Built-up area (zastavěné území)

Under Section 12 of the Building Act No. 283/2021 Coll., the built-up area (zastavěné území) is an area designated by the zoning plan or by a separate procedure, the so-called delimitation of the built-up area. In practice it is the built-up part of a municipality, including gaps and public spaces. It is not a land type in the land register, such as built-up area and courtyard, nor a development area, which the zoning plan only designates for future building.

An amendment to the Building Act, signed by the President in September 2026 and not yet published in the Collection of Laws, is to replace the built-up area from 1 January 2027 with a new term, 'zastavitelné území' (buildable area), covering the development and non-building zones set by the zoning plan.

What it includes

The boundary of the built-up area follows parcel boundaries. Under Section 116 it always includes:

• built-up building plots, i.e. building parcels and related plots, usually under a common fence,
• building gaps and other fenced gaps between built-up plots,
• public spaces,
• roads giving access to plots in the built-up area,
• other plots surrounded by the built-up area, except vineyards and hop gardens.

The starting point is the last effective zoning plan. If a municipality has no zoning plan, the basis is the so-called intravilán, the built-up part of the municipality as of 1 September 1966 according to the maps of the former land records, excluding vineyards, hop gardens, forest land and agricultural land on its edge that does not form a gap.

Who sets it

A zoning plan always designates the built-up area and states the date it refers to (Section 80). For a municipality without a zoning plan, the spatial planning office issues the delimitation of the built-up area as a measure of general nature (opatření obecné povahy). It also marks plots that may not be built on until a zoning plan is issued.

What it means for a buyer

Being in the built-up area does not by itself mean a plot can be built on. In a municipality with a zoning plan, the land-use zone and its conditions decide. Everything outside the built-up area and development areas is undeveloped area, where the law allows only selected structures, and housing is not among them. The boundary therefore matters mainly for gardens and plots on the edge of a village.

Frequently asked questions

If a plot lies in the intravilán, is it a building plot?

Not automatically. The intravilán is only the basis for delimiting the built-up area in municipalities without a zoning plan. Where a zoning plan exists, its built-up area boundary and zones apply.

Where can I find the boundary?

In the basic layout drawing and the main drawing of the zoning plan, or in the drawing of a separate delimitation of the built-up area.