Common area

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the Global North and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A common area is, in real estate or real property law, the "area which is available for use by more than one person..."^[1] The common areas are those that are available for common use by all tenants, (or) groups of tenants and their invitees.^[2][3] In Texas and other parts of the United States, it is "An area inside a housing development owned by all residents or by an overall management structure which charges each tenant for maintenance and upkeep."^[4][5]

Common areas often exist in apartments, gated communities, condominiums, cooperatives, and shopping malls.^[6]

In any situation where there is a tenancy in common, all the tenants in common collectively own the common areas, meaning that any one individual owner does not possess more control over the land than any other owner.^[7]

This differs from a commons or common land, as used in English law, which is owned by one person, but which may be used by a group of persons.