The maintenance fee
is not in the price per square metre
Between €5.83 and €15.61 per square metre a year, measured across 16 listings read in full. At a median of €12 per square metre and 75 square metres, that is about €900 a year that takes no part in any comparison.
The buyer compares two properties per square metre and decides which one is more expensive. The number that changes the answer is not in the listing and is rarely asked about at the viewing.
The address does not decide. The service does.
City addresses in Varna with a pool and round-the-clock security come out as expensive as the resorts in Golden Sands. The fee jumps because of what the building offers, not because of where it is.
The amount is not set by law. It is a decision of the owners or an arrangement with the developer, and that is exactly why it varies almost threefold between otherwise similar buildings.
The decisions of the general meeting
apply to you too.
Under Art. 11(4) of the Condominium Management Act (ЗУЕС), the decisions adopted by the general meeting (общо събрание) also bind new owners, users and occupants. You do not need to have been there, or even to have known.
The time limit for challenging them before the district court is 30 days from notification (Art. 40(2)). It ran for the previous owner. So when the buyer learns about the decision, the time limit has most often already expired.
A decision on major repairs taken a month before the deal is an obligation of the buyer, not of the person who voted for it.
The previous owner’s debts: the law is half silent
There is an express provision only for an owners’ association (сдружение на собствениците). Under Art. 30(1) of the Condominium Management Act, obligations that fell due before the change of ownership remain with the previous owner, unless something else was agreed at the change.
For management under the general rules, without an association, which means for the vast majority of buildings, the Act has no equivalent provision and the question has no clear-cut answer.
The practical consequence is single and certain: nobody checks this debt automatically on the buyer’s behalf. The notary does not require it, and the tax assessment (данъчна оценка) shows debts to the municipality, not to the building.
A resident manager
or a professional.
Since February 2026 professional managers have been entered in a register. It holds 253 entries, of which 51 are based in Varna, about one fifth of the country.
The difference for the buyer is not in the price but in whether there is someone to ask before the deal and whether there is a document they can show you.
Is the maintenance contract valid at all?
In a gated complex the fee is set by a written, notarially certified contract between the developer and the owners under Art. 2 of the Condominium Management Act. Once registered against the property’s record, it is enforceable against subsequent acquirers.
But on 27 November 2025 Interpretative Case No 5/2025 was opened before the General Assembly of the Civil and Commercial Chambers (ОСГТК) on whether such contracts are void. The trigger is a conflict within the Supreme Court of Cassation (ВКС) itself: one division holds that they are, another that they are not automatically void.
There is no decision. So for now the obligation exists, while its legal basis is under review.
Three places,
none of them automatic.
The document on debts to the condominium (етажна собственост) is requested from the manager. The minutes of the general meeting for the last year show what is coming. And the maintenance contract, if the building is in a gated complex, is checked for whether it has been registered.
None of the three comes on its own. Related topics: how much of the floor area you will actually live in and The waste fee costs more than the tax itself.
Frequently asked questions
What is the maintenance fee for an apartment in Varna?
The confirmed range is from €5.83 to €15.61 per sq m a year, measured from listings opened and read word for word on 4 September 2026. For an apartment between 65 and 105 sq m this most often comes to between €50 and €110 a month. The amount is not set by law but depends on the services in the building, which is why a city complex with a pool and security costs as much as a resort one.
Are the decisions of the general meeting binding on the new owner?
Yes. Decisions adopted by the general meeting also bind new owners, users and occupants under Art. 11(4) of the Condominium Management Act. The time limit for challenging them before the district court is 30 days from notification under Art. 40(2), and it ran for the previous owner, so by the time the buyer learns about the decision, it has most often already expired.
Does the buyer inherit the previous owner’s unpaid contributions?
The law gives an express answer for only one of the two management regimes. With an owners’ association, under Art. 30(1) of the Condominium Management Act, obligations that fell due before the change of ownership remain with the previous owner, unless something else was agreed at the change. For management under the general rules, without an association, the Act has no equivalent express provision and the question has no clear-cut answer. Nobody checks the debt automatically on the buyer’s behalf.
Who sets the fee in a gated complex?
In a gated complex the fee is set by a written contract with notarised signatures between the developer and the owners under Art. 2 of the Condominium Management Act. Once registered with the Registry Agency against the property’s record, the contract is enforceable against subsequent acquirers. The Supreme Court of Cassation has not yet ruled in Interpretative Case No 5/2025 of the General Assembly of the Civil and Commercial Chambers on whether such contracts are void.
Multiply by twelve
Ask how much the monthly fee is and what it includes. Then multiply it by twelve and by the years you plan to stay. The number that comes out is not in the price per square metre, but it comes out of the same pocket.
Send us the fee and the floor area. We tell you how much this adds to the real price per square metre and how it ranks against the neighbouring buildings.
This material is not legal advice. A specific case should be checked by a lawyer.
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