Living with communal central heating (calefacción central)

Key rules

• Metering: Buildings with central heating must have individual meters, or allocators or thermostatic valves where meters are not feasible, unless a technical report justifies an exemption.
• Disconnection: You usually cannot disconnect alone, and even if allowed you normally still pay the fixed part.
• Tenants: A tenant cannot disconnect without the owner's and the community's agreement.
• Rented flats: The lease decides who pays fixed costs and consumption, and community costs are the landlord's unless the contract says otherwise in writing.

The short version

If your building has shared heating, you normally pay for what you use, plus a share of the fixed costs. You usually cannot just switch off and stop paying. Tenants cannot disconnect without the owner's and the community's agreement.

Meters: what your building should have

Buildings with a central system must fit individual meters. Where that is technically impossible or not cost-effective, they must fit heat cost allocators (devices on each radiator that estimate your use) or thermostatic valves (radiator valves you set yourself).

Existing buildings had set deadlines to do this, extended in 2020, generally 2022 or 2023 onward. Which deadline applies depends on your building, so ask the administrator (administrador de fincas).

A building can be exempt if installation is not feasible or not cost-effective. That must be justified by a technical report. If you have no meters, ask to see it.

The community of owners pays for installation as a common cost. After that, consumption is billed individually.

How the cost is split

Costs have two parts:

• Fixed part: maintenance, standing costs and installation. It is shared by your cuota de participación (your flat's share of the building) or by heated floor area.
• Variable part: based on what your meter or allocators measure.

A typical split is around 30% fixed and 70% variable, but the community sets the real proportions. Check the community agreement or statutes. Where there are no meters, everything is shared by cuota de participación.

How you are billed

The community bills you, and the administrator handles it. Heating comes either inside the regular monthly or quarterly community fees, with an annual settlement, or as separate itemised bills based on meter readings. Ask which one your building uses, so a settlement bill does not surprise you.

Can you switch it off?

Often not on your own. If the statutes or the system design make heating a shared service, you cannot disconnect unilaterally. Courts have allowed disconnection where it harms neither the system nor other owners, and where the statutes do not forbid it. Even then, you usually still pay the fixed part and your share of upkeep.

Some statutes require a community vote. Since 2013, a simple majority can approve some energy-saving changes. Read the statutes first, and ask a lawyer or the administrator to confirm before you act.

If you rent

Your lease decides who pays what. Often the landlord pays the fixed part and you pay consumption. By default, community expenses are the landlord's unless the contract says otherwise in writing. Check that clause before you sign.

The checklist and FAQ below cover the questions to ask.

Checklist

• Ask the administrator (administrador de fincas) whether your flat has an individual meter, heat cost allocators or thermostatic valves.

• Ask which metering deadline applies to your building, since existing installations had to be fitted within set deadlines.

• If your building has no meters, ask for the technical report that justifies the exemption.

• Ask how the community splits fixed costs and consumption, and whether fixed costs follow your coefficient or heated floor area.

• Find out whether heating is billed in the regular community fees with an annual settlement, or in separate bills from meter readings.

• Read the community statutes before you ask to disconnect, and check whether a community vote is needed.

• If you rent, check your lease to see who pays the fixed part and who pays consumption.

Frequently asked questions

Can I disconnect my flat from communal central heating?

Sometimes, but not on your own say-so: you can usually disconnect only if the community statutes do not forbid it and it does not harm the system or other owners. You will normally still pay the fixed part of costs and the upkeep of the shared installation. The statutes may require a community vote first.

Can I disconnect as a tenant?

No, a tenant cannot disconnect without the agreement of both the owner and the community. Ask your landlord first, as the request has to go through the owner to the community.

What share of the heating bill is fixed and what share depends on use?

The community sets the split, and a common one is around 30% fixed and 70% based on consumption. The fixed part is shared by participation coefficient (cuota de participación, your flat's share of the building) or by heated floor area. If your building has no meters, all costs are shared by coefficient.

Who pays the communal heating in a rented flat?

It depends on your lease: the fixed part is often the landlord's and the consumption the tenant's.