Distribution of costs
April 20, 2021 | 60,00 EUR | answered by Bernhard Müller
Dear Sir or Madam,
we (2 people) have a residential community, a multi-family house (4 floors) with 8 apartments, 8 garages in the courtyard, and 7 parking spaces. The 2 ground floor apartments each have a terrace of 16sqm and the other 6 apartments each have a balcony of about 5.6sqm.
The terraces and balconies have only been calculated as half of the living space.
1. For the calculation of heating costs, the entire area of the terraces and balconies was even deducted and only the pure living space was used as a basis, while for all other costs, half of the terraces and balconies were taken as a basis. Question: Is this correct or should terraces/balconies not be included in the additional costs at all? Or should only a quarter of the balconies and terraces be calculated as living space from the beginning?
2. Garages: 4 garages were rented to residents of the house, 3 were rented to outsiders, and 1 is empty, as well as 3 parking spaces were rented to residents of the house and 4 to outsiders who are not residents of the house.
Question: How should the general costs such as property tax, house insurance, street cleaning, stairway and courtyard cleaning costs be distributed and calculated in relation to the garages and apartments? The property tax and house insurance are linked to the income of the house, so the garages and parking spaces bring in less income compared to the apartments. Therefore, there is consideration on how to fairly distribute the above costs.
Thank you in advance for your efforts!
M. Petro
Dear questioner,
Regarding 1: Consumption meters should actually be installed in the apartments for heating costs, and between 50% and 70% should be billed according to consumption. Otherwise, tenants can reduce their share of heating costs by 15% according to the Heating Costs Regulation. It is correct that the terrace and balcony areas were deducted for the calculation of heating costs, as they are not heated.
For other costs, the landlord has a margin of discretion as to whether to consider the balcony and terrace areas as 1/4 or 1/2. It just needs to be consistent for all units in the building. This is determined at the conclusion of the lease by specifying the apartment size.
Regarding 2: First, assume that all apartments, garages, and parking spaces are rented out. Then add up the rents that could be earned from them.
The property tax for the apartments is then the property tax for the land multiplied by the rent for the apartments and divided by the total rental income.
The property tax for the garages is then the property tax for the land multiplied by the rent for the garages and divided by the total rental income.
The property tax for the parking spaces is then the property tax for the land multiplied by the rent for the parking spaces and divided by the total rental income.
Distribute the share for the apartments according to living area.
Divide the share for the garages by the number of garages. Owners pay the portion that corresponds to the vacant garage.
Divide the share that corresponds to the parking spaces by the number of parking spaces.
Proceed in the same way with other costs that arise not only for the residential building.
Best regards.
