Building maintenance fees in Georgian complexes: what the published data shows

How much fee data is actually published?

Very little. On 3 November 2026 we opened 239 new-build project pages on one large listings portal, Realting, and searched each for a service charge. Of 126 Batumi projects, 3 named a figure. Of 113 Tbilisi projects, none did. We found no published fee for any named Tbilisi complex.

There is no official series either. Geostat's consumer price index has separate items for rent, water, waste collection, electricity and repair services, but none for building or association charges, so nobody measures how these fees move. What follows is a few dated, labelled examples and our own arithmetic, not a ranking.

What do Batumi complexes publish per square metre?

These are all the complex-level fees we found in dated listings, from April 2025 to August 2026. None was confirmed with the manager, and any may have changed.

OKTO and the Vazha-Pshavela St complex are still being built, so their fees are announced, not yet charged. We read OKTO's rate, which states no period, as monthly. Royal Residence's range starts at USD 0.05, which looks like a typing error, so we use only its upper figure. The two Subtropic City listings differ: one ties USD 0.5 to flats not let through the complex, but whether USD 1 is the rate inside the rental scheme is not confirmed.

What is the typical rate, in dollars and in lari?

Counting Subtropic City once at its headline USD 1, the five per-m² rates are USD 0.70, 0.90, 1.00, 1.00 and 1.20 a month. By our calculation the median is USD 1.00; with Subtropic's USD 0.50 instead, it is USD 0.90. Five examples are a working figure for a budget, not a market statistic.

At the National Bank of Georgia's official rate valid on 3 November 2026, GEL 2.5973 per US dollar, USD 1.00 per m² is about GEL 2.60.

Over a year, a 50 m² flat at the median pays USD 600, or GEL 1,558.38. Because the fee is in dollars, the lari amount moves with the exchange rate. Whether a manager may set this kind of charge in dollars at all, under Georgia's rule on prices in lari, is not confirmed.

How do caps and rental schemes change the bill?

Both capped complexes reach their ceiling at exactly 50 m²: USD 45 divided by 0.9 and USD 35 divided by 0.7 both give 50. Above that size the real rate falls. For a 70 m² flat, by our calculation, Marina Club's USD 63 becomes USD 45, an effective USD 0.64 per m²; in the Wyndham block, USD 49 becomes USD 35, or USD 0.50 per m². Compare monthly amounts, not headline rates.

In an aparthotel the owner may also give up part of the rental income, separately from the building charge:

• Marina Club. A 10-year agreement, 60% of income to the owner and 40% to the operator, whose share is said to cover "all maintenance and management expenses"; yet the USD 0.9 per m² fee is listed as well.
• Subtropic City. 70% to the owner, 30% to the management company.
• Novotel Living Batumi. A seller's guide from 2026 says the operator takes 40% and the building's service charge sits outside that share; the charge itself is not published.

A low per-m² rate in an aparthotel is therefore not a low total cost. Our entry on what "management company" can mean separates the rental operator from the building manager.

What is known about Tbilisi?

Tbilisi project pages list services such as concierge, security and cleaning, but no prices. What exists comes in two kinds that should never be averaged together:

• A published range. A Tbilisi agency, on 28 August 2026, put new-complex fees at USD 0.30 to 1.00 per m² a month, and said older buildings have minimal formal fees, with roof or lift repairs paid as one-off collections.
• Household reports. A relocation blog of 11 September 2023 gives real bills from unnamed buildings: GEL 73 a month for security, lift and waste together for 130 m² in Saburtalo (about GEL 0.56 per m², our calculation); a lift charge of GEL 10 in one building and GEL 18.50 in another; and nothing for lift or cleaning in a 70 m² Isani flat. These are 2023 figures from ordinary blocks.

Which published ranges are worth using?

Agency and portal articles quote ranges, not complex tariffs. None names the buildings behind its numbers, so we keep them apart from the listing examples.

By our calculation, the median lower bound of these seven is USD 0.40, the median upper bound USD 1.50 and the median midpoint USD 1.00, the same as the dated Batumi listings. About one dollar per m² a month is a fair planning figure for a serviced complex. A basic building charging GEL 20-40 per flat, the level two of these articles give, costs GEL 0.40 to 0.80 per m² for 50 m², so a serviced complex at GEL 2.60 costs roughly 3.2 to 6.5 times as much per m².

