Common charges and building rules in a Greek apartment block: the regulation, the thousandths, the manager, unpaid charges and the heating bill
A flat in a Greek apartment building (πολυκατοικία) comes with a regulation you did not write, a share of the bills fixed in thousandths, a manager and a general assembly. How the regulation binds you, what the 1929 law and the Civil Code say where there is none, how common charges and heating are split, why a seller's arrears are not yours if you check, what the courts say about short lets, and where the reform stood in November 2026.
A flat in a Greek apartment building comes with a second contract you never negotiated: the building regulation. It fixes what you pay, what you may do with the flat and how the building decides, and where there is none, a 1929 law and the Civil Code fill the gap with rules that are blunt and hard to change. The practical rule is simple: read the regulation and the last two years’ accounts before the deposit, and get the manager’s written word that the seller is paid up. As checked in November 2026 against law 3741/1929, the Civil Code, the 2017 heating rule, recent court rulings and the Justice Ministry’s reform papers.
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. A building’s regulation is a private document that only a lawyer who has read it can interpret, and the courts read similar clauses in different ways.
The apartment block in one minute. You own your flat outright and an undivided share of the land, roof, walls, stairs, lift and central heating (Civil Code art. 1117, law 3741/1929 art. 2). The regulation is a registered notarial deed whose restrictions count as servitudes (art. 13): it binds you unread. Writing or changing it needs every owner (art. 4); without one, even a manager needs unanimity. Charges follow the thousandths in the regulation, or, failing any agreement, the value of each flat (art. 5); empty flats generally pay. A seller’s arrears are the seller’s under the prevailing case law, but no law yet requires a certificate of paid charges, so ask for one. Disconnecting from central heating needs an absolute majority, or 30 days of silence (law 4495/2017 art. 127). A residential-only clause has been enforced against short lets (ΜΠΑ 2937/2026). The reform of the 1929 law was not law on 1 November 2026; a vote was promised for late January 2027.
The regulation is part of what you buy
Article 4 of law 3741/1929 lets the owners, with everyone’s consent, write a regulation that sets their rights and duties, sets up a general assembly and fixes the majorities for decisions about the common parts, which may vary with how much a decision matters. Article 13 requires that agreement to be a notarial deed noted in the property registers, and turns its restrictions into servitudes. In practice that means the regulation travels with the flat: a ban on business use, pets, awnings or tourist lets binds the buyer exactly as it bound the seller.
What you share is wider than the stairwell: article 2 of the 1929 law adds chimneys, shafts, lifts, cesspits and the central heating to the Civil Code’s ground, walls and roof, and forbids splitting them up. How the Cadastre records each flat is in vertical and horizontal ownership.
Thousandths and the common charges
The regulation normally carries a table of thousandths (χιλιοστά): your share of the building, of every common bill and of the vote. Many tables have extra columns, one for the lift, which weighs more on the upper floors, and one for the heating. Where the owners never agreed anything, article 5 makes each pay in proportion to the value of their flat, and defines common charges as the upkeep and repair of the co-owned parts and the taxes on the common building.
Two facts surprise foreign owners. An empty flat generally pays its share whether anyone lives there or not, and changing the split needs a unanimous decision, not a majority. A block of flats with a lift and a cleaner is a smaller bill than a complex with gardens and a pool; the pool arithmetic is in apartments and complexes.
The manager and the general assembly
The manager (διαχειριστής) collects the charges, pays the bills, orders repairs and represents the owners in court. Without a regulation, article 4 allows one only by unanimity; removal takes a majority counted in thousandths. The Ministry’s July 2026 reform paper itself lists unclear managers’ duties and up to 100% thresholds to amend a regulation among the problems.
The reform is coming, not here. The draft as reported in July 2026 would lower majorities for repairs and energy upgrades, add a fast-track procedure, possibly a payment order, for unpaid charges, and make a reserve fund compulsory. On 8 October 2026 the minister said the bill would be ready in early December and voted at the end of January. Until then, the 1929 rules apply.
Unpaid charges: the seller’s, if you check
The legal press describes the prevailing case law as splitting liability for common charges by the period each owner held the flat, with registration of the deed as the cut-off, so the buyer is not jointly liable for the seller’s debts (Civil Code articles 965, 1192 and 1198 are the ones cited). The catch is practical. In November 2024 the property owners’ federation and the notaries asked for a manager’s statement of no arrears to be compulsory in every sale, because departing sellers, foreign owners among them, were leaving debts behind. No such rule was found in force on 1 November 2026: the deed carries tax and insurance clearances, not a common-charges one.
