Community Fees and IBI: What It Costs to Own on the Costa del Sol

Understanding community fees and IBI is essential before you buy on the Costa del Sol. The headline purchase price is only the start: what it costs to own a home in Marbella, Estepona, Mijas or Fuengirola is driven by a handful of predictable annual charges. This guide explains the running costs a foreign buyer should plan for, with the current rules and figures behind each one. For the one-off taxes and fees payable at completion, see our related guide on buying costs and taxes.

The three main recurring costs of ownership

Every owner on the Costa del Sol faces the same core costs each year: community fees (if the property forms part of a shared development), the IBI local property tax, and, for anyone who is not tax-resident in Spain, the annual IRNR non-resident tax filed on Modelo 210. On top of these sit smaller items such as rubbish collection, utilities, home insurance and, where relevant, garage or storeroom charges. Taken together, a realistic budget for a typical coastal apartment usually lands somewhere between roughly 1% and 2% of the property’s value per year, though villas with private pools and large plots cost proportionally more to run.

Community fees (cuota de comunidad)

If your property is part of an apartment block or a gated urbanisation, you automatically belong to the comunidad de propietarios, the owners’ association governed by the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (Ley 49/1960, as amended). Membership is compulsory and tied to the title: you cannot opt out, and unpaid fees attach to the property, which matters when you buy a resale.⁴

Community fees pay for the upkeep of everything shared: lifts, stairwells, facades, communal gardens, swimming pools, security, lighting and cleaning. Spanish law also requires the community to hold a reserve fund of at least 10% of its annual budget for unforeseen repairs.⁴ Your share is set by your coeficiente, the participation quota assigned to your unit in the deeds.

On the Costa del Sol, monthly community fees commonly run in the region of €80 to €200 for apartments and higher for developments with extensive facilities such as spas, concierge or multiple pools; villa urbanisations can reach several hundred euros a month.⁵ Before committing, always ask for the last minutes (actas) of the owners’ meetings and a certificate confirming the fees are up to date. Related topics: our guide on choosing a resale versus new-build covers how community budgets differ in newer developments.

IBI: the annual local property tax

The Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI) is the equivalent of council tax. It is charged once a year by your town hall (ayuntamiento) and is due whether you are resident or non-resident, and whether or not the property is occupied.²

IBI is calculated on the valor catastral (cadastral value), an administrative value that is typically well below the market price (often around 30% to 50% of it). Each municipality sets its own rate within the legal band for urban property, which runs from 0.4% to 1.1% of the cadastral value. Coastal town halls tend to sit in the middle of that band: recent effective rates have been around 0.65% in Málaga capital and roughly 0.67% in Marbella, though these are revised periodically and some municipalities apply higher differentiated rates to high-value properties.¹⁶

A worked example: a property with a €250,000 cadastral value in a municipality charging 0.65% would pay about €1,625 in IBI per year.² IBI is usually collected between spring and autumn (broadly May to October, depending on the town), and most owners set up a direct debit through a Spanish bank account. Keep your IBI receipt: it shows the cadastral value you will also need for the non-resident tax below.

Modelo 210: the non-resident tax (IRNR)

If you own a Costa del Sol property but are not tax-resident in Spain, you are liable for the Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes (IRNR), declared on Modelo 210. How it works depends on whether the property is let out.

If the property is not rented (imputed income)

Spain assumes an empty second home generates a notional income and taxes it. The taxable base is 1.1% of the cadastral value where that value has been revised in the last ten years, or 2% where it has not.¹ The tax rate applied to that base is 19% for residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, and 24% for everyone else, including UK residents since Brexit.¹

For example, on a €250,000 cadastral value with a recent revision, the base is €2,750 (1.1%); a UK owner would pay 24% of that, about €660 for the year. This imputed-income Modelo 210 is filed once a year, with a deadline of 31 December of the year following the tax year (so the 2025 tax year is filed by 31 December 2026).¹

If the property is rented out

Rental income is taxed at the same 19% (EU/EEA) or 24% (non-EU) headline rates. The important difference is deductions: EU/EEA residents may deduct proportionate running costs (mortgage interest, IBI, community fees, insurance, repairs and management) and pay tax only on the net, while non-EU residents have historically been taxed on gross income with no deductions.³ A 2025 Spanish National Court ruling has questioned that restriction for non-EU owners, but its practical application is still being clarified, so non-EU landlords should take current professional advice.¹ Since 2024, rental Modelo 210 returns are filed annually rather than quarterly, between 1 and 20 April of the following year.¹

See our related guide on renting out your Costa del Sol home for the licensing and tourist-let rules that sit alongside this tax.

Rubbish tax and other running costs

Most town halls levy a separate rubbish collection charge (tasa de basura), billed annually or half-yearly and usually a modest fixed amount per dwelling. Following national waste legislation, more municipalities are formalising and updating this charge, so check the current figure with your ayuntamiento.

Budget also for the usual utilities and services:

• Electricity and water: standing charges apply even when the home sits empty; supply contracts are in your name.
• Home insurance: buildings and contents cover is strongly advisable and often required by mortgage lenders.
• Property management: many non-resident owners pay a local agent or gestor to handle keys, maintenance and the Modelo 210 filing.
• Garage and storeroom: if held on a separate cadastral reference, these can carry their own IBI and community share.

Putting it together: a sample annual budget

Figures are indicative and depend on your exact municipality, cadastral value and development. Always confirm the current rate with the town hall and the actual community fee with the administrator before you exchange.

Practical tips for foreign owners

• You will need an NIE and, in practice, a Spanish bank account to direct-debit IBI, community fees and utilities. See our guide on getting an NIE.
• Ask the vendor for the latest IBI receipt, community fee certificate and utility bills during the buying process.
• Non-residents almost always appoint a gestor or tax adviser to file the annual Modelo 210 correctly and on time; penalties apply for late or missed returns.
• If you later sell, keep every IBI receipt: unpaid IBI and community debts can transfer to the buyer, and the figures feed into the plusvalía and non-resident capital gains calculations. See our guide on selling costs and the 3% retention.

The recurring cost of owning on the Costa del Sol is predictable once you know the three pillars: community fees set by your development, IBI set by your town hall, and the non-resident Modelo 210 set by national tax law. Price them in from the outset and there are no surprises.