The top end needs care. The USD 1.50-2.50 that our property management page reports for Batumi towers is an undated agency claim, above every dated listing we found, the highest of which is USD 1.20. Lari figures of GEL 2-3 a month, per person in one case, quoted by some agencies as a building fee, match the municipal waste fee, which Tbilisi charges at GEL 2.50 per registered person a month and the Law on Local Fees caps at GEL 3. They are not building fees.

What does the fee pay for, and what is billed separately?

No complex in our sample published a budget. A Batumi agency's guide of 29 January 2026 lists the usual components: cleaning and lighting of common areas, lifts, boiler rooms and ventilation, security and access control, landscaping, insurance of common parts and administration, plus, in some complexes, a reserve fund for unexpected repairs. The law does not require such a fund.

We found no complex publishing a monthly parking charge or a separate lift tariff. How the charge fits a landlord's budget next to utilities and repairs is on our running costs page; who owns a pool or gym is explained on residential complex amenities.

Who can charge the fee, and on what legal basis?

The share-of-area rule and the consequences of arrears are on our building maintenance fee entry. Three further points matter in a new complex:

• The association exists by law. Under Article 11(1) of the Law on Homeowners' Associations, an association is treated as founded in any multi-flat building on one plot with more than two flats in individual ownership. In a new tower that can happen as soon as a third flat is in individual ownership, as the law puts it; what may still be missing is a chair, a charter and municipal registration.
• A contract can hand management to a company. Article 8(1) leaves joint management of the common property to the owners unless the charter or a contract provides otherwise, which is the opening for a management company.
• The law is silent on developers. A manager chosen by the developer charges under the contract each buyer signs, which binds that buyer. Whether it binds later owners who never signed it, or whether the association can end it, is not confirmed; we found no court decision, and a lawyer should read the contract.

Meetings, majorities and replacing a manager are covered in our homeowners' association guide and the glossary entry.

What has the Supreme Court said about unpaid shares?

In ruling No ას-1030-2019 of 17 July 2020, the Supreme Court of Georgia dealt with a Tbilisi association whose charter, approved by the members on 14 September 2010, set the building's costs. One member, a company, paid the upkeep of the common property from September 2011 to June 2018 and sent the other members notices asking them to reimburse it by share. A bank owning 794 m², a 28.29% share, did not pay.

The company sued on 15 June 2017 for GEL 25,052.11, in proportion to the bank's area. The lower courts allowed the claim and the Supreme Court declared the bank's appeal inadmissible, so the award stood. Three lessons follow:

1. Members owe each other by law. A members' meeting decision on the costs of the common property binds every member.
2. Whoever pays for others can recover it, share by share, counted by area.
3. Non-use is no excuse, whether the owner chooses not to use the property or others prevent it.

The parts we read do not discuss how far back such a claim may reach, so the time limit for old arrears is not confirmed. For an investor the third lesson bites: an empty holiday flat owes the same share as an occupied one.

Are fees likely to rise?

We found no report of a measured rise in complex fees between 2024 and 2026, but the cost of what a building pays for is measured. Geostat's detailed price indices show these changes in the year to October 2026:

Lifts and common lighting run on electricity, and repairs need plumbers and electricians, so a fee set in 2024 or 2025 may well be raised. That is our inference from costs, not an observed increase.

For big repairs, the cities help registered associations. The explanatory note to Batumi's draft 2026 budget gives GEL 13.93 million to a sub-programme supporting associations; the works listed for the wider programme include roofs, storm-damaged roofs, building utility systems, replacing worn-out lifts, entrance doors, yard lighting and facades. The owners' share is not stated in the note. Tbilisi's 2026 budget, as approved in December 2025, sets aside GEL 62.5 million for associations.

Which numbers should a buyer ask for before signing?

Ask in writing before the deposit. Questions on how the association is run are in our association guide.

