5 apartments per floor or 9: how density affects everyday life

How many apartments should a floor have? There is no legal rule in Kosovo. As a general comparison, 4-5 apartments per floor usually bring more privacy and less pressure on elevators than 9 apartments per floor, but the concrete number depends on the complex and must be verified, not assumed.

How many apartments per floor is considered good?

There is no mandatory standard in apartment construction in Kosovo. As a general illustration, compare a floor with 4-5 apartments to a floor with 9 apartments: in the first case, each family shares the corridor and elevator with four or five other neighbors; in the second, they share it with eight. This is not a claim about any specific complex in Gjilan — it is simply how density usually works, wherever it is built. The fewer apartments per floor, the fewer people use the same shared space every day. The more apartments per floor, the more residents, more traffic in the corridor, and usually faster wear on shared equipment. Neither is “bad” on its own — they are simply two different construction models, each with its own practical consequences that should be known before signing the contract.

There is also a trade-off directly tied to price: a developer that builds fewer apartments per floor on the same surface area usually has slightly larger or more expensive units per m², because it spreads the construction cost (land, elevators, installations) over fewer sellable units. A developer that builds more apartments per floor can offer a more competitive price per unit, precisely because it spreads the same cost over more buyers. Neither model is automatically better financially — it depends on what you want: space and quiet, or a more affordable price.

How does density affect privacy and quiet?

The fewer families share the same floor, the less passing noise you hear in the corridor — fewer footsteps, fewer conversations, fewer children running past the door. Privacy also increases in a practical sense: you know your neighbors better, doors are not constantly opening and closing, and the shared space in front of your apartment does not turn into a permanent thoroughfare. On a floor with many apartments, the opposite happens naturally: more people, more movement, less quiet at the hours when you want rest. This does not necessarily mean a higher-density complex is unsuitable — for some buyers, the lower price offsets this trade-off. But it is exactly this kind of trade-off that should be known before buying, not discovered after you have signed and moved in.

What happens with elevators when there are many apartments per floor?

An entrance’s elevator serves all floors at once, so the apartment-to-elevator ratio matters just as much as the number of apartments per floor itself. If a building has many apartments per floor and only one elevator per entrance, the pressure is felt most at peak hours — mornings when people leave for work or school, and evenings when they return. Waiting at the elevator becomes part of the daily routine, and the equipment itself wears out faster because it runs more often with more trips. A building with fewer apartments per floor, or with more than one elevator per entrance, spreads that load. When you visit a complex, don’t settle for the sight of the elevator — ask how many apartments use it and, if you can, observe yourself how long someone waits at a busy hour.

How does density affect maintenance?

Density does not directly cause poor maintenance, but it speeds up the consequence once maintenance is already poor. The more residents use the same corridor, elevator, and shared space, the faster they wear out — doors, lighting, elevator cabins, wall surfaces. If the management company cleans regularly, repairs on time, and maintains a sufficient maintenance fund, high density does not necessarily translate into a visible decline in physical condition. If maintenance is missing or irregular, high density makes that decline much more visible, much faster. This is why this site treats post-handover maintenance as a separate criterion — read how to verify a complex’s maintenance before you buy before comparing density alone.

How do I count the density myself during a visit?

This is the simplest and most reliable measurement you can do yourself, without waiting for any document. When you visit the complex, go up to a middle floor — not the ground floor, which often has a different layout — and count how many apartment doors you see in the corridor. Also note how many elevators serve that entrance. If you find a resident willing to talk, ask them how long they usually wait at the elevator in the morning or evening. Compare what you see and hear with what the developer says in promotional materials or in the contract. If the two sources match — the developer’s statement and your own on-site count — you have a strong data point to compare with other complexes.

It is worth repeating the count on more than one floor, because not every floor of a building has the same layout — the first few floors may have commercial units or larger apartments, while the upper floors may have different divisions. Note the date you made the visit; if you would like to share it with our editorial team as a field observation, this helps fill the empty field for other covered complexes.

Why does Banesa në Gjilan leave this data empty for many complexes?

Because our publishing rule is simple: we publish only what has a verified source. For the number of apartments per floor and elevators per entrance, we accept it only from two routes — a published statement from the developer itself (“according to the developer”) or a dated on-site count by the editorial team (“counted on site by the editorial team, [date]”). We never infer it from a competitor’s silence, and we never assume it. Currently, no complex covered on this site has an officially published figure for apartments-per-floor, so this field stays empty until someone — the developer or our editorial team — confirms it. This is just one of the combined criteria used in the comparison of the best residential complexes in Gjilan; the full method, with every source and every way to verify it, is explained at How We Evaluate.