Buying a flat is not the same as buying a house. What makes or breaks an apartment purchase is not the flat itself — it is the community of owners around it: its debts, its rules, its reserve fund, and what it lets you do with your home. Here is what to check before you sign.
Buying a villa, you buy the bricks and the land. An apartment is different. You are buying a unit inside a shared building, and with it you inherit a share of everything that building owns and owes — the entrance, lift, roof, pool, car park and gardens — and a binding place in the legal body that runs it all: the comunidad de propietarios, the community of owners, governed by the Horizontal Property Law (the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) that applies to almost every divided building in Spain.
This is why the most important due diligence on a flat is rarely about the flat. The walls and plumbing matter, but the questions that catch buyers out are about the community: is it solvent, is it well run, does it have money set aside for the works the building will need, and what does it allow an owner to do? A beautiful apartment in a broke, badly managed building is a problem you buy into; a plain apartment in a healthy, well-funded community is a far safer asset.
Three things every apartment buyer inherits the moment they complete — one of which can cost you money you never authorised.
Every flat carries a cuota de participación — a percentage share of communal expenses fixed in the title deed. It sets your fees, your share of any levy, and your voting weight. It is not always proportional to size, so check the figure for the unit.
The community's statutes and internal rules bind you the moment you own. They can restrict pets, short-term letting, business use, external changes, even your own terrace — and they travel with the flat whether or not you ever agreed to them.
Under the Horizontal Property Law, unpaid community fees attach to the property for the current year and the previous three. Buy a flat with arrears and the community can pursue you — the affección — even though the previous owner ran it up.
That third point does the real financial damage and is most often overlooked. The afección real means the apartment stands as security for community debts of the current and three preceding years, so the liability runs with the property, not only the person who incurred it. If the seller has stopped paying their quotas, those arrears land on the new owner unless flushed out and cleared at completion. The protection is not goodwill; it is a document.
The single most important apartment-specific safeguard at completion is the certificado de deuda cero — the certificate of zero community debt. Before you sign the deed of sale (the escritura) before the notary, the seller must produce a certificate issued by the community secretary, with the president's approval, stating whether the seller is up to date with community payments or, if not, exactly what is owed. The law makes the seller responsible for providing it, and the notary normally records the position in the deed.
If the certificate shows the seller is current, you complete knowing no historic arrears will follow the flat to you. If it shows a debt, you adjust: the standard practice is to retain the outstanding amount from the price and settle it with the community at completion, so the flat arrives clean. The mistake to avoid is completing on a vague assurance that "the fees are paid" without the certificate in hand — waiving it means accepting the affección debt blind. Insisting on the certificate and acting on it is one of the most concrete ways due diligence protects an apartment buyer.
A quiet confusion in buying a flat is what is genuinely yours and what merely comes with a right to use it. Your private element (elemento privativo) is the dwelling within its boundaries; the structure, roof, stairwells, lift, gardens and pool are common elements (elementos comunes) owned collectively, with your cuota de participación being your share. The grey areas catch buyers out: a storeroom (trastero) or parking space may be a separate part of your title with its own registry reference, or merely an allocated right of use over a communal area — a weaker thing that affects value and resale. A terrace might be private, or a common element you have exclusive use of but cannot enclose or alter. Confirming these distinctions is part of standard property due diligence on any flat.
Beyond the community, an apartment carries paperwork a buyer should never assume is in order. The first is the licence of first occupation or certificate of habitation — the cédula de habitabilidad or licencia de primera ocupación, depending on the region — confirming the dwelling is legally fit to live in and often required to connect utilities and to let the property. An older flat may never have had one, or lost it, so confirm its status before you find a problem setting up water and electricity.
The second is the building's structural inspection. Many municipalities require older buildings to pass a periodic technical inspection — the Inspección Técnica de Edificios (ITE) — certifying the structure is safe and identifying works the building must carry out. A failed or pending inspection can mean a major repair bill heading for the community, and therefore for you. Checking whether the inspection is current, and what it found, is a direct line to whether a costly levy is coming. For the full picture of fees and taxes, see our guide to the cost of buying property in Spain.
