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Comunidad de propietarios: what it is and what to check

The comunidad de propietarios is the community of the owners of a building or development divided into separate homes, governed by Spain's Horizontal Property Act (LPH).

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What the comunidad de propietarios is and who pays its costs

When a building is divided into homes, each owner holds their flat outright and co-owns the common parts: entrance, roof, lift, pool, gardens. This is horizontal property under Ley 49/1960 (LPH). The founding title gives each home a participation quota, which sets its share of common costs, and may include statutes with rules of use (arts. 3 and 5). Developments with several blocks or plots and shared areas are private real-estate complexes: they can form a single community or a grouping of communities (art. 24).

Each owner pays the general costs according to their quota and contributes to the reserve fund, which has a legal minimum linked to the last ordinary budget (art. 9.1.e and f). Extraordinary works are paid through special levies (derramas); levies for improvements fall on whoever owns the home when they become payable (art. 17.11).

Debts follow the home: the buyer answers with the flat itself for what the previous owner owed for the elapsed part of the current year and the three previous calendar years (art. 9.1.e). With three fifths of owners and quotas, the meeting can limit or set conditions on holiday lets and raise those homes' costs by up to 20%, without retroactive effect; since 3 April 2025 it can also approve or ban them (art. 17.12), and to start letting to tourists you need the community's express approval (art. 7.3). More in the holiday-let guide.

What to ask the community of owners for before you buy

  1. Ask the seller for the community's debt certificate, signed by the secretary and approved by the president; it must be issued within seven calendar days at most (art. 9.1.e).
  2. Without that certificate the notary will not authorise the escritura, the deed, unless you expressly waive it: do not waive it.
  3. Ask for the minutes of recent meetings and the budget: they show the real fee, levies already approved and works under discussion.
  4. Agree in the contract who pays levies already approved: the law only settles levies for improvements, charging them to whoever owns the home when they fall due.
  5. Read the statutes and the nota simple, the land registry extract: registered statutes can restrict uses such as holiday lets, and they bind you as buyer.
  6. After signing, the seller must notify the secretary of the sale; if not, they remain liable with you for later debts (art. 9.1.i).
  7. Give the community an address in Spain for notices: otherwise notices go to the home or the community notice board (art. 9.1.h).

Common mistakes with the community of owners

  • Signing without a debt certificate, or with an old one, on the seller's word.
  • Assuming the nota simple shows debts to the community: they normally do not appear in it.
  • Buying for holiday lets without reading the statutes and minutes.
  • Working out the yield without the community fee: it is a fixed cost, like IBI; add it in the rental yield calculator.

Community of owners in a new build and in a resale

In a new build, the developer executes the founding title: it describes the building, sets each home's quota and may draft the statutes (art. 5). While the developer still owns unsold homes, it pays their fees like any other owner, unless the founding title or the statutes say otherwise (art. 9.1.e). A new community sets up its reserve fund when it approves its first budget, so fees may be adjusted after the first meeting.

If defects appear in common parts, the community, represented by its president (art. 13.3), can claim against those involved in the build under Ley 38/1999 on Building (LOE): ten years for structural damage, three for defects affecting habitability and one, against the builder only, for finishes, counted from handover of the works; the claim must be brought within two years of the damage appearing.

On a resale, what matters most is the debt certificate, the minutes and pending levies; go through the rest in the guide to buying risks. Brand-new developments are in the new-build catalogue.

Sources and legal basis

Glossary of buying property in Spain

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