The expenses in buildings in the City of Buenos Aires increased 6.95% in September and have accumulated 133.57% so far this year, compared to an annual increase in rentals above 240%.
The survey was carried out by the Octopus PropTech platform, with data from more than 10,000 consortia, on more than 120,000 homes.
This increase exceeds the accumulated inflation in the City by 18.5 points, which was 115% in the first nine months of the year.
Both owners and tenants allocated $155,613 in September to the maintenance of buildings in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, while in August it had been $145,497, which represented an increase of $10,116 in one month.
The increase in electricity and gas rates directly influenced maintenance expenses in September.
The Octopus Proptech platform detailed that, from May to September, the increases in services were progressive: in May 10.29%, in June 13.71%, in July 14.09%, in August 15.38% and, finally, in September 17.74%.
Nicolás Baccigalupo, CEO of the firm, highlighted that “the weight of the services category in expenses exceeded 17% in September and will continue to rise as long as the rate adjustments persist”, generating increasing pressure on the consortia.
It is expected that from now until the end of the year the weight of public services will continue to grow and could stabilize at around 20% of the consortium’s total expenses, while the salary of those in charge represents more than 30% of the total.
Failure to comply with this obligation can trigger serious legal consequences, such as foreclosure judgments, seizures and, in extreme cases, the loss of property.
In Argentina, delinquent property owners can be sued through a relatively quick court process known as an “executive trial.”
Juan Martín Luciani Otaño, lawyer from the University of Buenos Aires, specialist in Horizontal Property, explains: “The auction is always the last instance, everyone wants to collect and no judge is going to auction off a property if a possibility of agreement appears in the middle of the process. “
Although the tenants are responsible for ordinary expenses, non-compliance and its consequences fall on the owner.
During 2023, from January to October, collectability was above 90%. It only decreased in November, to 89.59%, and in December (when the inflation peak reached 25.5% monthly), to 89.41%. This demonstrates the tendency to increase delinquency.
However, according to this survey, -in general terms- almost nine out of ten functional units pay expenses every month. The other notable fact is that those who do not pay are usually always the same people.
From Octopus PropTech they indicated that there is beginning to be a change in the way of paying expenses.
The high figures and the low availability of large quantities of banknotes add difficulties to their cash payment.
That is why a good part of the public began to pay expenses through QR code through virtual wallets.
While in January 2024 only 0.31% of users did it using this method, in August 2024 2.07% adopted it.
Octopus PropTech is a platform that provides digital solutions to all people who manage or live in buildings, countries, or neighborhoods.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
