The Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH), Law 49/1960 of 21 July, governs buildings where each flat or commercial unit has its own owner and all of them share the common elements. It sets each owner's share, how costs are split, how the owners' meeting is called and decides, and how debts are claimed.
In practice
It is the law a property manager applies every day. It develops article 396 of the Civil Code, which ties ownership of each flat or unit to joint ownership of the common elements, such as the façades, the entrance hall or the lifts.
It applies to communities of owners (comunidades de propietarios) that granted a founding deed (título constitutivo), to those that did not but meet the requirements of article 396, to private real estate complexes and to sub-communities (art. 2). Below the law sit the founding deed and the bylaws (estatutos), which can set rules on use, costs, insurance or upkeep (art. 5), and the internal rules approved by the meeting (art. 6).
It has been amended many times. The latest change, Law 4/2026 of 1 October, rewrites article 10.1.b on accessibility works with effect from 23 October 2026. So always work from the consolidated text in the BOE, Spain's official gazette.
Catalonia has its own rules, in Book Five of the Catalan Civil Code: for example, the notice of a meeting is sent eight calendar days in advance (art. 553-21.2).
What the law says
- Article 3. Each flat or unit has an ownership share (cuota de participación), in hundredths of the building's value, used to split costs and benefits.
- Article 9. Each owner's duties: pay the general costs according to their share (9.1.e), contribute to the reserve fund, which cannot fall below 10% of the last ordinary budget (9.1.f), and give the secretary an address in Spain for notices (9.1.h).
- Article 10. Compulsory upkeep and accessibility works, with no prior vote of the meeting, which only splits the special levy (derrama).
- Articles 13 to 16. Governing bodies (meeting, president, secretary and property manager) and notice. The meeting must be held at least once a year to approve budgets and accounts, and notice of the ordinary meeting must be given at least six days ahead.
- Article 17. Majorities for each type of resolution.
- Article 18. Challenges: three months from the resolution, or one year if it breaches the law or the bylaws.
- Article 19. The minutes, and the secretary's duty to keep notices and communications for five years.
- Article 21. Claiming fees from an owner in arrears through the special payment order procedure (monitorio) for communities.
Common mistakes
- Quoting an old version. The law has been amended in 1999, 2013, 2022 and 2026, among other years. Check the date of any template you copy.
- Applying it unchanged in Catalonia. The Catalan Civil Code governs there.
- Assuming the law allows notice by email or meetings by video call. The current text mentions neither. We explain it in can you call the owners' meeting by WhatsApp or email?, and the notice period in how much notice for an owners' meeting.
Sources
- Law 49/1960 of 21 July on horizontal property, consolidated text, arts. 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13 to 19 and 21.
- Civil Code, art. 396.
- Law 4/2026 of 1 October, first final provision.
- Law 5/2006, Book Five of the Civil Code of Catalonia, art. 553-21.