Horizontal condominium of villas in Morocco — bylaws, common areas and managing a gated community

1. Condominium ownership does not imply a building: the horizontal condominium

The reflex runs deep: condominium = apartment building, with a common staircase, lift and roof. That is the vertical condominium. But Moroccan law is broader. Article 1 of law 18-00, in its wording from law 106-12, expressly covers built real estate complexes made up of buildings, villas or premises, contiguous or separate, divided into private units and common areas held in undivided ownership by all the co-owners.

In other words: as soon as a group of villas shares common elements — an internal road, a perimeter fence, a gate, green spaces, collective security — you leave the regime of simple individual ownership to enter the horizontal condominium. The same legal corpus (law 18-00, supplemented by law 106-12) applies, but its application unfolds differently. For the general framework, see our condominium advisory overview.

2. What is common, what remains private

This is the central question, and the most poorly handled in practice. Article 1 distinguishes private units (assigned to the exclusive use of a co-owner) from common areas (assigned to the use or benefit of all). Applied to a villa community:

• Private: the villa itself, its plot, the adjoining enclosed garden, the private pool where applicable, the outbuildings (garage, annex) attached to the unit.
• Common: the internal roads and driveways, the perimeter fence and gate, the guard posts and security, the collective green spaces, the shared networks (road lighting, collective drainage, sometimes water supply), and the shared facilities: common pool, club house, sports courts.

Article 3 of the law lists the elements presumed common in the absence of a contrary mention in the title or the bylaws. But this presumption is not enough for a villa development: the composition of the horizontal common areas must be expressly described in the condominium bylaws and the descriptive statement of division (EDD). Without this description, the private/common boundary becomes the first ground for dispute — over the maintenance of a road, the responsibility for a fence, or the use of a green space.

3. The condominium bylaws of a villa community

The condominium bylaws are the constitution of the complex. For a villa community, they must address points that a classic building's bylaws do not, or handle poorly:

• The precise delimitation of the horizontal common areas: layout of the roads, footprint of the green spaces, perimeter of the fence, location of the shared facilities — ideally with an annexed plan.
• The shares (tantièmes) allocated to each villa and their calculation method (see section 4).
• The rules of use and enjoyment: circulation, visitor parking, use of the collective facilities, architectural rules (facade colours, heights, private fences) ensuring the homogeneity of the complex.
• The allocation and recovery of charges related to the maintenance of roads, green spaces, security and facilities.
• The articulation with subdivision regulations (law 25-90 on subdivisions and housing groups) when the roads have not been handed over to the municipality and remain private.

Any subsequent amendment of these bylaws follows a formal procedure, sometimes a source of litigation, that should be handled with care.

4. The shares: how to allocate between unequal villas

In a building, the tantièmes are calculated fairly naturally on the surface of the apartments. For villas, the exercise is trickier because the units often differ in size, location and access to services. The base rule remains article 12 of law 18-00: the share of common areas is determined in proportion to the value of each private unit relative to the total value of the complex, taking into account the surface area, location and composition of the units.

• Key by plot area: simple and readable when the villas are homogeneous.
• Weighted key: the area corrected by a coefficient of location (villa in the front row on the green space vs villa at the back of the plot) or standing.
• Mixed key by service: some charges (security, roads) shared equally or pro rata, others (pool, club house) borne only by the villas that have access.

When the villas are heterogeneous, basing the key on a documented value rather than an approximate estimate avoids years of dispute.

5. The governing bodies: from a single syndicate to the joint council

Governance depends on the legal structure of the complex. Two main configurations occur:

• A single syndicate for the whole community. This is the most frequent case for a homogeneous villa community managed as one block. Article 24 of law 18-00 establishes the syndicate of co-owners, which exists by operation of law upon publication of the bylaws. It appoints a syndic (executive body), convenes the general assembly of co-owners, and manages the common areas of the complex.
• Several syndicates headed by a joint council. When the complex combines buildings and villas, or groups several sub-complexes each with their own syndicate, the law provides for the creation by operation of law of a joint council of the real estate complex for the common areas shared by all — this is the mechanism of articles 29 and following.

In both cases, decisions are made in the assembly according to the majority regimes of the law (absolute majority for day-to-day management, reinforced majorities for extraordinary decisions).

6. The charges: a spending profile very different from a building

This is probably the most concrete difference day to day. A vertical condominium spends mainly on the lift, the cleaning of the interior common areas, the roof and the facade. A villa community concentrates its charges on:

• Security: guarding, gate access control, CCTV — often the top spending item of a gated community.
• Road maintenance: resurfacing, signage, internal public lighting.
• Green spaces: gardening, watering, maintenance of collective plantings.
• Collective facilities: pool, club house, sports courts, and the maintenance of shared networks.

The allocation of these charges follows the shares (or the special per-service keys) set in the bylaws. In the event of unpaid charges, the ordinary condominium recovery routes apply. A vague set of bylaws on the scope of the common areas is, here again, the recurring cause of deadlocks: a co-owner contests a charge by arguing that the expense is private or does not concern them.

7. Vertical vs horizontal: what really changes

• The legal framework is identical: law 18-00 and law 106-12 apply to both.
• The common areas change in nature: no staircase, lift or common roof; but extensive roads, fences, green spaces and outdoor facilities.
• The bylaws must be more descriptive: the private/common boundary, obvious in a building, must be drawn explicitly (with plans) in a villa community.
• The shares are more sensitive: unequal villas call for a weighted or per-service key, ideally backed by an appraised value.
• The charges profile differs: security, roads and green spaces dominate, where the building spends on the lift and roof.
• Governance can become more complex: mixed complexes or multi-syndicate arrangements falling under the joint council of article 29.

8. FAQ

Note: The condominium regime is set by law 18-00, amended and supplemented by law 106-12 (real estate complexes, art. 29 and following); subdivisions and housing groups also fall under law 25-90. The exact qualification of a complex (condominium, subdivision, status of the roads) and the applicable rules depend on the land title, the descriptive statement of division and the condominium bylaws: confirm your situation with your notary or your syndic. To document the value of a villa or the composition of the common areas, see our real estate appraisal page or the blog.