,480/248,900 |
| P — seal | marked on unit 1284/12 | see Part D |
B1 — Other rights (9)
| Entry | Content |
|---|---|
| — | no entry |
C — Restrictions on ownership (10)
| Type | Content | Document |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual lien (11) | securing a principal of CZK 4,200,000 | agreement establishing a lien, V-8841/2021-101 |
| Utility servitude (12) | in favour of the network operator, over land parcel No. 1902 | agreement, V-1177/2016-101 |
D — Notes and other similar data (13)
| Entry | Content |
|---|---|
| Seal (14) | V-14902/2026-101, proceedings commenced 18 September 2026 |
E — Titles of acquisition and other bases for the entry (15)
| Document | Date |
|---|---|
| Purchase agreement, V-8840/2021-101 (16) | legal effects as at 3 June 2021 |
| Owner’s declaration dividing the right to the building | legal effects as at 14 November 2013 |
F — Relationship of valued soil-ecological units to parcels (17)
| Parcel | BPEJ |
|---|---|
| — | no entry |
Annotations to the extract
(1) The title block (popisové pole) is a header, not decoration. Without the district, municipality, cadastral area and LV number, nothing can be copied from the extract into the agreement.
(2) The binding detail is the code of the cadastral area, not the name of the neighbourhood. It is the code that is copied into the application for registration.
(3) The date and time the extract was produced. This is the field we look at first: for a flat, good faith is assessed as at the time the application for registration is filed, so an extract three weeks old is worthless for that day.
(4) Part A says who. You look for an exact match with the party to the purchase agreement, character for character and in completeness — with co-ownership (spoluvlastnictví) all co-owners sign, with community property of spouses (společné jmění manželů) both spouses.
(5) The shares must add up to one whole. If they do not, there is an error on the title deed or a co-owner is missing.
(6) Part B says what. The building and land are usually on another title deed, which is read as well.
(7) The unit is designated by the building number followed by a slash and its sequence number. It is copied into the reservation agreement (rezervační smlouva), the purchase agreement and the application for registration; a discrepancy is the most common formal defect of a filing.
(8) The share in the common parts is checked against the floor area in the owner’s declaration. It determines the weight of the vote at the owners’ meeting and the share in contributions.
(9) Part B1 contains rights that benefit the property — a servitude of way across a neighbouring plot, appurtenant co-ownership (přídatné spoluvlastnictví). It may be empty, but not for a flat with its own garden or with access over someone else’s land.
(10) Part C says what encumbers the property. It is read in full, including the notes directly linked to the individual rights.
(11) For a lien, the title deed shows the principal, not the balance. It calls for a statement of the outstanding balance and consent to deletion before signing.
(12) For a servitude, read the scope and the designation of the land, not the type. A servitude over the land under the building will not affect the use of the flat; a servitude of residence will, and fundamentally.
(13) Part D carries notes, notifications, seals and restrictions on transfer. For us it is the first part we read, because a single entry here can stop the transaction.
(14) With a seal, the prefix tells you the type of proceedings and the date tells you how long they have been running. An unknown mark is a question for the seller.
(15) Part E says how the owner acquired the property. The titles should follow on from one another; a gap in the sequence is a reason for caution.
(16) The proceedings number of the title of acquisition is compared with the lien in Part C. V-8840 and V-8841 mean that the purchase and the lien were filed on the same day in the same bundle — a common and clean state.
(17) Part F concerns agricultural land and its soil quality rating. For a flat in Prague it is empty, and it should be empty. An entry here means that the title deed also covers land outside the built-up area.
Frequently asked questions
What is a seal on the title deed? A mark on a property saying that proceedings concerning it are under way. It is marked no later than the working day following delivery of the application and disappears when the proceedings end. It is not a block — but until you know which proceedings lie behind it, it is not a certainty either.
How much does a Land Registry extract cost? Via remote access, CZK 100 per title deed. At Czech POINT, no more than CZK 100 for the first page and no more than CZK 50 for each further page. At the cadastral office, CZK 100 for every 20 units of measurement or part thereof. The Land Registry viewer is free, but it produces no document.
How can I tell from the title deed that there is enforcement against the flat? From Parts C and D. Both an enforcement order to sell immovable property and the commencement of enforcement proceedings (exekuce) are entered and visible on the extract. That is why the extract is taken again on the day of signing — the entry may have come after the first one.
Is the Land Registry viewer enough for me, or do I need an extract? For a first orientation, the viewer is enough. For a decision it is not: it does not reliably display the entire content of the title deed and produces no document that an escrow agent or the cadastral office would accept.
What if the title deed shows something different from reality? The registered state benefits the person who acquired for consideration in good faith from a person entitled according to the entry. For ownership that arises only upon registration, good faith is assessed as at the time the application for registration is filed, so what decides is what was on the title deed on that day.
Key takeaways
The title deed is not read from the top. It is read from Part D to Part A, because notes and seals decide whether the rest makes sense. Always take three details from it: the date and time the extract was produced, the file number of every seal and the principal in Part C — which is not a debt but a ceiling. And obtain the extract yourself, three times, for CZK 300 in total. It is the cheapest part of the transaction and the only one you can manage without anyone else’s cooperation.