When you first purchase your very own apartment in Germany, you'll probably be preparing to pay off your mortgage in the coming years. Escaping the ever pricier rental market, it can feel good to know that the money you're paying is going towards a long-term asset, rather than your landlord's pension fund.
That said, it's easy to forget that owning a property also comes with some ongoing costs, whether that's maintenance of your apartment, your monthly heating bill or general building repairs.
In homeowners' associations (WEG), there are often disputes about who is responsible for paying what - and these disputes sometimes end up in court.
To clarify some key questions, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) recently issued a ruling on homeowner costs and how they should be split. Interestingly, the court clarified that WEGs can also allocate some costs specifically to individual homeowners - though they need to have a good reason for doing so.
This is what every homeowner should know about their rights and obligations in the WEG.
What is a homeowners' association?
A homeowners' association - or Wohnungseigentumgemeinschaft (WEG) in German - is a community of owners who own a flat or commercial unit in a particular property. The association is basically a way to coordinate between these homeowners and manage the maintenance of building as a whole.
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If you're wondering what the legal basis for this is, it's a piece of legislation called the Condominium Act. The law was last updated in 2020 by the grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD.
What costs does the WEG have to pay?
Here, the general rule of thumb is that the community shares costs related to common spaces and infrastructure in the building as a whole. If you've ever been in a flat share, this is a bit like pooling the cost of items that everyone uses, like cooking oils and toilet paper.
"Costs relating to the common property, such as the maintenance of the roof, the façade, the stairwell or the heating system, are borne by the community," Luisa Peitz, legal advisor at Haus & Grund, explained.
Unless otherwise agreed, these costs are distributed proportionately among all owners, depending on the amount of property they own.
What do owners pay themselves?
As your contract likely states, the costs for your specific property - or Sondereigentum - are your responsibility.
"This includes, in particular, maintenance measures within the flat, such as interior painting, floor coverings or private sanitary facilities," Peitz clarified. In other words, if you accidentally break a window or notice the wallpaper is getting shabby, that's something you'll need to pay for out of pocket.
In some cases, the WEG can choose to allocate some of these costs differently, but you'd have to make a good case for this at the next homeowners' meeting you attend.
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What exactly is Hausgeld and who has to pay it?
Hausgeld, or the housing fee, is a monthly charge that covers the running costs for the operation, maintenance and administration of the common property. It's usually around a few hundred euros per month, but can vary according to the region you live and how much you pay for heating costs.
How high your Hausgeld is will be based on the economic plan that building adminstrators draw up each year. As a rule, the amount you pay is proportionate to how much property you own on site, and is shared between all of the homeowners.
What responsibilities do building administrators - the Hausverwaltung - have?
The building administrator is appointed and dismissed by property owners, and generally organises things like ongoing maintence, annual financial reports, rubbish collections, and so on.
"They only have the authority to decide on measures of minor importance - not anything that is significant and can cost money," Lothar Blaschke from the German Condominium Owners’ Association told DPA. "They have to prepare this as a proposed resolution and present it at the next owners' meeting."
In practice, however, communities often set a maximum financial limit within which the administrator is allowed to act independently. This frees up time and limits bureaucracy.
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When can the WEG redistribute costs?
In principle, community costs are distributed according to the co-ownership shares in accordance with the statutory regulations.
However, the law also states that the condominium owners can decide on a different distribution for individual costs or certain types of costs.
Can costs also be redistributed at the expense of individual owners?
They may, but there are limits.
The case in question involved, among other things, a complaint by a condominium owner who was supposed to bear the costs for the renovation of a garage roof - even though she was not entitled to a parking space in the garage belonging to the complex.
The community had decided to allocate the costs to all flat owners in proportion to their ownership shares.
According to the BGH ruling, WEGs generally have the right to reallocate costs to homeowners - but not arbitrarily.
"If, as in this case, the separation of costs between the residential building and the underground car park has been agreed, an owner without a parking space may not, in principle, share in the costs of the underground car park," said the presiding judge.
However, a final decision wasn't reached in this particularly instance as the BGH referred the case back to the lower court. This court must now clarify whether there was an objective reason for the changed distribution.
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Have there been any other rulings on this topic?
In March 2024, the BGH had already ruled on such a first-time cost sharing of individual owners in a WEG and emphasised the community's room for manoeuvre.
"According to the BGH, owners who were previously completely exempt from certain costs can also be made liable for the first time by amending resolutions," says Beate Heilmann, Chairwoman of the Tenancy Law and Real Estate Working Group at the German Bar Association.
How can owners defend themselves against the costs?
If an apartment owner considers a resolution to be unlawful, they can, for example, bring an action for annulment before the competent local court. The action for annulment serves to have a resolution declared invalid by the court and must be filed within one month of the resolution being passed.
However, flat owners who file a lawsuit should bear in mind that they may have to share part of the legal costs - even if they win.
That's because the costs are likely to be passed onto the WEG, which the homeowner in question would then have to pay a proportion of.
With reporting by DPA
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