Property maintenance costs in Bulgaria

It costs about €500–700 per year to maintain property in Bulgaria. These charges include taxes, utility bills, insurance and maintenance services but not mortgage or repair expenses.

Taxes and charges

A newly-acquired property must be registered with the local tax authorities within two months of the final sale. The tax return contains information regarding the property, its price, year of construction, design features, surface area and number of floors. Foreign individuals must also register with the Registry Agency (Агенция повписванията). A BULSTAT card is issued after the acquisition, assigning an identification number to the owner who will be registered with the tax authorities.

The property tax (данък върху недвижимимот) is levied on any property excluding forests and agricultural land at a single rate both for individuals and legal entities varying from 0.01% to 0.45% depending on the location of the property. Tax is assessed on the estimated value (appraised by the tax authorities) for individuals and the book value for legal entities. Owners can choose to pay in quarterly installments or a one-off payment before 31 March which qualifies them for a 5% discount. Taxes are 50% lower for properties bought as permanent residences.

Homeowners must also pay a charge for waste removal set by the local authorities. This depends on the type of building, its estimated value, number of waste removal containers and waste, the prestige of the location and traffic. It can cost up to 1% of the estimated value of the property per year depending on the proximity with large cities. For instance, in downtown Sofia waste removal is 1%, while in the suburbs, it costs about 0.5%.

Total tax payments for a two-bedroom apartment in Sofia are €150 on average and €80 for the same outside the capital.

The tax on cheap property (данък колиба) levied on sales lower than 1,680 Bulgarian Lev (about €860) was revoked as of 1 January 2014.

Insurance

Home and property insurance cost €100–200 per year. For instance, a €30,000 apartment can be insured against robbery, flooding and fire for about €125 a year. However, the price can vary depending on the location of the property. In Sunny Beach for example, it costs €350 per year to insure a house.

Management company fees

If a homeowner does not reside permanently in Bulgaria, the property can be managed by a special management company that will review the condition of the property once or twice a week, set up the electricity, gas and water, pay utility bills and taxes and make arrangements for repairs. These services cost about €400 per year.

New residential complexes impose a maintenance and management fee covering security and cleaning services, area improvements, swimming pool operations and maintenance, etc. Regular apartment cleaning services can also be negotiated. An invoice of €5–15/sq. m is drawn up once a year based on the surface area of the apartment.

Utility bills

Monthly utility bills in Bulgaria amount to about €100–150 in winter and €75–100 in summer.

Central heating systems in Bulgaria use electricity, gas, liquid (oil) and solid (wood) fuel. Rural premises are heated with wood and use electric boilers. There is hot-water plumbing in city houses and apartments. In winter, electric heating for a two-bedroom house costs on average €150 per month, €50 for oil heating and €25 for wood burning . Gas heating in a 200 sq. m house will cost about €150 a month.

Electricity bills vary from €30–180 a month depending on the use of the lights, electric cooker and boiler as well as the surface area of the house.

Water bills usually amount to €5–9 a month.

Repairs

Major repairs in an old four-bedroom apartment (replacing floors, doors, utilities and room renovation) cost on average €1,800–2,500. However, the final bill could reach €10,000–15,000 depending on the quality of the materials and work scope. It might cost €1,000–2,500 to repair a bathroom and up to €3,600 to furnish a kitchen (€1,600 to fit out the furnishings and another €1,500–2,000 to equip it with home appliances). Tiling costs €8–60 per square meter and air conditioning might cost €500–750 with an additional 10% of the price to install it.