Czech flat terms explained: 2+kk, 3+1, 1.NP and more

Czech flat listings pack a lot into a few characters: "B.3.04, 2+kk, 3.NP, 54.3 m², balkon 6 m², rezervováno". Once you know the terms behind this shorthand, a developer's price list is quick to read, and you can tell whether two flats are really comparable.

This glossary explains layout codes, floors and floor areas, the statuses and price wording in price lists, and the building, ownership and money terms you will meet when buying a new-build flat (novostavba) in Prague. Czech terms come first in bold, followed by the English meaning.

Layouts: 1+kk, 2+kk, 3+1 and the rest

The Czech layout code (dispozice) counts rooms, not bedrooms. The first number is the number of habitable rooms, including the living room. What follows the plus sign tells you about the kitchen.

• kk – _kuchyňský kout_, a kitchen corner that is part of the living room (an open-plan kitchen).
• +1 – a separate kitchen, a room of its own.
• 1+kk – a studio: one room with a kitchen corner. A small studio is also called a _garsoniéra_ or _garsonka_.
• 2+kk – a living room with a kitchen corner plus one bedroom; in English, a one-bedroom flat.
• 3+kk – a living room with a kitchen corner plus two bedrooms.
• 2+1, 3+1 – two or three rooms plus a separate kitchen; common in older buildings, less common in new builds.
• 4+kk, 5+kk – larger family flats; penthouses often have these layouts.

Bathrooms, toilets, the hall, a storage room (komora) and a walk-in wardrobe (šatna) are never counted. A 3+kk can have one bathroom or two, so check the floor plan.

Sizes vary a lot between projects, so treat these only as rough orientation for Prague new builds: a 1+kk is often around 25–40 m², a 2+kk around 40–65 m², a 3+kk around 65–95 m², and a 4+kk usually 90 m² or more. The room filter in the search uses the first number, so two-room flats include both 2+kk and 2+1.

Floors: NP, PP and what 3.NP means

Price lists name floors the way Czech building plans do, not with the everyday word "patro".

• NP – _nadzemní podlaží_, an above-ground floor. 1.NP is the ground floor.
• PP – _podzemní podlaží_, a below-ground floor. 1.PP is the first basement level, where garages and cellars usually are.
• patro – the everyday word. Czechs call the ground floor _přízemí_ and start counting "1. patro" one level up.

So a flat on 3.NP is two floors above the ground floor: the 2nd floor in British usage, the 3rd floor in American usage, and "2. patro" in everyday Czech. Price lists may write it as 3.NP, 3. NP, 3NP or simply 3, and the search shows the floor as the developer lists it.

Other floor words you will see: mezonet (a maisonette on two levels), podkroví (an attic floor) and ustupující podlaží (a set-back top floor, usually with large terraces).

Floor area and outdoor space

This is where comparisons most often go wrong. A price list usually gives one area for the flat and separate areas for outdoor space, but the terms are not used consistently.

• podlahová plocha bytu – floor area of the flat. For co-ownership purposes, Government Regulation No. 366/2013 Coll. defines it as the floor plan of all rooms, including internal walls, columns and other vertical structures inside the flat.
• užitná plocha – usable area; usually the floor you can actually use, without internal walls, so it can be slightly smaller than the legal floor area. Price lists do not use it consistently.
• obytná plocha – living area; sometimes only the habitable rooms, without bathroom and hall.
• celková plocha – total area; often the flat plus balcony, terrace, garden and sometimes the cellar.
• balkon – a balcony projecting from the façade.
• lodžie – a loggia, recessed into the building and open on one side.
• terasa – a terrace, usually larger, on a roof, a set-back floor or at ground level.
• předzahrádka, zahrada – a private garden next to a ground-floor flat.
• sklep, sklepní kóje – a cellar or storage cage, usually on 1.PP.
• parkovací stání, garáž – a parking space in the shared garage, or a separate garage.

Under the same regulation, balconies, loggias and terraces that can only be reached from one flat are, as a rule, common parts of the building in the exclusive use of that flat's owner, not part of the flat itself. Gardens are handled in different ways, from part of the unit to a right of exclusive use of shared land. Check how the contract and the declaration of ownership (prohlášení vlastníka) describe them.

Parking is usually priced separately and is often sold as a co-ownership share in the garage unit rather than as a unit of its own. A cellar may be included in the price, offered for an extra charge or not available at all.

How price per m² is calculated

Price per m² is the price divided by an area, so it depends on which area is used. If a developer divides by a total area that includes a 20 m² terrace, the result looks lower than one based on the flat alone. When you compare projects, divide by the flat's own area and look at outdoor space separately.

In the NewBuildTracker search, price per m² is the listed price divided by the flat's main area as the developer lists it, and outdoor space is shown in its own column. The market overview shows the median price per m² by district on the same basis.

Reading a developer's price list

A price list (ceník) usually has one row per flat. Typical columns:

• označení, číslo bytu – the unit code, e.g. A-3.05 or B305. Many developers build the building, floor and flat number into it, but there is no standard.
• budova, dům, sekce, vchod – building, house, section or entrance within the project.
• podlaží – the floor, as above.
• dispozice – the layout, e.g. 2+kk.
• orientace – the direction the windows face. Careful: in Czech, S is sever (north), J is jih (south), V is východ (east) and Z is západ (west).

