How Common Expenses Are Calculated in Greek Apartment Buildings

Common expenses (in Greek, koinochrista) are one of the most frequent sources of questions, and disagreements, in an apartment building. The logic is simple, though: every expense of the month is split between the apartments using a specific allocation table. This guide explains what common expenses include, which tables are used and how each property’s final amount is calculated.

What common expenses include

Common expenses cover the shared areas and shared installations of the building. The most typical are:

• Common-area electricity: stairwell, entrance and pilotis lighting, door entry system.
• Common water: where there is a shared meter or consumption in common areas.
• Cleaning: cleaning service fees and supplies.
• Lift: monthly maintenance, inspection and lift electricity when metered separately.
• Heating: heating oil or natural gas, boiler service, boiler-room electricity.
• Management fee: when a professional manager or company runs the building.
• One-off expenses: repairs, stairwell painting, equipment replacement.

Per-mille shares: the basis of every split

Each apartment has a share in the expenses, expressed in per-mille (‰, in Greek chiliosta). The shares of all properties add up to 1,000. They are set out in the deed establishing horizontal ownership or in the building regulations, and there is usually more than one table:

• General expenses: costs that concern everyone (electricity, cleaning, management).
• Lift: ground-floor units usually pay less or nothing, depending on the regulations.
• Heating: based on the heated area and radiators of each apartment.

For more detail, read our guide to per-mille shares in apartment buildings.

Step-by-step calculation

1. Collect the month’s documents: electricity and water bills, maintenance invoices, cleaning receipts.
2. Assign each expense to an allocation table: lift maintenance goes to the lift table, cleaning to the general table.
3. Calculate each apartment’s share: Expense × (apartment per-mille ÷ 1,000).
4. Add any individual charges: e.g. heating consumption from an hour meter, or previous balances.
5. Issue the statement: broken down by category, so every resident can see what they pay and why.

Worked example

Suppose a building has total monthly expenses of €600: €200 cleaning, €100 common electricity and €300 lift. For an apartment with 85‰ in the general table and 95‰ in the lift table:

The same is done for every apartment. The check is easy: the shares of all apartments must add up to the total expenses.

Common mistakes that cause disputes

• Using the wrong per-mille table for an expense (e.g. lift costs in the general table).
• Rounding that leaves a small unexplained difference in the total.
• Statements without a breakdown, so residents cannot check the amounts.
• Mixing owner and tenant expenses on the same line. See who pays what.

How BeeManager does it automatically

With BeeManager you enter the per-mille tables once and, each month, simply add the expenses. The split is calculated automatically, rounding differences are balanced and every resident receives a clear PDF statement. See our plans and pricing or start for free.