What are community fees?
Community fees are the contributions with which the comunidad de propietarios — the owners' association — pays for managing the shared parts: the roof, the facades, stairwells, lifts, gardens, the pool and communal installations. It resembles a Dutch VvE or a Belgian co-ownership, but the Spanish rules are not identical. Which parts are communal and how the costs are divided must follow from the legal documents and the applicable Spanish law.
Not every home has the same kind of community. A detached home can still be part of an urbanisation with shared infrastructure. An apartment can deal with several levels of management — for example for its own building and a larger whole. So do not only ask whether there is a community, but how many fees apply, who collects them and which amenities fall under each fee.
What is in the fee and how is it divided?
The content differs per complex. Costs can relate to cleaning, maintenance, gardening, pool management, electricity for the communal areas, insurance of the building and administration. Always ask for a breakdown instead of a short line in an advertisement: “pool included” does not say how much maintenance is needed, when it is accessible or whether a major renovation has already been budgeted.
Keep four things apart:
- Ordinary periodic fee — the fixed monthly or quarterly costs for day-to-day management.
- Reserve fund — money the community sets aside for maintenance and unforeseen expenses.
- Special levy (derrama) — an extra contribution for an expense that is not paid from the ordinary budget.
- Private expenses — your own energy contract, your own home insurance and individual taxes such as the IBI; these are separate from the comunidad.
The boundary between private and communal can be complicated for terraces, pipework or facade elements. When in doubt, have it established who is responsible before you accept a repair as a small personal cost.
The division depends on the ownership structure and the applicable agreements — usually via the ownership share (the cuota de participación), not simply per floor area or the same for everyone. Ask about the share that belongs to your home and about any separate fees for a garage, storage room or an overarching urbanisation. If a seller mentions a fee, ask which period it covers and convert everything into an overview per year.
How do you assess the level of the costs?
A low fee is not automatically an advantage. It can suit a simple, well-maintained building — but it can also mean that necessary work has been postponed for years or that hardly any reserve is being built up. A higher fee can be explained by extra amenities or a careful maintenance plan; even then you want to know whether the money is being spent effectively.
So do not compare amounts without taking into account the amenities, the condition of the building and the budget. A useful check question is: if a major repair is needed tomorrow, how will it be paid? If the answer is only “then the owners will pay extra”, investigate how much more overdue work there is.
Also read the minutes, but do not get lost in them. Start with topics that come back several times: a leak that appears in various meetings without a solution deserves more attention than a one-off discussion about planting. Look for concrete decisions about the facade, roof, pool, lift and pipework, and note whether a quote has been requested, a budget approved or the work already commissioned — those are different phases with different financial certainty.
Which documents do you request before buying?
Through your adviser or legal adviser, request at least the recent budget, the annual accounts, the relevant minutes and the community rules, plus the seller's debt certificate and information about approved or discussed works. Use this checklist:
| Document | What do you check? | Which question do you ask? |
|---|---|---|
| Current budget | The ordinary fee for this specific home and the planned works | Which amount applies to this home and what is it based on? |
| Annual accounts and reserves | The actual expenses and how much reserve is available | How large is the reserve fund compared with the announced maintenance? |
| Minutes | Recurring problems and upcoming projects | Which decisions have been taken and has there been follow-up? |
| Statutes and house rules | Use, restrictions and special agreements | Are there rules that affect my plans (letting, renovation, pets)? |
| Seller's debt certificate | The debt position of the home at transfer | Are there any outstanding fees or approved derramas still open? |
| Approved and planned works | Which expenses are already fixed or coming up | Is this a quote, an approved budget or work already commissioned? |
| Derrama payment schedule | Who pays which part and when | Which part falls before and which part after the transfer? |
| Separate fees | Separate costs for a garage, building or urbanisation | Are there several communities each with their own fee? |
A debt certificate is not the same as an overview of all future works: it shows the outstanding debt, not what maintenance is still coming. Ask for an understandable summary if you cannot read the documents well yourself — receiving a thick folder is not the same as understanding the risks.
Watch out for these signals as well. Each signal calls for further investigation and does not, on its own, prove poor management:
- A low fee without a recent budget or clear explanation.
