Q&A: What to know about paying your 'comunidad' building fees in Spain

If you own a property in Spain, the chances are you’ll form part of a homeowners’ association, known as a comunidad or comunidad de vecinos in Spanish.

Part of this means that you’ll have to pay comunidad (meaning ‘community’) building fees.

What are comunidad fees?

The rules on comunidad fees come from Spain’s Horizontal Property Law (LPH), which are applied on properties integrated in a building or house on common land that has been split into different plots, forming a ‘community of owners.’

Specifically, Article 9 states that one of the obligations of the owners of any property within a horizontal property regime is contributing to the general expenses for the “adequate maintenance of the property, its services, charges and responsibilities that cannot be individualised.”

What types of fees are there?

According to Spain’s premier property site, Idealista, there are generally two types of community fees in Spain:

1. General or ordinary community expenses: Costs to maintain the basic upkeep and functioning of the building. Think expenses like electricity, water, bank charges, gardening fees, doormen, lifts/elevator maintenance, cleaning and maintenance expenses. These are included in the annual budgets and are approved at the meetings.
2. 'Extraordinary' community expenses: There are also ‘exceptional’ costs that go beyond general upkeep. This is where the so-called derramas come from, which are usually used to meet specific improvement needs in the building like installing a lift, for example, or making alterations or repairs to the façade or terrace. These extra fees are usually approved in an extraordinary comunidad meeting and it is also possible to pay them with the money saved by the community throughout the year - the surplus.

Who pays the comunidad fees?

Payment of community fees are the responsibility of the homeowners. However, as Idealista notes: “it is possible to transfer community fees to the rent if the property is rented by agreement with the tenant. In any case, it is always the landlord who is responsible for the payment of the community fees.”

Note that it is possible to exclude ground floor commercial premises of a building from payments for stuff like staircase or lift charges. However, in order to be able to exclude one or more owners from paying a specific expense, it's necessary that:

• It's clearly stated in community statues or by-laws.
• It's unanimously approved in the owners' meeting.

How are fees calculated?

Spanish property expert Graham Hunt wrote about la comunidad for The Local, outlining how it works: “Effectively the vast majority of properties in Spain are sold freehold meaning you own them outright but obviously if you have an apartment in a building then you only hold a percentage of the freehold which is decided on a percentage basis. What percentage of the whole freehold does your apartment make up? It depends on the percentage of the size of the whole building that your apartment comprises."

So basically, a proportion of the space you rent depending on the size.

"All of the building fees every month are estimated so that the community runs a slight surplus. Let’s say the costs for a building, electric, lift, insurance, cleaning etc…come to €900 per month and there are 30 flats in the building," Hunter added.

"The community will charge around €1,200 for each month and divide that between the doors in the building and make sure to run a small surplus (This becomes important later). So if we assume every flat is the same size and has the same percentage of the whole building then each door will pay €40 per month. Usually this money will be directly debited from your bank account every three months meaning a quarterly payment of €120.”

How much are monthly comunidad fees usually?

As Hunter told The Local: “How long is a piece of string? Community costs have many variables. We have seen community costs from €6 per month, or even zero in a few cases, up to €600 per month in an outlying case.”

So, as is so often the case in Spain, the answer is: it depends. The services and facilities are not the same in every building, nor the number of neighbours or the quota that each one has based on their property. All these factors will influence the amount to be paid in community fees.

Generally speaking, most communities will use the quota system although there are some in which all neighbours pay a fixed quota that is the same for all of them. This is usually between €100-€110 per month on average, according to Fotocasa.

A comunidad fee on the lower end of the scale – roughly €10-20 per month — might cover an apartment with no lift, where neighbours take turns cleaning and/or doing the relevant paperwork or banking.

Can comunidad costs be increased?

At the annual general meeting of owners, which in most communities is held during the first quarter of the year, the budget for the financial year is outlined taking into account the expenses foreseen for the year as well as the income.

As noted, expenses are distributed among neighbours according to their quota.

In order to raise the community fee, it must be passed by unanimous vote. The reason for the increase must also be justified, whether it is due to inflation, new maintenance costs or the increase in the cost of energy bills, for example.

Where do comunidad fees go?

Community fees are usually paid by direct debit to the community president or treasurer. Many buildings set up separate bank accounts for this purpose or have an external property management company to handle the money.

Some smaller builders may do it in cash.

Can I lodge a complaint if the fees go up?

Yes, as a member of the community you are within your rights to complaint against a rise in fees. There's no promise it'll have any effect, however.

According to Spanish property management site SuperVecinas, you can complain when “you disagree with the new residents' association budget, you disagree with reform to comunidad statutes, [or] there is a dispute with the residents' association.”

However Idealista notes that although it is possible to claim back the increase in community fee, this is only when it goes against community agreements or statutes.

“In general, the increase of the fee is legal as long as the calculation is done correctly,” it notes. “The only way to avoid paying the increased fee would be to prove that the increase is illegal or that the proper procedure has not been followed.

READ ALSO: 'La comunidad' - What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations