The updates to the Horizontal Property Law continue to be a topic of discussion in communities across Spain, and for good reason: the reform approved in January 2025 has brought changes that directly affect delinquency, the necessary majorities in meetings, and accessibility works. For property managers and community presidents, understanding these changes is no longer optional: it makes the difference between managing with legal certainty or accumulating conflicts and challenges. In this article, we review, point by point, what has changed and what it implies in the day-to-day life of the community.
The New Legal Framework: What the HPL Reform Brings
The new Horizontal Property Law (HPL), approved in Spain in January 2025 and published in the Official State Gazette on July 24 of the same year, has introduced updates such as promoting digitalization in community management, regulating tourist apartments, providing aid for building rehabilitation, and removing architectural barriers for people over 70 years old or with disabilities. Additionally, a fact that many managers still do not know: the Supreme Court Ruling 1.726/2025, dated November 26, has established that community fees prescribe in five years, ending years of confusion over whether the period was fifteen. Moreover, delinquency remains the issue that generates the most inquiries in any property management office, with neighbors stopping payments for months and presidents pushing to act, so these regulatory changes come at an opportune time.
Delinquency in the Community: New Tools Against Non-Payments
Article 21 remains the cornerstone for claiming unpaid fees, but with important nuances. It allows for claiming debts, suspending voting rights, and reaching the seizure of assets of owners who do not pay community expenses, and debts under 2,000 euros can also be claimed through simplified procedures. It is also worth remembering that the regulation allows for the application of interest for late payments on unpaid fees, the rate of which must have been approved in a meeting or, failing that, will be the legal interest rate.
One of the updates that is most changing the claims protocol is prior mediation: the standard procedure must now incorporate a formal phase of mediation or a formal invitation to mediation, so that if the delinquent rejects it or does not respond in time, that refusal directly enables the judicial route. In practice, this streamlines cases and avoids eternal blockages in assemblies. Some communities are also applying more forceful measures, such as temporarily depriving delinquent owners of the use of non-essential services, such as the pool or gym.
Mandatory Accessibility Works: What the Law Really Requires
Another focus of the reform is accessibility. Article 10 distinguishes between works that the community can decide freely and mandatory works without the need for prior agreement in a meeting, and among the latter, accessibility works requested by owners with disabilities or over 70 years old stand out, provided that the annual cost does not exceed twelve ordinary monthly payments once public aid is deducted. If the budget exceeds that limit, the requesting owner can assume the excess so that the work remains mandatory, a real right that many communities still do not know.
To approve this type of action, the required majority is less than many presidents believe: works required by the administration or requested by a neighbor with a disability or over 70 years old are approved by a simple majority of owners present, without the need for unanimity or a qualified majority. In Catalonia, moreover, the regulation is even more agile: the Catalan Civil Code facilitates the adoption of agreements to remove architectural barriers with lower majorities than in the rest of Spain, a nuance that managers and presidents in Barcelona must keep in mind before calling the meeting.
Majorities in the Owners' Meeting: Agreements, Deadlines, and Challenges
Article 17 remains, by far, the most consulted when calling a meeting, because it establishes what majority is needed for each type of decision, from improvement works to the installation of solar panels or the limitation of tourist apartments. To regulate the latter, for example, a meeting agreement approved by a majority of three-fifths of the total owners is needed, who in turn represent three-fifths of the participation quotas.
There are two details that generate common conflicts and that every manager should have under control:
The delinquent does not vote: if an owner is not up to date with overdue debts and has not challenged or deposited, they can deliberate, but they do not have voting rights and do not count for majorities.
Challenging has conditions and deadlines: there are three months to challenge generally, which extend to a year when the agreement is contrary to the law or the statutes, and to challenge, the owner must be up to date with payments or have judicially deposited the amounts due.
Absentees also "vote": absent owners who do not vote against within 30 days from receiving the notification of the agreement count as favorable votes, a detail that should be well explained in each call.
The Catalan Singularity
The communities of Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia must bear in mind that, in addition to the state HPL, the supreme norm regulating horizontal property in Catalonia is the Catalan Civil Code, and that the president's vote is decisive to break ties in simple majority votes, a peculiarity that does not exist in the rest of the territory.
How to Act in the Face of So Many Regulatory Changes
In the face of this volume of legal updates, the practical recommendation is always the same: document each agreement well in the minutes, review the majorities before submitting any proposal to a vote, and have professionals who know the current regulations to execute accessibility or maintenance works derived from these agreements. In our directory of trusted professionals, you will find verified specialists in renovations, accessibility, and rehabilitation prepared to adapt to the legal requirements of your community. And if your community has already decided to undertake an accessibility work or needs to resolve an incident derived from the new regulations, you can request a quote without obligation and compare options before taking it to the meeting. Staying up to date with the Horizontal Property Law is not just about complying with the law: it is about protecting the community from conflicts, challenges, and avoidable cost overruns.