There are several types of land rights—ownership, tenancy, easements, mortgages, right of first offer etc.
Land ownership is the right to occupy a plot of land, make use of it and carry out any action or transaction subject to limitations under the law or some agreement.
In principle, land ownership rights extend below the ground to any depth, subject to laws restricting these rights (regarding water, petroleum, antiquities etc.) Ownership also extends to the space above the ground (but does not interfere with the passage of aircraft).
Ownership applies to what is constructed or planted on the land, and anything permanently attached to it.
If the land belongs to a number of partners, each partner's ownership applies jointly to every single millimetre, and none of them has a title to any particular parcel of land (Musha land).
In cases of jointly owned land a partnership agreement governing the management and use of the land may be drawn up and recorded at the Land Registry, following which it is also binding on partners joining later.
Other land rights are easements—granting a person, the public, or the users of other land the right to benefit from the land without any title to it (e.g. right of way). An easement is created by agreement or on the basis of 30 years' use without the landowner objecting, and may be recorded at the Land Registry.
Right of first offer (ROFO)—a right that may be recorded at the Land Registry, to ensure that the landowner does not transfer the property to a third party before offering it first to the ROFO holder.
Mortgage—transfer of interest in a property, that may be recorded at the Land Registry; pledging of immovable property to secure a debt.
Mortgages of various priorities may be registered, so that the first mortgage holder is the first to recover his debt on disposal of the property, followed by those holding lower priority mortgages.
Tenancy is the right to occupy and use land for a consideration, not in perpetuity. A tenancy for a period exceeding five years is called a lease, and for over 25 years—a long term lease.
Protected tenancy: Protected occupancy originated in what is now Israel during the British Mandate period, when waves of newcomers strained the economy and precipitated a housing shortage; its purpose was to prevent landlords from evicting residential and business tenants who were meeting the terms of the tenancy agreement. The Mandatory ordinances remained in force when the State was established, and further legislation and regulations were added. In 1972 the Mandatory ordinances were combined with the laws and regulation to create a consolidated version establishing the rights of the protected tenant.
Authorised Person : If the holder of an interest in a property gives another party permission to benefit from or make use of the land, whether or not for a consideration, the party receiving the permission is described as an Authorised Person.
This type of arrangement is common in the agricultural sector, in moshavim (cooperative settlements) where the cooperative society leases the land and grants members of the society Authorised Persons' rights over their individual allotments.
A building containing two or more flats, each of which can be identified as a complete and self-contained unit to be used for housing, commerce or any other purpose, may be included in the condominium register.
The advantage of registering a property as a condominium is the dissolution or at least drastic diminution of the partnership in the land, such that each owner has title to a separate flat; if a separate flat cannot be allocated to each owner, some of the flats may be registered as Musha property.
A flat in a condominium is a separately registered entity. As regards the common property, an undetermined part of it is attached to each flat, in proportion to the ratio of the flat's floor area to the total area of all the flats making up the condominium, unless otherwise specified in the Declaration of Condominium.
The common property includes roofs, external areas, exterior walls, the foundations, stairwells, lifts, shelters, and heating and hot water installations serving all or most of the flat owners. Part of the external area or roof may be attached to a particular flat, in which case the attached part does not count as part of the common property, but belongs to the owner of the flat to which it is attached.
A part attached to a particular flat may be transferred to another flat in the condomium even without the consent of the other flat owners, provided the condomium registration is duly amended as required by law.
A condominium is managed under a Declaration of Condominium determining the relationship between the flat owners. A standard Declaration of Condominium is included in the Land Law, and this is binding unless a so-called Agreed Declaration of Condominium is registered.
Each condomium is managed by a representative committee that is required to act in keeping with the Declaration of Condominium.