The mechanics of buying a flat are the same as any Spanish property: you obtain an NIE, agree terms, usually sign a private purchase contract (the contrato de arras) with a deposit, and complete before a notary with the deed registered at the Land Registry. What changes for an apartment is the due diligence between contract and completion — where the community-specific work lives. A good timeline builds in time to obtain the community certificate, statutes and recent minutes, confirm the licence and inspection position, and check what is private and communal, before money is committed beyond a recoverable deposit. This is why your own representation matters: an independent lawyer acting only for you reads the community papers, insists on the zero-debt certificate, and tells you plainly if the building's finances or rules make the flat a poor buy. For the wider service end to end, see our Spanish property legal services. With extensive experience helping expats buy in Spain, our role is to make sure the community behind the flat is as sound as the flat in front of it.
The things most likely to cost you on an apartment are invisible in a viewing: the arrears the seller has stopped paying, the levy voted at a meeting you never attended, the empty reserve fund facing an overdue inspection, the rule that forbids the holiday letting your plan depends on. Our job is to make all of it visible before you are committed. Our team of bar-registered solicitors and legal specialists obtains and reviews the zero-debt certificate, the statutes and recent minutes, and the reserve-fund position; confirms the licence, habitation status and the building's inspection record; checks what is private, communal or merely a use right; and assesses tourist-letting feasibility where it matters. We act for you alone, never the seller or the agent, and explain everything in plain English. Where work falls outside an initial review, we will tell you what it involves and quote for it — extras may apply depending on the complexity of the apartment and its community.
The comunidad de propietarios is the legal body governing every divided building under the Horizontal Property Law. Buying a flat makes you a member — bound by its statutes, liable for your share of its costs through your cuota de participación, and exposed to its debts. Checking its health is the most important part of buying an apartment.
Yes. Unpaid community fees attach to the property for the current year and the previous three — the affección — so the community can pursue you for arrears the previous owner ran up. Never complete without a zero-debt certificate, and retain and clear any arrears at completion.
The certificado de deuda cero, issued by the community secretary with the president's approval, states whether the seller is up to date with payments or what is owed. The seller must provide it before completion and the notary records it in the deed. It protects you from inheriting the seller's arrears — never complete without it.
A derrama is an extraordinary charge to fund works beyond the ordinary budget — a new lift, roof or façade. If one is approved before you buy, you may inherit the liability depending on when it falls due. Reading the recent minutes reveals what has been voted and what is looming, so the cost is no shock.
Yes — both are essential. The statutes set out what owners can and cannot do, including restrictions on letting, business use, pets and alterations. The recent minutes (actas) reveal approved or pending levies, planned works, disputes and votes on letting. Together they show whether you are buying into a healthy community or an expensive surprise.
Yes. The Horizontal Property Law lets a community limit or condition tourist letting by a qualified majority vote, and many have. Holiday letting also needs a regional licence and increasingly faces municipal caps. If you are buying to let to tourists, check the community minutes and the regional and municipal rules before you commit.
Not always. A storeroom (trastero) or parking space may be a separate part of your title with its own registry reference, or merely an allocated right of use over a communal area — a weaker arrangement that affects value and resale. The distinction is in the title deed and registry, and confirming it is part of standard due diligence.
The reserve fund (fondo de reserva) is money the community must hold for maintenance and repairs. A healthy fund means future works avoid a sudden levy; an empty one means the next major repair lands on you. Checking the fund, and whether the building's technical inspection (ITE) is current, tells you whether a costly levy is likely soon.
It should have one. The licence of first occupation or cédula de habitabilidad confirms the dwelling is legally fit to live in and is often needed to connect utilities and to let the property. An older flat may never have had one or lost it, so confirm its status rather than discover a problem when setting up water and electricity.
It is strongly advisable. The agent acts for the sale and the seller's lawyer for the seller; an independent lawyer acting only for you reads the community papers, insists on the zero-debt certificate, confirms the licence and inspection position, and tells you plainly if the building's finances or rules make the flat a poor buy. We act for English-speaking buyers across Spain and quote clearly for the work.
The flat is the easy part. We obtain the zero-debt certificate, read the statutes and minutes, check the reserve fund and inspection, and confirm what you actually own — so you buy a sound apartment, not someone else's problem. In plain English, across Spain.
The information on this page is general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. The rules governing the community of owners, community debt, the Horizontal Property Law, tourist-letting restrictions, habitation licences and building inspections are set out in legislation that changes over time and varies between Spain's autonomous communities and municipalities. Always obtain advice on your specific property and circumstances before acting. Platinum Legal Spain is an independent English-speaking legal practice serving clients across Spain.