Does a house pay a cuota de condominio?

The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal regulates the apartments and commercial units of a building and does not mention houses. If the house is in a complex with common areas, check in the title and at the Registro which document or regulation binds it.

Do houses and apartments pay the same municipal tax?

Both pay the Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos, whose base is the value of the property starting from the cadastral value, with the market as a ceiling (Ley Orgánica del Poder Público Municipal, arts. 174 and 175). The rate is set by each municipality's ordinance, within the caps the finance ministry sets every year (Ley Orgánica de Coordinación y Armonización de las Potestades Tributarias, art. 37).

Can I extend my apartment without the condominium's permission?

Inside your unit you can modify ornamental elements, fixtures and services if you do not affect safety, structure or exterior, notifying the administrator beforehand (LPH, art. 4). Building new floors, basements or excavations requires the unanimous consent of the owners and a permit from the authorities (art. 10).

What should I check when buying a house that I would not check in an apartment?

The boundaries and the area in the title against reality, with a mensura, and the easements. An easement can arise by prescription without appearing in a document (Código Civil, art. 720), so it is worth walking the land.

Is the condominium required to insure the building?

No. The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal does not mention insurance. If the building suffers destruction of less than three quarters of its value, the owners decide whether to rebuild the common elements and, if they agree to, that cost is a common expense (art. 17).

Can a new apartment be sold without a permiso de habitabilidad?

No. Article 32 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal prohibits transferring an apartment without first obtaining the permisos de habitabilidad. For the first sale, the Ley Orgánica de Ordenación Urbanística accepts the constancia de recepción of the work instead of that permit (art. 97).

House or apartment in Venezuela: what changes

For a specific case (a house in a gated complex, an undeclared extension) consult a lawyer.

Two different ownership regimes

The apartment is governed by the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (condominium law; Gaceta Oficial No. 3.241 Extraordinario, August 18, 1983), which is still in force. The law calls an apartment the part of a building capable of independent use (art. 1). You own your apartment and co-own the common elements: the land on which the construction permit was based, the structure, the roofs, the stairs and the elevators, among others (art. 5).

Your weight in the community is a percentage of the total value of the building, set in the documento de condominio (condominium deed) (arts. 7 and 26), which changes only by unanimous agreement (art. 7).

The house falls outside that regime: the owner owns the land and what is built on it, within the boundaries of their title. The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal does not mention houses; if the house is in a complex with common areas, check in the title and at the Registro (public registry) which document or regulation binds it.

Comparison table: house or apartment

Aspect	House	Apartment	Rule
Regime	Ownership of the land and the building	Apartment plus a percentage of the common elements	Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (LPH), arts. 1, 5 and 7
Cuota de condominio (condominium fee)	The LPH does not impose one	Common expenses by your percentage; the debt follows the apartment	LPH, arts. 11 to 13
Municipal tax	On the value of the property	Same	Ley Orgánica del Poder Público Municipal (Municipal Public Power Law), arts. 174 to 176
Works inside the unit	Construction or renovation: written notice to the alcaldía (city hall)	Prior notice to the administrator; without touching safety, structure or exterior	LPH, art. 4; Ley Orgánica de Ordenación Urbanística (LOOU, the urban planning law), art. 84
Extensions	Notice to the alcaldía, which verifies the variables urbanas (core zoning rules)	Improvements to common elements: 75% of the owners. New floors or excavations: unanimity and a permit	LPH, arts. 9 and 10; LOOU, arts. 84 and 85
Parking	On your land	At least one assigned space, which can only be sold with the apartment	LPH, art. 5, literal i
Checks before buying	Boundaries, survey and easements	Documento de condominio and condominium debts	Código Civil (Civil Code), arts. 709 and 720; LPH, arts. 13 and 26
Insurance	The owner decides	The LPH does not require it; the owners decide on reconstruction	LPH, arts. 16 and 17
Occupancy	When a work is finished, the alcaldía's constancia de recepción (acknowledgment of receipt)	Cannot be sold without the permisos de habitabilidad (occupancy permits)	LOOU, art. 95; LPH, art. 32

Recurring costs: condominium fee and municipal tax

Cuota de condominio (apartments only). Common expenses are those for the administration, upkeep, repair or replacement of the common elements, those agreed by at least 75% of the owners and those declared as such by the law or the documento de condominio (art. 11). Each owner contributes in proportion to their percentage (art. 12). The debt follows the apartment, even for expenses from before the purchase (art. 13). In a house there is no fee under this law, but what is shared in a building (roof, structure, tanks, pumps) is paid by the owner alone.

Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos, the urban property tax (house and apartment). It is paid by the owner or the holder of another real right (Ley Orgánica del Poder Público Municipal, art. 174). The base is the value of the property, calculated from the cadastral value with the market price as a reference and as a ceiling (art. 175). The law considers both the land and the buildings urban (art. 176). Since 2023, the Ley Orgánica de Coordinación y Armonización de las Potestades Tributarias de los Estados y Municipios (state and municipal tax harmonization law) takes cadastral appraisals as the base, by zone and type of construction (art. 36), and the finance ministry sets the table of values and the rate caps every year (art. 37). Each ordinance sets its rate within those caps (see our guide to the Impuesto sobre Inmuebles Urbanos). Without the solvencia (tax clearance) for this tax, the Registro does not record the sale (Ley de Registros y Notarías, the Registries and Notaries Law, art. 97).

Works, extensions and parking

In an apartment there are three levels of works:

Inside your unit (LPH, art. 4): you can modify ornamental elements, fixtures and services if you do not impair the safety of the building, its structure, its exterior configuration or condition or the rights of other owners, and you must notify the administrator beforehand. In the rest of the building you cannot make any alteration.

Improvements to common elements (art. 9): they require the agreement of 75% of the owners. A judge can suspend them at an owner's request on the grounds in the same article, such as substantially changing the exterior appearance.

New floors, basements, excavations or acts that affect the upkeep and the aesthetics of the building (art. 10): unanimous consent of the owners and a permit from the competent authorities.

In a house there is no assembly, but there is municipal control. The LOOU requires written notice to the municipality of the intention to start the work, with the project and the documents it lists (art. 84). For buildings, the municipality has 30 calendar days to verify only that the project complies with the variables urbanas fundamentales (art. 85). Steps and penalties: construction or extension permit.

Parking. In a building, the documento de condominio must assign at least one space to each apartment, which can only be sold or mortgaged together with it. Surplus spaces are sold preferably to owners; to third parties, only with the vote of 75% of the owners (LPH, art. 5, literal i).

What to check before buying each one

House: boundaries, survey and easements

Boundaries and area. Every entry at the Registro describes the property with its location, area, boundaries and cadastral code (Ley de Registros y Notarías, art. 48, num. 3). A mensura (professional measurement) compares the fence with the title. If the neighbor disputes the line, every owner can compel them to a deslinde (boundary demarcation) (Código Civil, art. 550). See boundaries, survey and demarcation.

Easements. An easement is a burden on one property for the use of another belonging to a different owner, such as a right of way or a drain (Código Civil, arts. 709 and 710). The acts that create them are recorded (art. 1.920, num. 2), but they can also be established by prescription or by destinación del padre de familia (an arrangement made by a former common owner) (art. 720): besides reading the document, walk the land.

Apartment: documento de condominio and debts

Documento de condominio. Recorded at the Registro, it describes the apartments and their boundaries, the common elements, each unit's percentage and the liens on the building (LPH, art. 26). Your apartment's title must cite its registration data, the area, the boundaries and the percentage (art. 33).

Condominium debts. Ask for the account statement before signing and agree on who pays (art. 13). See condominium debts when buying.

Insurance and occupancy

Insurance. The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal does not mention insurance or require insuring the building or the apartment. It does regulate destruction: if it reaches at least three quarters of the building's value, any owner can request the division of the common elements (art. 16); if it is smaller, the owners decide whether to rebuild and, if they agree to, the cost is a common expense (art. 17). For a house, insuring it is the owner's decision.

Occupancy. No title to an apartment can be recorded without complying with the formalities of the approved plans and the documento de condominio, and "no podrá enajenarse ningún apartamento sin haber obtenido previamente los permisos de habitabilidad" (no apartment may be transferred without first obtaining the occupancy permits) (LPH, art. 32). For primary sales of apartments, the LOOU requires the constancia de recepción of the completed work, which replaces the permiso de habitabilidad (arts. 95 and 97).

If you buy from a builder or developer, house or apartment, the Ley de Promoción y Protección de la Construcción de Viviendas (Housing Construction Promotion and Protection Law; Gaceta Oficial No. 7.071 Extraordinario, August 25, 2026) requires the final inspection by Bomberos (the fire department) for the alcaldía to grant the permiso de habitabilidad (art. 33), and it classifies selling or recording homes without it as a very serious infraction (art. 39, num. 6).

House or apartment in Venezuela: legal and cost differences