The community reserve fund in Spain: fondo de reserva, the 10% minimum and how it works under the LPH (2026)

The mandatory savings pot every Spanish apartment building must hold, what it pays for, and why it matters when you buy.

Every comunidad de propietarios in Spain must hold a reserve fund (fondo de reserva) under Article 9.1.f of the Horizontal Property Law, Ley 49/1960. The fund must contain at least 10 per cent of the community’s last ordinary annual budget, a threshold raised from 5 per cent by Real Decreto-ley 7/2019 on 6 March 2019. It pays for conservation, repair, rehabilitation and mandatory accessibility works, and the community may use it to buy building insurance or a permanent maintenance contract. When you buy a property, you inherit liability for unpaid reserve contributions on the same terms as general community debt.

What is the fondo de reserva and what does it pay for?

The fondo de reserva is a savings pot that belongs to the comunidad de propietarios as a legal entity, not to individual owners. Article 9.1.f of the LPH requires every community to maintain it, and every owner must contribute to it in proportion to their cuota de participacion (the participation percentage assigned to their unit in the building’s constitutive title).

The statute lists four categories of work the reserve fund exists to cover:

1. Conservation and repair works on the building (obras de conservacion, reparacion y rehabilitacion de la finca)
2. Rehabilitation works on the property
3. Accessibility works under Article 10.1.b of the LPH (barrier removal, lifts, ramps for disabled or elderly residents)
4. Accessibility and energy efficiency works under Article 17.2 of the LPH (works to improve the building’s energy performance certificate, renewable energy installations, envelope modifications)

The reserve fund is therefore not a general slush fund. It exists to ensure the community can meet its statutory duty of conservation under Article 10.1.a and its accessibility obligations under Articles 10.1.b and 17.2 without requiring an extraordinary levy (derrama) every time something breaks. A community with a healthy reserve can replace a failing boiler, repair a leaking roof or install a lift without asking owners for cash on short notice.

The 2022 reform (Ley 10/2022, in force 15 June 2022) extended the permitted uses by adding energy efficiency and accessibility works under Article 17.2 to the list the fund can cover. This means the reserve now serves the building’s legal obligations across conservation, accessibility and energy performance, the three pillars of the LPH’s mandatory works regime.

How much must the reserve fund hold?

The current legal minimum is 10 per cent of the community’s last ordinary annual budget. The text of Article 9.1.f reads: “El fondo de reserva, cuya titularidad corresponde a todos los efectos a la comunidad, estara dotado con una cantidad que en ningun caso podra ser inferior al 10 por ciento de su ultimo presupuesto ordinario.”

This 10 per cent floor was not always the rule. The history matters because many older Spanish buildings still operate under community budgets set before the reform:

Period	Legal minimum	Governing instrument
Before 6 March 2019	5 per cent of last ordinary budget	LPH Art 9.1.f (pre-reform text)
6 March 2019 onward	10 per cent of last ordinary budget	RDL 7/2019, Art 2.1, modifying LPH Art 9.1.f
Adaptation window	Three budgetary years to reach 10 per cent	RDL 7/2019, Disposicion transitoria segunda
15 June 2022 onward	10 per cent, with expanded permitted uses	Ley 10/2022, Art 2.1, adding Art 17.2 works

Real Decreto-ley 7/2019, published in the BOE on 5 March 2019 and in force from 6 March 2019, doubled the minimum from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. The reform’s stated purpose was to impel accessibility improvements: the preamble explains the increase was intended to ensure communities had resources to carry out the mandatory accessibility works under Article 10.1.b. The Disposicion transitoria segunda gave communities three budgetary years (the year in force at enactment plus the three following) to reach the new 10 per cent floor, so the adaptation period ran through approximately 2022.

The Disposicion adicional primera of the LPH adds a critical operational rule: the fund must not fall below the legal minimum at any point during the budgetary year. Amounts drawn from the fund during the year to pay for Article 10 works still count toward the minimum calculation, but at the start of the next budgetary year the community must make up the shortfall. In practice this means the reserve is a rolling floor, not a pot that can be drained to zero and left empty.

How does a new community start its reserve fund?

A newly constituted comunidad de propietarios does not have to fund the reserve at the full 10 per cent on day one. The Disposicion adicional primera of the LPH sets a two-step ramp:

1. At constitution: the fund starts at no less than 2.5 per cent of the community’s ordinary budget. Owners make their initial contributions in proportion to their cuota de participacion.
2. By the second budgetary year: the fund must reach the full minimum set in Article 9, which is 10 per cent.

The reserve must be constituted when the community approves its first ordinary budget. This phased start recognises that a brand-new building has no accumulated wear and may not need a full 10 per cent reserve immediately, but the law still requires the community to reach the standard floor within one budgetary cycle.

Can the reserve fund pay for insurance and maintenance?

