Last March, I conducted a survey to assess the extent of satisfaction with the services offered by condominium administrators.

I received 247 valid responses from owners of flats in blocks of more than three apartments, of which 60% were from women and 40% from men. About 16% of the respondents were 35 years of age or younger, 63% were aged between 36 and 64 and the remaining 21% were over 65 years old. 

About 12% of the respondents had secondary level education, while about 33% had post-secondary level education. The remaining 55% of the respondents stated that they are in the process of completing or have completed a course at tertiary level.

The respondents hailed from various towns and villages in Malta and Gozo. A large proportion, amounting to 42%, hailed from Sliema/St Julian’s area and nearby localities, 19% from Marsascala, 7% from Gozo and the remaining 31% in other localities in the northern, central and southern areas of Malta, with a relatively high proportion in St Paul’s Bay and nearby localities. About 31% of the blocks were of nine apartments or less, 61% between 10 and 20 apartments and 8% were of more than 20 apartments.

In response as to what type of administrator was engaged, 33% of the respondents indicated that that they utilised the services of a resident in the same block which he or she administers, while 57% stated that they hire the services of a company offering condominium administration services. 

The respondents were also asked to state the extent of their satisfaction with the services of the condominium administrator.  About 35% of those who responded to this question said that they are dissatisfied with the services of the administrator, a third of which indicated that they are highly dissatisfied. A clear majority of the respondents (65%) stated that they are satisfied with the services of the administrator, about two-thirds of which indicated that they are highly satisfied.

The results of the survey, therefore, indicate that opinions regarding the services of condominium administrators are mixed, with the majority of respondents expressing satisfaction with the administrators’ services, although a sizeable proportion put forward an opposite view.

When these figures were analysed in more detail, it was found that there was a much higher proportion of satisfaction (83%) in the case of those who engaged a resident as a condominium administrator, compared with those who engaged the company as an administrator (59%). 

In other words, even in the case of company-procured administrators, the majority of respondents were satisfied with the administrator’s services, but by a much lower proportion than in the case of resident administrators.

On further analysing the responses, it emerged that as the size of the block increases in terms of the number of apartments, the proportion of dissatisfied respondents increased also. One reason for this was possibly that the proportion of resident administrators, as against administrators engaged by external companies, decreased as the block-size increased.

There was a much higher proportion of satisfaction (83%) in the case of those who engaged a resident as a condominium administrator, compared with those who engaged the company as an administrator (59%)

The final section of the survey, which invited additional comments from the respondents, revealed various problems associated with the administrator’s role as well as various benefits of having an administrator.

Overall, the major complaints by those who were not satisfied by the administrator’s role were that some administrators do not offer a sufficiently good service, overcharge for their services, do not always abide by the provisions of the law, and are not very reliable. One respondent even suggested that the scheme is a scam. 

When asked as to why they do not change the administrator, some respondents stated that the administrator is forced upon them by the developer (either directly or because the developer owns some units, giving him sufficient voting power at the condominium meeting), or that they are not sure that an alternative administrator would be any better.

The major benefits of the administrator, according to the respondents, is that they keep order and cleanliness in the common parts and may also help resolve disputes between the condomini.

Some respondents indicated that in their block of apartments, the owners rent the property for very short lets (including Airbnb) and this often disrupts the organisation of the common parts, complicating the task for the administrator.   

The Competition Act was criticised by some respondents mainly because it has not proved good enough to compel the administrators to deliver acceptable services at a fair price and to force all condomini to pay their dues.  It appears that there is very little one can do in this regard, other than taking legal action, which most condomini are not prepared to do, given the time, discomfort and the expenses involved.

In addition, although the Act refers to arbitration in its different sections, it still remains difficult for a condomini to force the administrators to improve their services, or to compel an owner of an apartment (including the developer who often owns one or more apartments) to pay his or her dues.

The results of this survey need to be interpreted with some caution. Firstly, the sample of 247 respondents may not be a representative one. For example, most respondents had a tertiary level of education. Another bias could be that some respondents could have been administrators themselves and could have possibly increased the vote in favour.  

Although these shortcomings are acknowledged, the author feels that the major issues relating to the role of the condominium administrator were captured by the survey, given the relatively high number of respondents in relation to the number of flat owners, the coverage of different ages of respondents and the spread of the towns and villages where the blocks of flats are located.