New Standard Standardizes Apartment Size Definitions in Israel

Israel's Ministry of Justice has approved a new standard, 9.1, to uniformly define apartment sizes, replacing the older standard 9.0. This initiative aims to reduce discrepancies in measurement and interpretation within the real estate market, thereby increasing certainty and transparency for homebuyers, developers, and other industry stakeholders.

The new standard is a continuation of a draft published in April 2026, developed by a professional committee within the Ministry of Justice's Valuation Standards Committee. Its purpose is to address professional issues that remained unresolved even after the adoption of standard 9.0, establishing a clearer and more consistent method for measuring apartment areas.

Previously, multiple measurement methods led to significant gaps between the area advertised by developers, the area registered in the Land Registry (Tabu), and how different authorities measured properties. Standard 9.0, adopted in 2006 and incorporated into the Sale of Apartments Law, attempted to mitigate this by including interior space, exterior wall thickness, half the thickness of shared walls, protected spaces like bomb shelters (Mamad), and certain covered storage and service areas, as well as covered balconies. However, ambiguities persisted regarding the measurement of various building components.

These ambiguities included how to measure shared walls between an apartment and common areas like lobbies or stairwells, attic spaces, and supporting walls in hillside apartments. Additionally, real estate advertisements sometimes included areas for storage units, parking spaces, or balconies beyond the apartment's core area. To resolve these lingering issues, a professional committee was formed about a year ago to develop the updated standard.

Standard 9.1 specifies that apartment area is measured within the polygon formed by the outer faces of the apartment's walls and the centerlines of shared walls separating the apartment from other parts of the building. For instance, a shared wall with a lobby will be measured using the same principle as a wall between two apartments. The standard also clarifies that permanently accessed attics via a built staircase will be included, while those accessed by a ladder or temporarily will not. Similarly, a storage unit physically attached to an apartment and accessible only from within will be included, but a storage unit in a common area will not.