Statuses

• volný, k dispozici – available.
• rezervováno – reserved: a buyer has signed a reservation agreement. The flat can come back on the market if the buyer withdraws.
• v jednání – under negotiation; some developers use it before a formal reservation.
• prodáno – sold.

Some developers keep sold flats in their price list; others simply remove them. NewBuildTracker marks a flat that disappears from a price list as "no longer listed" (probably sold) and only says "sold" when the developer's own list does. You can find these flats in the sold and no longer listed view.

Price terms

• cena vč. DPH – price including VAT. Prices for private buyers are normally quoted with VAT; for new flats with a floor area of up to 120 m² the reduced rate of 12 % usually applies, above that 21 %.
• cena bez DPH – price excluding VAT; check which one you are looking at.
• cena na vyžádání – price on request, often for penthouses or the last flats in a project.
• sleva, akce, akční cena – discount, promotion, promotional price. A flat's price history shows whether the "action price" is really lower than before, and the price drops view lists flats that got cheaper in the last 30 days.
• standard, nadstandard – the standard fit-out included in the price versus paid upgrades.
• klientské změny – client changes: changes to layout, finishes or installations that you request during construction, usually for a fee and only until a set deadline.

Project and building terms

• novostavba – a new build.
• developerský projekt – a residential development built and sold by a developer.
• etapa – a phase; large projects are built and sold in several phases.
• hrubá stavba – the shell: the structure is complete, the finishes are not.
• předpokládané dokončení – expected completion. The date in a price list is an estimate; binding deadlines and any allowed delay are set in the contract.
• kolaudace – the official approval to use a finished building. Until it is granted, the flats may, as a rule, not be lived in.
• kolaudační rozhodnutí – the decision by the building authority that grants this approval. Since the new Building Act took effect in July 2024, it is the single form of approval; under the previous law it was usually a _kolaudační souhlas_, a term you will still see in older documents and contracts.
• PENB, energetický štítek – _průkaz energetické náročnosti budovy_, the energy performance certificate, with classes from A (extremely efficient) to G (extremely inefficient). Sellers have to state the class in their advertising. New builds usually fall into class A or B.

Ownership and legal terms

• osobní vlastnictví (OV) – personal ownership: you own the flat as a unit registered in the land registry, together with a share in the common parts of the building and the land. New-build flats are almost always sold this way.
• družstevní byt (DB) – a cooperative flat: you own a membership share in a housing cooperative that owns the building, not the flat itself. Mortgages on cooperative flats are usually harder to get.
• jednotka – the legal unit: the flat plus its share in the common parts.
• prohlášení vlastníka – the declaration by which the owner of the building, in a new build the developer, divides it into units and sets their shares.
• společné části – common parts: roof, façade, staircases and, as a rule, balconies and terraces.
• SVJ – _společenství vlastníků jednotek_, the owners' association that manages the building. It has to be set up in a building with at least five units, of which at least four belong to four different owners.
• fond oprav – "repair fund", the everyday name for the owners' monthly contributions to the management of the building and land (legally _příspěvky na správu domu a pozemku_); the SVJ sets the amount.
• katastr nemovitostí – the land registry (cadastre). Anyone can look up a property free of charge online in the Nahlížení do katastru nemovitostí service; an official extract costs a fee.
• list vlastnictví (LV) – the title sheet: it shows the owner, the property and any encumbrances, such as a mortgage lien (zástavní právo) or an easement (věcné břemeno). A _plomba_ on the title sheet means that an application affecting the property is being processed.
• vklad – registration of ownership in the cadastre. Ownership passes with the registration, which takes effect as of the day the application was filed.

If you are buying as a foreigner, the guide to buying a flat in Prague as a foreigner explains the process from your side.

Money terms of a purchase

The guide to buying off-plan in Czechia covers these in detail; here is the short version.

• rezervační smlouva – reservation agreement that takes the flat off the market for a set period.
• rezervační poplatek – reservation fee paid with it. It is usually credited towards the price, and the agreement says when it is refunded and when you lose it.
• smlouva o smlouvě budoucí kupní (SOSBK) – agreement to conclude a future purchase agreement: the main contract while the building is under construction, with the price, payment schedule and deadlines.
• záloha – advance payment; when buying off-plan, payments are often tied to construction milestones.
• kupní smlouva – purchase agreement that transfers ownership, typically signed after kolaudace, once the flat exists as a registered unit.
• advokátní úschova – escrow with a lawyer (a notary or a bank can also hold the money), released to the seller only once your ownership is registered.
• daň z nabytí nemovitých věcí – real estate transfer tax. It was abolished in 2020, so buyers no longer pay it.

Before you sign: questions worth asking

• Which area is the price per m² based on, and are the outdoor spaces part of the unit or only in your exclusive use?
• Are parking and a cellar included, and how are they transferred?
• Does the price include VAT, and what exactly does the standard fit-out include?
• What is the expected completion date, and what happens if completion or kolaudace is delayed?
• What is the PENB class, and what monthly contributions to the SVJ should you expect?
• How has the price moved? Each flat's page in the search shows every price and status change since tracking began, and the about page explains where the data comes from.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Before you sign a reservation agreement or any contract, have it checked by a lawyer, and talk to a tax or mortgage adviser about your own situation.