So ask before signing for a dated, signed confirmation from the manager that the flat owes nothing, plus the last two years’ accounts, the reserve fund balance and any assembly decision for works already voted but not yet billed. If there are arrears, have them paid out of the price at the notary. The rest of the hand-over is in the first month after the contract.
Heating, and short lets
Central heating is usually split by the heating column and, where fitted, by individual meters or radiator heat-cost allocators, which law 4342/2015 required by the end of 2016 where technically feasible and cost-effective. To leave the system, article 127 of law 4495/2017 gives the decision to an absolute majority of all co-owners, overriding the regulation; if the assembly refuses or stays silent for 30 days, an owner may disconnect at their own cost. The flat then stops paying for fuel but keeps paying its share of preventive maintenance and extraordinary costs, unless the majority exempts it.
Short lets are where regulations bite. In an interim decision, ΜΠΑ 2937/2026, reported in July 2026, an Athens court read a 1970 residential-only clause as excluding a professional short let and ordered it stopped, with a €1,000 penalty per breach. It was not a final judgment, the press calls the case law divided, an Athens ruling in 2019 refused a ban where the regulation allowed owners free use, and no Supreme Court ruling was found. If the plan depends on letting, the use clause decides it. The state’s own rules are in renting out your Crete home, and the city market in Heraklion city apartments.
The honest downside
A Greek block is a small democracy that often cannot vote. Unanimity for the regulation, the split and, without a regulation, the manager means one absent heir can freeze a building for years, and the fix was still a promise on 1 November 2026. Arrears are not legally yours, but the gap they leave in the building’s cash is: the roof waits, the lift stops. Old regulations are being read against short lets, and courts do not read them alike.
Disclosure: Honest Crete does not sell or list property. Enquiries sent from this section go to a licensed estate agent, not to us; the full statement is below. Nothing in this article names a building, a developer, a property-management company, a lawyer, a notary or any other business; the Justice Ministry and the courts are named as the public institutions they are.
Worth it if you have read the regulation, seen two years of accounts and the reserve fund, and hold the manager’s written confirmation that the seller owes nothing: then a flat in a block is one of the simplest ways to own in Crete. Skip it if the regulation forbids what you are buying the flat to do, the building has no manager and no accounts, or the arrears list is long; a building that cannot collect cannot repair.
Is a Greek apartment building's regulation binding on a new owner?
Yes. A building regulation (κανονισμός πολυκατοικίας) is a notarial deed entered in the property registers, and under article 13 of law 3741/1929 the restrictions it places on ownership count as servitudes, so they bind every later owner whether or not they read it. Writing or changing one needs the consent of all co-owners under article 4. Read it before paying a deposit.
How are common charges split in a Greek apartment building?
Common charges (κοινόχρηστα) in a Greek block are usually split by the table of thousandths in the regulation, often with separate columns for the lift and the heating. Where there is no agreement at all, article 5 of law 3741/1929 makes each owner pay in proportion to the value of their flat. Empty flats generally pay their share too.
Do I have to pay the previous owner's unpaid common charges in Greece?
Under the prevailing Greek case law, as reported in the legal press, liability for common charges is split by the period each owner held the flat, with registration of the deed as the cut-off, so a buyer is not jointly liable for the seller's arrears. In practice the manager chases whoever is in the flat, so ask for the manager's written confirmation that the seller is paid up and settle any arrears at the notary. No law required such a certificate on 1 November 2026.
Can a Greek apartment building ban Airbnb?
A Greek building regulation that forbids tourist use, or limits flats to residential use, can be enforced against short lets: in a decision reported in July 2026 an Athens court used a 1970 residential-only clause to stop a professional short let. Courts remain divided where the wording is vaguer, and an older Athens ruling refused a ban where the regulation allowed free use. Read the use clause before buying to let.
Can I disconnect my flat from central heating in a Greek block?
Yes, under article 127 of law 4495/2017. An absolute majority of all co-owners decides on disconnection whatever the regulation says; if the assembly refuses or does not decide within 30 days, an owner may disconnect at their own cost. The flat then stops paying for fuel but still shares the system's preventive maintenance and extraordinary costs unless the majority votes otherwise.
Is there a new law on Greek apartment buildings?
Not on 1 November 2026. The Justice Ministry announced a reform of the 1929 apartment-building law in July 2026, with lower majorities for repairs, faster collection of unpaid common charges and a mandatory reserve fund among the reported ideas. In October 2026 the minister said the bill would be ready in early December and voted at the end of January 2027.
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