Owners’ association must share cost of conservatory repairs
Sunday 1st November 2026 on 12:30 in
Iceland
Iceland’s Housing Complaints Committee has ruled that an owners’ association must contribute to repairs to the exterior of a conservatory attached to an apartment in a multi-unit building, mbl.is reported. The exterior is common property, even though an individual owner paid to build the conservatory.
The conservatory’s interior, including its window and door glass and internal fittings, is the apartment owner’s private property. Repair costs for those parts are therefore not shared by the association.
The committee considered the case on October 15 after an owner of a ground-floor apartment appealed a dispute with the association over repairs to a conservatory that was in very poor condition.
The building was constructed in 1987, and its original plans did not include conservatories. They appeared on approved plans in 1994. Between 1994 and 2010, conservatories were built at five apartments: four on the ground floor and one upstairs.
The association argued that the conservatories belonged to the individual apartment owners, who had paid for their construction and were responsible for the work. The building’s ownership declaration also said that the person building each conservatory would cover its construction costs. The association further claimed that damage to the conservatory resulted from neglected maintenance and construction defects.
The apartment owner argued that the conservatory’s exterior was common property and that the association was responsible for maintaining it. The owner also disputed that the conservatory had been shown to be improperly built.
The committee said that under multi-unit housing law, a structure paid for by one owner may be considered private property, but that factor alone does not settle the question. It noted that the ownership shares in the building’s declaration had been calculated on the basis that the conservatories formed part of the building. The committee therefore found that the exterior was part of the building’s outer envelope and common property belonging to all owners.
The committee upheld the apartment owner’s claim. Its opinion does not prevent either party from taking the dispute to court.