The maintenance reserve when selling an apartment: who does it belong to?

Every community of owners collects money for future maintenance work. Part of the monthly charge does not go towards running costs but into the maintenance reserve. It later pays for repairs to the roof, the façade, the windows, the lift or the heating.

Since an amendment to the Condominium Act in 2022 there has in principle been a statutory minimum amount for this, based on the floor area.

What regularly comes as a surprise: this money does not belong to the individual owner.

There is no pay-out on a sale

The maintenance reserve is an asset of the community of owners. Anyone selling their apartment cannot, as a rule, demand their notional share of it. It stays with the building and benefits the buyer.

So anyone who has paid in for ten years and then sells has helped save for a refurbishment that someone else will see.

What this means for the seller

A well-funded reserve is an economic advantage that can be reflected in the value of the apartment. It is usually not paid for separately, only through the purchase price — if it is taken into account there.

It is therefore worth knowing the level of the reserve before the sale and raising it, rather than only learning of it in the course of the transaction. In a well-kept building with a well-funded reserve, that is an argument which can be put in figures.

What this means for the buyer

This is the more important part. If the reserve is low and larger works are due, the missing funds have to be raised on top — through higher monthly charges, a special payment or borrowing.

Who actually bears such a payment depends on when it falls due and who is the owner at that time. The purchase contract can also set out who is to bear costs already resolved or foreseeable.

The level of the reserve is a simple figure that can be asked for before the purchase.

What to look at before you sign

It is worth looking at the last statement of accounts, at the property manager's forward estimate and at the minutes of the last owners meetings. These show how much money is available and which larger works have already been resolved or are foreseeable.

The balance alone does not tell the whole story. What also matters is whether larger works have already been resolved or commissioned and whether additional payments or borrowing are to be expected for them.

These documents often say more about the future costs of an apartment than the sales brochure.

The best time for this is before a purchase offer is signed — the purchase offer itself can already be binding.

Accounts, forward estimate, resolutions: condominium ownership step by step