• Who bills? The chair or a company, and under which charter clause or contract.
• The formula. Per m² of which area, per flat or capped; lari or dollars, and at what rate.
• The budget. A line-by-line estimate behind the fee.
• Reserve fund. Whether one exists, its balance, whose account and who decides on spending.
• This flat's arrears. The seller's balance in writing; a buyer can become liable for it.
• The building's arrears. How much all owners together owe.
• Exclusions. Pool, gym, parking and lift use.
• Rental scheme. The rate inside and outside it.
• Contract term. Length, notice period and whether owners can replace the company.
• History. The fee at handover, today, and how rises are decided.
• Planned works. Roof, lifts or facade, the expected contribution, and whether the association is registered.

Risks and exceptions

• Budgeting from an agency range. Claims of up to USD 3 per m² sit far above every dated listing.
• Ignoring the exchange rate. A dollar fee paid from lari rises when the lari weakens.
• Signing a long management contract unread. Ending a developer-chosen manager's contract early is not settled law.
• No reserve fund. Legal, but big repairs then need a special contribution.
• Inheriting arrears. Get the seller's balance in writing before paying.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the monthly fee in a Batumi complex?

Five dated listings give USD 0.70 to 1.20 per m², a median of USD 1.00 by our calculation; one complex still being built announces GEL 50 a month, apparently per flat.

Is there a typical fee for Tbilisi complexes?

No complex publishes one. A Tbilisi agency gives USD 0.30 to 1.00 per m² for new complexes; treat it as a range, not a tariff.

Do I pay if the flat stays empty?

Yes. The Supreme Court held in 2020 that non-use, even when others cause it, does not release an owner from shared costs.

Can the developer's company charge before the association has a chair?

It can charge buyers who signed its contract. Whether that binds later owners is not confirmed; have a lawyer read it.

Is there an official index of building fees?

No. Geostat's price index has no item for building or association charges.

The fee is one line of a longer list: see the yearly cost of owning an apartment and how to check a developer.

Sources

1. Law on Homeowners' Associations, No 5277-რს, Legislative Herald of Georgia, consolidated 15 July 2020 (accessed 3 November 2026)
2. Ruling No ას-1030-2019, Supreme Court of Georgia, 17 July 2020 (accessed 3 November 2026)
3. Consumer price detail indices, Geostat, data to October 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
4. 2026 budget explanatory note, Batumi City Hall (accessed 3 November 2026)
5. Tbilisi City Council approves 2026 budget, BM.ge, 23 December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
6. Official exchange rates, National Bank of Georgia, rate of 3 November 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
7. Waste fee questions and answers, Tbilisi Service Group, citing Tbilisi council resolution No 17-46 of 12 December 2014 (accessed 3 November 2026)
8. Law on Local Fees, Article 12-1(4), Legislative Herald of Georgia, consolidated 17 December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
9. Batumi waste fee resolution No 3, Batumi City Council, as amended 30 January 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
10. Marina Club, listing 27793, Korter.ge, about December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
11. Adlia St 12, listing 3694534, Realting, 3 December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
12. Subtropic Aparthotel, listing 3734184, Realting, 23 February 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
13. Subtropic City, listing 3865960, Realting, 15 August 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
14. OKTO Art House, Realting, 17 November 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
15. Royal Residence, Realting, 23 April 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
16. Complex on Vazha-Pshavela St, Realting, 14 December 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
17. New buildings in Batumi and in Tbilisi, Realting, basis of our count (accessed 3 November 2026)
18. Novotel Living Batumi, UInvest Group, 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
19. Apartment owning costs, Housebook, 28 November 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
20. Utilities in Batumi, BuyHome.ge, 16 September 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
21. Service charge in new buildings, BuyHome.ge, 29 January 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
22. The real cost of keeping an apartment, BD Group, 27 March 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
23. The real cost of owning an apartment in Tbilisi, Tbilisi Home, 28 August 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
24. 7 pitfalls to know before buying, Realting, 2 July 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
25. Buyer's guide, Korter.ge, undated (accessed 3 November 2026)
26. ROI of an apartment in Batumi, Cappuccino Estate, undated (accessed 3 November 2026)
27. Utility costs in Georgia, Nikolay Levshits (blog), 11 September 2023 (accessed 3 November 2026)

Change log

• 3 November 2026 - Data page published from dated listings, agency ranges, the association law, a Supreme Court ruling and Geostat price indices.