Spese Condominiali: Who Pays What in an Italian Condominio

Spese condominiali is the single most contested line item in Italian building life: who pays for the roof repair, who pays for the lift, and how much of it lands on any one owner. The default answer is proportional to each owner's millesimi, but that default has real exceptions, and getting the exception wrong is where most disputes start.

This page works through the actual apportionment rules, art. 1123 and art. 1124 c.c., with worked figures rather than a restatement of the rule in the abstract. It then covers the practical questions owners search for: what happens when a flat is rented out, what happens when it is sold, and what the amministratore can actually do about an owner who stops paying.

Information verified on 20 July 2026. This page provides general legal information and does not constitute legal advice for an individual situation.

The default rule: proportional to millesimi

Art. 1123, first comma, c.c. sets the baseline: expenses necessary for conserving and enjoying the common parts, for shared services, and for innovations the assembly has approved, are borne by the owners in proportion to each one's share of the property, unless they have agreed a different criterion. That share is the unit's millesimi, from the tabelle millesimali.

As an illustration only, take a building with four units holding 300, 250, 250 and 200 millesimi out of 1.000. A facade repair costing 40.000 euro, an ordinary conservation expense apportioned by value, is split 12.000 euro, 10.000 euro, 10.000 euro and 8.000 euro respectively, exactly following each owner's share.

Two exceptions inside art. 1123 itself

The proportional default is not the whole article. Two comma-level exceptions change the split for specific situations, and missing either one is how a wrong figure ships.

Where a common thing serves the owners unequally, for example a courtyard used far more by ground floor units than upper ones, the expense is apportioned according to the use each owner can actually make of it, not by a flat proportional split (art. 1123, second comma, c.c.).

Where a larger building has several stairways, courtyards, flat roofs, works or systems that each serve only part of the whole complex, the maintenance cost for each of those falls only on the group of owners who actually benefit from it, not on every owner in the building (art. 1123, third comma, c.c.). A building with two separate stair blocks does not split one block's repair bill across owners served by the other block.

Stairs and lifts: the two-halves rule

Stairs and lifts do not follow the general proportional rule at all. Art. 1124 c.c. sets a specific formula: the maintenance and replacement cost is split into two equal halves.

One half is apportioned by each unit's value (its millesimi). The other half is apportioned strictly in proportion to each floor's height above the ground. Note which half the statute's own qualifier attaches to: art. 1124 comma 2 says that for the purpose of contributing to the half apportioned by value, basements, disused lofts, attics and flat roofs count as floors when they are not owned in common.

Both halves matter, and stating this as a single blended formula, rather than two genuinely separate 50 percent components, is a real and common error.

A worked example

As an illustration only, take three apartments served by the same lift, on the first, second and third floors, each holding an equal 100 millesimi within that group (300 combined). Annual lift maintenance costs 3.000 euro.

The first half of the cost, 1.500 euro, is split by value: since all three units hold equal millesimi within the group, each pays 500 euro. The second half, the other 1.500 euro, is split by floor height. Adding the three floor numbers gives 1 plus 2 plus 3, or 6. The first floor owner pays one sixth of 1.500 euro (250 euro), the second floor owner pays two sixths (500 euro), and the third floor owner pays three sixths (750 euro).

Combining both halves: the first floor owner pays 750 euro total, the second floor owner pays 1.000 euro, and the third floor owner pays 1.250 euro. The higher floors pay more overall, reflecting that they benefit more from a lift they would otherwise have to reach by more stairs.

Who pays when the flat is rented out

The condominio's contractual counterparty is always the owner, never a tenant, whatever the lease between them says. The amministratore bills the owner and, if payment is late, pursues the owner, not the person actually living in the unit.

Separately, residential tenancy law lets a landlord pass certain ordinary running costs on to the tenant through the lease itself: cleaning of common parts, the lift's running costs and ordinary maintenance, water, electricity, heating and air conditioning for shared systems, and other shared services, along with 90 percent of the building porter's costs unless the parties agree a lower share (art. 9, L. 27 luglio 1978, n. 392, still applicable under the residential tenancy framework). Extraordinary works, and any expense that is not one of those ordinary running items, stay with the owner. A tenant who is asked to pay is entitled to an itemised breakdown of the charges and to inspect the supporting documents before paying, and payment is due within two months of the landlord's request.

