Majorities at the general meeting
What majority each type of resolution requires, with the article to hand, and the three counting rules that decide whether the numbers add up.
Every majority in the Horizontal Property Act is a double one: owners are counted and ownership shares are counted, and both are needed. The table sets out the regime of article 17, plus the two cases that need no resolution of the meeting.
| Resolution | Majority | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Works necessary for maintenance, conservation, safety, habitability, universal accessibility and appearance, or required by the authorities | None. These works are compulsory and need no prior resolution: the meeting merely apportions the special levy and sets the payment terms | 10.1.a) and 10.2.a) |
| An electric vehicle charging point for private use in an individual parking space | None. Prior notification to the association is enough; the owner concerned pays for it | 17.5 |
| Telecommunications infrastructure, use of renewable energy —including aerothermal and geothermal— or access to new collective energy supplies | One third of owners and one third of ownership shares. The cost is not passed on to those who did not vote in favour | 17.1 |
| Equipment or systems improving energy or water efficiency for private use | One third of owners and one third of ownership shares | 17.3, closing words |
| Removal of architectural barriers and installation of a lift, even where it amends the deed of horizontal division or the bylaws | A majority of owners and a majority of ownership shares | 17.2 |
| Energy efficiency or renewable energy works for common use, and applying for grants or finance for them, if the amount passed on annually —net of subsidies— does not exceed twelve months' ordinary levies | A simple majority of owners and of ownership shares. A dissenting owner cannot opt out | 17.2, third paragraph |
| Setting up or removing a porter's lodge, concierge, security or other common services of general interest; letting common parts with no assigned use; energy or water efficiency equipment for common use | Three-fifths of owners and three-fifths of ownership shares | 17.3 |
| Non-compulsory innovations, installations, services or improvements whose installation charge exceeds three months' ordinary levies | Three-fifths of owners and of ownership shares. A dissenting owner is not bound and their share is unchanged | 17.4, second paragraph |
| Physical division, merger or splitting of flats and units; construction of new floors; enclosing terraces; any other alteration to the structure, the fabric or the common parts | Three-fifths of owners and of ownership shares | 17.4, third paragraph |
| Approving, limiting, making conditional or banning the tourist letting referred to in art. 5.e) LAU, and setting special charges or an increase of up to 20% in its share of common expenses | Three-fifths of owners and of ownership shares. No retroactive effect | 17.12 |
| Approval or amendment of rules in the deed of horizontal division or in the bylaws not expressly governed by art. 17 | Unanimity of all owners and of all ownership shares | 17.6 |
| All other resolutions: budgets, accounts, appointment of officers, ordinary works, engaging services… | A majority of owners and of ownership shares on first call. On second call, a majority of those attending representing more than half the shares present | 17.7 |
The general regime of Act 49/1960. Catalonia is governed by book five of its Civil Code and this table does not apply to it.
The three counting rules
The table says what fraction is needed. These three rules decide what base it is worked out on, and they are what makes two managers count the same meeting differently.
1. A double count, always
Owners and shares. Meeting one of the two is not enough. The gap appears as soon as there are commercial units, garages with their own share or an owner with several properties: that owner is one person and several shares.
2. Owners in arrears drop out of the denominator
An owner who, when the meeting opens, is not up to date with all debts due, and has neither challenged them in court nor deposited them, takes part in the discussion but does not vote. The minutes must record it and neither that owner nor their share counts towards reaching the majorities (art. 15.2). It is not that their vote is worth zero: it is that they disappear from the calculation base, and the bar comes down.
3. An absent owner's silence counts as a yes
Owners who were absent but properly served, once informed of the resolution under art. 9, count as votes in favour unless they notify the secretary of their disagreement within 30 calendar days, by a means evidencing receipt (art. 17.8).
The rule has two express exceptions: it does not apply where the cost cannot be passed on to owners who did not vote in favour, nor where the alteration is for private use. In other words, it does not come into play in art. 17.1 resolutions.
The upshot: in resolutions where it does apply, the result on the day of the meeting is provisional for a month.
Attendance quorum and majority are not the same thing
They are often mixed up, and the confusion costs resolutions.
- The quorum is how many people are needed for the meeting to go ahead. On first call, a majority of owners representing a majority of ownership shares; on second call, the meeting goes ahead with no quorum requirement (art. 16.2).
- The majority is how many votes a given resolution needs to pass. For reinforced majorities —three-fifths and unanimity— it is always worked out on the association as a whole, not on those present.
Only art. 17.7 resolutions —«all other resolutions»— allow a majority of those attending on second call. A second-call meeting attended by eight owners out of forty can approve the budget and cannot ban tourist letting.
If the majority is not reached by any of these routes, the court may be asked within one month of the second meeting to decide on equitable grounds (art. 17.7, second paragraph).
Carry on here
- Tourist letting and homeowners associations — the three-fifths resolution under art. 17.12, with the text and the second additional provision.
- How to call an extraordinary general meeting — art. 16: who calls the meeting, what the notice must contain and why the six days' notice does not belong to the extraordinary one.
- How the copilot avoids inventing articles — where each citation comes from and how it is checked.
Written on the consolidated text of Act 49/1960 published in the BOE, checked on 24 August 2026. The first paragraph of art. 17.1 comes from Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, in force since 22 March 2026. This guide is not legal advice: it is a working tool for someone who already has the judgement and answers for what they sign.
This table, but answering your case
The demo comes with the Horizontal Property Act ingested from the BOE, article by article. Ask it about the resolution on your desk and check whether the wording it cites is the one in force.