A small co-ownership is not obliged to entrust its management to a professional property manager. Under certain conditions, one of the co-owners may be appointed as property manager and carry out the management of the building themselves.
This possibility does not, however, remove any of the co-ownership's obligations. The non-professional property manager must be appointed by the general meeting, keep separate accounts, organise the meetings, preserve the archives and apply the same operating rules as a professional property manager.
Which small co-ownership may be managed by a co-owner ?
The rule is often summed up by the expression « from 2 to 9 units ». This formula is imprecise. The exemption from the business permit concerns buildings comprising at most nine residential units, provided that at least one of these units belongs to the proposed property manager.
The threshold therefore relates to units for residential use, and not to the total number of units appearing in the descriptive statement of division. As the criterion expressly targets units « for residential use », a cellar or a parking space — which does not have this use — is not included in the count ; only units for mixed or professional use could call for a case-by-case assessment.
The property manager must also themselves own a unit in the building. An outside third party, even if they agree to act on a voluntary basis, does not come within this exemption.
How is the non-professional property manager appointed ?
The co-owner who accepts this function does not become property manager by mere agreement between neighbours. Like any property manager, they must be appointed by the general meeting, by a majority of the votes of all the co-owners. Their term of office may not exceed three years. It may then be renewed by a new decision of the meeting.
The fact of not carrying out this activity on a professional basis therefore reduces neither the role of the general meeting nor the responsibility attached to the mandate.
Do you have to be an accountant to perform this function ?
No accounting qualification is required. The accounting obligations, however, remain the same. The property manager keeps, for the co-owners' association, accounts separate from their personal assets. These accounts must show the situation of each co-owner.
The co-ownership's funds must also be managed in an account opened in the name of the association. The sums collected for the building must never be mixed with the property manager's personal money.
The apportionment of charges is carried out according to the applicable shares and, where provided for, according to individually measured consumption. The difficulty therefore does not necessarily lie in complex calculations, but in the regularity of the entries, the keeping of supporting documents and the ability to explain the accounts.
Which tasks actually have to be carried out ?
Managing a co-ownership yourself means, in particular, keeping the accounts, preparing the budget, calling for the provisions, convening the general meeting, preparing the decisions, drawing up the minutes, following up the contracts and preserving the archives. These archives belong to the co-owners' association, and not to the person who performs the function of property manager.
The property manager must also follow up the works, the incidents, the payments, any unpaid amounts and the decisions taken by the meeting. Even in a small building, these tasks must be documented so that the management can be understood and taken over by another person.
Must small co-ownerships build up a works fund ?
Yes. The works fund is compulsory for co-ownerships subject to the Law of 16 May 1975, whatever their size. It does not concern only large buildings or only entirely residential buildings. Mixed buildings are also concerned, as is the whole of the units, including cellars and parking spaces. The sums paid into the works fund must remain distinct from the provisions intended for current charges.
Before getting started
Non-professional management may be suitable for a simple co-ownership in which the co-owners cooperate and where one of them agrees to devote time to the management. It becomes more delicate when the accounts are old or incomplete, when major works are planned, when unpaid amounts exist or when the relations between co-owners are conflictual.
The question is therefore not only whether direct management is authorised. You must also check whether the co-ownership has the time, the rigour and the continuity needed to assume it properly.
Where to find the rules
The operation of the co-ownership and the appointment of the property manager fall under the amended Law of 16 May 1975 establishing the statute of co-ownership of built property and the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 13 June 1975 adopted for its implementation, which govern in particular the separate accounts, the account opened in the name of the association and the archives.
The exemption from the business permit results from the amended Law of 2 September 2011 regulating access to the professions of craftsman, trader, industrialist and to certain liberal professions ; its conditions are presented on Guichet.lu.
The works fund is governed by Article 11bis of the Law of 16 May 1975, introduced by the Law of 30 June 2022 ; its scope is specified by the FAQ of the Ministry of Housing.