Who pays when the unit is sold

A sale splits liability between buyer and seller rather than moving it cleanly to one side. The buyer becomes jointly liable with the seller for contributions relating to the current accounting year and to the year immediately before it, regardless of who actually incurred them. The seller, for their part, remains jointly liable with the buyer for contributions accrued up until a certified copy of the deed transferring the unit is delivered to the amministratore (art. 63, disp. att. c.c.). In practice this makes clearing outstanding condominio arrears, and formally notifying the amministratore of the transfer, a standard part of closing an Italian property sale.

Arrears and recovery

If an owner does not pay, the amministratore does not need the assembly's authorisation to act. Based on the approved cost apportionment, the amministratore can obtain a decreto ingiuntivo, an immediately enforceable payment order, even if the owner opposes it (art. 63, disp. att. c.c.). Once arrears on an owner's contributions have run for six months, the amministratore can suspend that owner from common services capable of being enjoyed separately.

The law also protects owners who are current on their payments: a creditor of the condominio, for example a contractor owed for repair work, cannot pursue an owner who has paid their share until the creditor has first tried to recover from the owners who are in arrears (the beneficio di preventiva escussione).

See also

For what a condominio is and how the tabelle millesimali are set in the first place, see our condominio overview. For the exact quorum needed to approve the annual budget, an extraordinary repair, or an innovation whose cost then gets apportioned under these rules, see assemblea di condominio: the quorum rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are condominium expenses split in Italy?

The default rule apportions expenses for conserving and enjoying the common parts, and for shared services, in proportion to each owner's millesimi, the share set by the tabelle millesimali (art. 1123, first comma, c.c.). Owners can agree a different criterion, and the code sets its own separate rule for stairs and lifts, covered on this page.

How is the cost of the lift or stairs split?

Not by the general millesimi rule. Art. 1124 c.c. splits stairs and lift costs into two equal halves: one half apportioned by each unit's value, and the other half apportioned strictly by each floor's height above ground. Only the owners actually served by that stairway or lift are included in the split.

Who pays condominium fees when the apartment is rented out?

The condominio bills the owner, not the tenant; the owner remains the amministratore's counterparty regardless of who occupies the unit. Separately, under residential tenancy law, a landlord can typically pass ordinary running costs, such as cleaning, lift running costs, water, heating and other shared services, on to the tenant through the lease, while extraordinary works remain the owner's responsibility.

Who is responsible for condominium debts when a unit is sold?

Both parties can be on the hook, for different periods. The buyer becomes jointly liable with the seller for contributions relating to the current year and the year before it. The seller remains jointly liable for contributions accrued up until a certified copy of the sale deed is handed to the amministratore (art. 63, disp. att. c.c.).

What happens if an owner does not pay their condominium fees?

The amministratore can seek an immediately enforceable decreto ingiuntivo without first needing the assembly's authorisation, and once arrears reach six months, can suspend the owner from common services capable of separate enjoyment. Creditors of the condominio must also pursue owners in arrears before they can go after owners who are up to date on payment.

Can an owner avoid paying for a service they do not use?

Not simply by not using it. An owner cannot renounce their share of the common parts or avoid contributing to their conservation, even by changing how their own unit is used. The one specific exception the code allows is renouncing use of a centralised heating or air conditioning system, provided that does not create significant imbalances or extra costs for the other owners, though the renouncing owner still shares the cost of that system's extraordinary maintenance (art. 1118 c.c.).

Do all owners pay the same share of an expense that only affects some units?

No. Where a common thing serves the owners unequally, the cost follows how much use each owner can make of it, and where a stair, courtyard or system serves only part of a larger complex, only the group of owners it actually serves shares that cost (art. 1123, second and third commas, c.c.).