Yes. Article 9.1.f contains an express authorisation: “Con cargo al fondo de reserva la comunidad podra suscribir un contrato de seguro que cubra los danos causados en la finca o bien concluir un contrato de mantenimiento permanente del inmueble y sus instalaciones generales.”

This means the community can use reserve money for two specific contractual purposes:

• Building insurance covering damage to the property (seguro de danos)
• A permanent maintenance contract for the building and its general installations

This is separate from the community insurance (seguro de la comunidad) that many buildings carry. The reserve fund can be the funding source for these contracts, which supports the building’s conservation duty without requiring a separate derrama. For more on the community insurance itself, see our guide to community insurance in Spain.

What happens when the reserve fund is not enough?

When the reserve fund cannot cover a necessary work, the community must levy a special contribution (derrama extraordinaria). Under Article 17.4 of the LPH, works not required for adequate conservation, habitability, security and accessibility that exceed three monthly ordinary fees require a three-fifths majority of owners and cuotas, and dissenting owners above that threshold can opt out. But mandatory conservation and accessibility works under Article 10 cannot be opted out of: every owner must pay, and the costs are charged in the same terms as general community expenses under Article 9.

This is the practical connection between the reserve fund and the derrama. A well-funded reserve means fewer special levies. A poorly funded reserve means owners face unexpected cash calls when the roof leaks, the lift fails or the town hall orders accessibility improvements. The 2019 reform that doubled the minimum to 10 per cent was specifically designed to reduce this risk.

Article 17.11 adds a timing rule for derramas: the owner who holds the property at the moment the contribution becomes due is responsible, not the owner who voted for the work. This matters in buildings with high turnover, common on the Costa del Sol where foreign buyers purchase and sell holiday apartments frequently.

How does the reserve fund affect a property sale?

Unpaid reserve fund contributions are community debt. When you buy a property in a Spanish comunidad de propietarios, Article 9.1.e of the LPH makes you jointly liable for the previous owner’s unpaid community debts for the current year plus the three preceding calendar years. The property itself is legally affected (afecto) by this obligation, meaning the debt follows the property, not the person.

The reserve fund contribution is explicitly included in this regime. Article 9.1.e grants community debts, including reserve fund obligations, preferential creditor status over most other claims except salary credits. Article 9.1.e also establishes the procedure: the seller must declare whether they are up to date with community payments at the notary, and the community secretary must issue a debt certificate (certificado de deuda) within seven natural days of request. The notary cannot authorise the public deed without this certificate, unless the buyer expressly waives the requirement.

For a full explanation of the debt inheritance mechanism, see our guide to community debt when buying Spanish property.

How does the reserve fund relate to community fees?

The reserve fund contribution is part of your monthly community fee (cuota de comunidad), not a separate charge. When the community approves its annual budget, it includes both the ordinary running expenses (cleaning, lift maintenance, gardening, insurance) and the reserve fund allocation. Your monthly fee is your cuota de participacion multiplied by the total budget, including the reserve component.

A community that underfunds its reserve is not saving you money. It is deferring costs that will eventually surface as a derrama, which you will pay as a lump sum rather than spread across monthly fees. A buyer reviewing a community’s financial health should ask for the last two years of approved budgets and the current reserve fund balance. A reserve below the 10 per cent legal minimum is a red flag: either the community has not yet adapted to the 2019 reform, or it has been drawing on the fund without replenishing it.

For the broader picture of what community fees cover and how they are set, see our guide to community fees in Spain.

Who decides how the reserve fund is spent?

The junta de propietarios (owners’ meeting) controls the reserve fund. The president and the administrator cannot draw on it unilaterally. Spending decisions follow the majority rules in Article 17 of the LPH:

• Mandatory conservation and accessibility works (Article 10): no vote required. These are obligatory and the community’s agreement is limited to distributing the cost.
• Accessibility and energy efficiency works under Article 17.2: simple majority of owners and cuotas, provided the annual cost does not exceed twelve monthly ordinary fees after subsidies.
• Non-mandatory improvements (Article 17.4): three-fifths majority, with dissenters able to opt out above three monthly fees.

The reserve fund is the financial instrument that makes these decisions executable. Without it, every mandatory work becomes a cash crisis. For the full voting framework, see our guide to community governance and voting rights in Spain.

What should a buyer check about the reserve fund?

Before completing a purchase, ask the community administrator for three things:

1. The current reserve fund balance and the last ordinary budget. Divide the balance by the budget to check it meets the 10 per cent minimum.
2. Any pending derramas or approved works that will require special contributions in the coming year.
3. The debt certificate (certificado de deuda), which the notary will require anyway but which you should review in advance.

A reserve fund at or above the legal minimum signals a well-managed community. A fund below the minimum, or a pattern of frequent special levies, suggests deferred maintenance that you may end up paying for after you buy. For the broader legal framework that governs all community obligations, see our guide to the Horizontal Property Law in Spain.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ. Verify current requirements with an independent lawyer (abogado) or tax advisor (gestor/asesor fiscal) before acting.