- A debt certificate or important minutes that keep being postponed.
- Recurring structural problems without a concrete repair plan.
- Changing verbal answers about works already approved.
- A reserve that seems small compared with the announced maintenance.
- Rental claims without underlying permission and documentation.
- Unclarity about a second fee for a larger urbanisation.
Derramas: special levies and planned works
A derrama is a special levy, usually for an expense that is not paid from the ordinary budget or the available reserve — think of a substantial repair or improvement. The word itself says nothing about severity: even a well-managed community can need a derrama. Ask how much your home must contribute, which payment terms apply, on which decision the levy is based and whether the amount is final or still an estimate.
In an ongoing purchase the key question is who bears which payment obligation. Do not rely solely on a verbal agreement that the seller “pays everything up to the transfer”. Have it legally assessed and explicitly recorded, because several things get mixed up: the date on which the community took the decision, the moment a payment term falls due, the nature of the works and the agreements between buyer and seller. As a result, not every derrama falls under the same rule.
Worked example: comparing two apartments
This is a fictitious example; amounts can change and “no known special levy” is no guarantee for the future. It shows why you should look at ordinary and special obligations together.
| Item (over three years) | Apartment A | Apartment B |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary fee per month | €90 | €160 |
| Ordinary fee per year | €1,080 | €1,920 |
| Ordinary fees over three years | €3,240 | €5,760 |
| Known special levy (derrama) | €4,500 | none known |
| Total over three years | €7,740 | €5,760 |
Apartment A seems the cheapest at €90 per month, but with the known derrama it comes to €7,740 over three years — against €5,760 for B. That is €1,980 to the disadvantage of the “cheap” apartment. So the lowest monthly fee does not automatically give the lowest total expense. Do not count reserves that are already included in the ordinary fee a second time on top.
Debts, reserve fund and transfer
The Spanish Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (the horizontal property law) governs the financial obligations attached to a home. Two points matter when buying. Under the statutory conditions, the home can be liable for community fees over the elapsed part of the current year and the three preceding calendar years (art. 9.1.e). And the community must maintain a reserve fund of at least 10% of the last ordinary budget (art. 9.1.f). Always check the precise rules in the concrete file. See the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal.
The practical conclusion: do not skip checking the debt position, and have the content, date and scope of the debt certificate assessed. Do not confuse the statutory minimum for the reserve with proof that there is enough money for the work that is really needed. Moreover, you pay your share regardless of whether you use the amenities or are away part of the year; personal use does not determine the fee.
Use rules and holiday letting
Even without letting plans, the use rules matter: the use of the pool and garden, noise, pets, renovations and works on the outside. Air conditioning, awnings or an enclosure can also raise questions about communal parts and the appearance of the building. If you want to change something right after buying, put that plan to your adviser before the purchase.
If holiday letting plays a role, investigate it before buying. Besides the regional and municipal rules, the community itself can restrict or prohibit tourist letting: since the Ley Orgánica 1/2025 (in force since 3 April 2025), the owners' association can take such decisions with a three-fifths majority and can set special charges for tourist letting (art. 17.12 of the horizontal property law). New and existing situations must be carefully distinguished, and a community decision does not replace the regional and municipal requirements. Have the current application to the home and your intended use checked, and read the guide renting out a property in Spain for the rest of the picture.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still pay if I only use the home for a few weeks?
Yes. The obligation follows from ownership and the applicable cost division, not from the number of nights you are present. Have any special agreements checked.
Can I pay less because I don't use the pool?
You cannot simply decide that. Personal use does not automatically determine your contribution to communal amenities. Check the legal cost division instead of stopping payment on your own initiative.
Who pays a special levy when the home is sold?
That requires assessment of the decision, when it falls due, the applicable rules and the agreements in the purchase. Have it explicitly recorded. The date on which you first view the home is not a usable starting point.
Is a community with many foreign owners better?
Nationality says little about the quality of management. Look at transparency, maintenance, payment behaviour and decision-making. The way information is shared can, however, matter for your practical involvement.
What is a normal amount for community fees?
There is no reliable universal amount. Amenities, size, state of maintenance and form of management differ greatly. Compare similar complexes and use the current documents of the specific home.
