Habitation Certificate

Can anyone tell me is the Murcian region theonly region in Spain that still issues Habitation Certificates?

Thanks

Bertie

Hi Bertie - certainly not!  This document is one of the most important ones when it comes to buying and selling property.  What made you think it was not being issued in other regions?

HI Bertie,

Habitation certificates are issued by all Town Halls because, as they have told you, you will need it when selling or leasing a property.

If you need any kind of advice on this, I am Spanish Lawyer based in Murcia and would be more than happy to assist you.

Kind regards,

Montse Gómez.

Very few owners on Camposol have habitation certificates, yet they buy and sell properties with no problems whatsoever

With over 1 million empty/unsold properties in Spain, why would anyone purchase a property without the habitation certificate?

Not quite right there, I believe the the whole region of Murcia considers itself a special case.  They have a different perspective on Hab Certs than the other regions.  There was a directive issued to all notaries in Spain in 2007 that in theory they should not allow a sale to proceeed if the Hab Cert was not issued.  This is ignored in Murcia, but sales continue to be made - presumably because the locals involved don't wish to turn away business.

A little warning - a spin off from this is that the standard household insurance cover becomes voidable at the option of the insurer.  In Spain the Hab Cert is expected to be in place as a pre-requisite to providing insurance cover.  If you don't have one you may well have big problems with a LARGE claim.

The absence must be disclosed to the insurer in writing otherwise they can avoid the claim on the basis of a non-disclosure of a material fact.  Even then, in the event of a large claim that involves the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros (for example, earthquake damage) you may struggle to receive any compensation.

A claim handler in Madrid is unlikely to be sympathetic to a large claim in Murcia where a Hab Cert has not been issued.

You see, I'm not sure I believe any of this. Camposol, your area (town or province or whatever) is certainly not unique. There are loads of properties just outside Torrevieja that come under the Orihuela Costa council. Properties have been waiting over 10 years for habitation certificates yet are being bought and sold on a daily basis. Whole communities are still contacting the council t issue them the council is too busy in-fighting and making up coalitions to do anything. Notaries are allowing sales to go through without these certificates probably on a daily basis. 

Not even picking out this area as "unique" because there is another area north of it that comes under a different council yet doesn't have a habitation certificate. The ones I know of were built over 6 years ago.

Now, all these properties are connected to mains water and electric. There have been many bought and sold, the same as on Orihuela Costa and Camposol. I can't believe for one moment that these 3 places are unique.

Oh, and I also know of some insurance claims that have gone in from the Orihuela Costa (no LFO). 

The last house I sold just outside Torrevieja the Christmas before last I had no Habitation certificate for the house, it was mentioned so I asked my Solicitor why I didn't have one after all we had owned it for ten years, she said because when it was built they didn't need them....I have no Idea if this is the truth or not....anyway the house sale went through within about a week with absolutely no problems at all, and I even had what could be called an illegal build with my garage.

Must be that if these documents are needed to be fully up to date and legal, and yet are not available then the sales go ahead anyway rather then lose out all round. Seems one way or the other Spain has to get its act together and drop a few thousand, maybe unnecessary rules.

You can't just "drop" unnecessary rules so long as the failure to adhere to these rules places people at great risk.

There are areas where these failures to conform have led to all manner of injustices against innocent purchasers, so the situation needs to be reviewed from a far wider perspective I'm afraid.

What is required is a consistent approach countrywide where purchasers know that their purchase is LEGAL.

Yes, ads I can see your reasoning, whilst I wouldn't wish the problems that many have got onto others, something needs to be done to stabilise the housing market, plus the many other problems Spain seems to be making for its self. 

It seems that everybody I talk to these days has something bad to say about the housing market in Spain, of course not being helped by the media these days, many people I know who have made mention of wanting to buy in Spain have now said "House in Spain..No way" rather put up with the lousy weather in the UK then have good weather with unsolvable problems. They also know of the many tax problems as well,  it's a case of bad news travels fastest.

These are sensible people who some years ago would have taken the gamble, bought and moved to Spain, but now wont even take the risk because of the trouble's being spoken about, and being seen for some years past, this is the financial damaging effect on the country.

As for the lack of these Habitation Certificates if house's are still being bought and sold with all service's up to date, as Camposol says, plenty all the time, it has to be said why have them? what use are they?  

This could be solved by a far more consistent approach and commitment by the Spanish Government (and Justice department for that matter) to standardise purchase in Spain no matter in which region the purchase takes place.

To leave this as a legal lottery with all too many legal inconsistencies only accentuates peoples' fears and vulnerabilites.

Looking to the wider picture, Government commitment could be given in the form of a reliable monitoring/reporting system that effectively allows the purchaser (or their TRUSTED legal representative) to report their legal complaints without fear of retribution or dismissal, whilst at the same time this would provide a means for the Government to review and recognise problem areas in need of major reform eg.instances of legal malpractice/negligence/collusion/corruption etc from within the real estate and Banking industry.

This again could be standardised to include all relevant information (agent/developer/lawyer/property/bank/monies transacted etc), which in turn could be analysed to provide a far more effective picture/pattern of events.

 This would also have the capability to be reviewed by an independent authority such as the World Justice Project or European Commission, to ensure that the rule of law in Spain is adhered to, and likewise to reassure that European directives, in place to protect property rights, are also adhered to.

Just a few thoughts to contemplate re possible solutions to this compromsing scenario.....

Nice thought Ads, but it's not going to happen.  In the meantime those without Hab Certs are disadvantaged by having their property value additionally undermined and exposed to the risk of their household insurance not responding in the event of a serious claim.

In some instances it seems that the reason that Hab Certs are withheld is purely down to the bureaucracy of the town hall.  Also there seems to be a high correlation between properties without Hab Certs and non-Spanish owners.  Is this because we are lower down the pecking order?

It might surprise many that Marta Andreasen MEP has identified that "the main authority of the European Petitions Committee is moral" and cases in the ECHR have to be against a state, not an individual or company.... moreover you are only allowed to use the European Court of Human Rights when you have exhausted all possibilities in the legal system in the signatory state (in this case it means going to the Supreme Court of Spain)............moreover there is no mechanism for enforcing the judgements.....they are dependent on moral authority only."

Now we come to the crux of the matter.

So long as Spain does not consistently demonstrate moral authority (in other words a legal lottery exists), then innocent purchasers who find themselves compromised by the existing system will have nowhere to turn. This means that a major gap in property rights exists across member states, and many have no idea that they are at great risk when they purchase properties that do not have the correct documentation in place.

Likewise, many do not realise that judicial decisions that do not respect moral authority, for whatever reason, also place the innocent purchaser at risk, so long as there is no superior moral directive from Government or Supreme Court.

The bottom line appears to be that European reform relating to property rights is therefore essential for all those European member states where moral authority is being brought into question, and everyone should be bringing these facts to the attention of their MEP's, and demanding reform. They should be demanding that a legal enforceable mechanism to better protect their property rights across member states should be considered an immediate priority and should not rely solely on a discretionary moral authority, which is open to abuse and inconsistency.

What better time to do this than NOW, when a European election is due?

Apologies for the rant!