habitation licences advice

Hi all

 could any one give me advice on what is the habitation licence,  i am buying a resale and the vendor as not got permission up to now for a wall he has built ( he says he is waiting for a architect to sign ) and my lawyer as said i will not receive my habitation licence any help would be grate full.

thanks for any help

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If its a resale how old is it as it would already have its license. If this has been an ongoing situation then think twice before buying as you as the next buyer may have to take down the wall, move it or something in order to get your license. If its simple waiting for the official architect to sign it off, then this could be made a condition of completion and then everything is clear on the day of completion, but speak to your lawyer and see what he says.

You would be well advised to not complete until you have everything in order as the law is not as lax as it used to be and you could have problems later.

Good luck

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A little more info may be useful, but it sounds to me like you are maybe buying a newly built individual property? (as opposed to an apartment in a larger building or complex?) Be aware that, without a habitation licence, you wil not be able to get the utilities (water, electric) connected. This is not always a problem in multi-property buildings, as sometimes you will be able to use the builder's supply until the licence is granted, but if this is an individual property such as a villa, you could have a problem if you complete without the licence.

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thanks all for the advice will wait to see what the lawyer say about it . the vendor brough from new and i gather had licence but he has added walls so had extra work done. it is a villa, and about 2 years old. i think he is trying to get  the official architect to sign it. They want me to sign  the contract but is it best to wait for all of it to be sorted out and before i part with any money thanks again for advice.

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So he has the licence of first occupation? That's a worry less! Sounds like perhaps he built this wall without the permission from the town hall? Can he at least show you the planning application? If it's not approved, like Rixxy said, you may end up having to pull it down. How much might that cost, and how much do you like the wall?!

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I would wait to complete until all the correct paper work is in place and agreement for the wall is signed. At this present time houses aren't selling that fast so don't be pressured by the vendor and your solicitor, and thinking you will lose the property with vendor selling to someone else etc, its very doubtful youve gone so far makes sense to stick with you rather than have to find new buyers. It really is important  at this time with all the controversy over illegal builds to have everything in order then in the future you will have no worries and thats from someone who knows and is still in a nightmare situation.  Hope its sorted soon.


Axwhale

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the advice you will get from everyone is ' do not sign a contract' unless everything is OK

You are not a dealer taking risks to make money so you should treat everything in the same way as you would buying a house in UK.....then everything will be OK

No old fashioned Spanish practise and definately no' black money',,,,,,,,this is going out of fashion fast

If everything is not correct , then walk away as there are other alternatives available

Sometimes difficult to do if you have found your dream home but this and other forums are littered with unfortunate people who ignored the warning signs and found trouble

Some had no warning and still found trouble but these are really in the minority

Hope everything is sorted for you

    

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Thanks all for all your help,

 as said i must wait till every thing is sorted out many thanks again all for your help.

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And if the agent starts to pressure you, quote Decree 218 to them! If they dont know what it is, then tell them to look it up and whistle!!

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Hello Eyes on Spain users.

I have the next problem and like to know your opinium about this case. I sold my house about 3 weeks ago by an agent and now they are asking me to sent the habitation license because the new owner cannot connected to the water supplyer Aquagest. Although i think it is strange that the agent did not ask to me the document before selling i have never received that document from the Promotor when we bought the house 4 years ago. I did not knew what is that document untill now. Besides we were always supplied with electricity and water by Iberdrola and Aquagest and before selling i send the the copies of the last months to the agent as well as my bills IBI and Basura.

Did anyone know if you can ask for a duplicate with the townhall and if yes can the new owner can do this?? Besides i think it is really strange that they ask after selling? I surely know that this is not their first house they sold and must have that knowledge.

I am waiting on your answer,

 

Kind Regards,

Edu

 

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Hola Pronkkie - well firstly their lawyer should be sorting this out. If there is an LFO, one can be gained via the town hall, they will just need to take official documentation proving them as owners although they may not yet be registered on th nota simple as that can take a few weeks to be updated.

All property documentation should have been requested and available at notary. If you were connected then there is no reason they arent, unless the service authorities have taken the fact of a sale to disconnect in view of no lfo!!!

Its not really for the agent to ask - ahtough a new law HAS come in to ensure agents do collect this document, it is a change over time and also not all provinces request this (dont know where your home was as you havent said)

I would tell them the new owner has now the rights to the property and needs to sort this out - they should have done this before completing!

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Aboslutely agree with Rixxy - it is strange that they are asking for this now, after completion, as you say, but anyway, I would say it is the responsibility of the buyer's lawyer or agent to check that all required documentation has been supplied prior to signing at the notary.

It also seems strange, since you have had a water and electric supply for 4 years, which would not have been provided without the habitation licence (or more specifically, the "boletines" which are only granted once the licence has been issued) in the first place; so why it would be required now, I have no idea. I know that in Torremolinos at least, the electricity provider (Endesa Sevillana) now requires a current boletin in order to change the contract to another name, so maybe Aquagest require something similar. But as far as I know, the boletin is valid for 5 years, so again, there should not be a problem in your case.

Either way, I don't see why you should be bothered by this - it is the buyer's problem now. I suggest politely telling the agent such, and pointing out that if they really do need a copy of the licence, to go to the town hall planning department (urbanismo) and request a copy.

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Help - urgent question:

Our developer is pushing for completion. We are concerned about habitation license. When we ask for whether the habitation license has been granted our lawyer told us that now in Spain by law the developer cannot sign deed if they do not have the license.

Is that true? It seems lawyer just assume that license has be granted (the otherwise, the developer is not in the position to call the buyer for completion).

Thanks if anyone let me know the answer. Are we safe to complete without actually see the HL? Lawyer says that on the completion day the developer will show us the license.

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Dont worry - if your lawyer is on top if it that way then its fine. No one will sign until that document is provided, so if you are going you may get a delay but as the developer wouldnt waste his time trying to complete without it, I wouldnt worry

Good luck

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Rixxy,

Thanks. We are buying in a complex. We are buying a unit in a Phase 2 developments, all units in Phase 1 have been sold and with some people living in there. Phase 3 is under construction. Does this make the situation better or worse?

Is that HL is only for connecting water and electricity?

On the valuation report there is also a warning saying that the property name is very misleading and is different with the registration name filed. Should we worry about it as well?

We are still concerned that if we make the trip there and developer shows us some documents in Spanish, we would not tell whether it is a right document for right development.

Some time we do not feel our Spanish lawyer is working for us. We do not understand why we cannot have a copy of the HL if the developer already has it.

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If the developer has the HL then there is no logical reason why you can not have a copy and you get the original on completion

If there are any queries raised by the valuation [ presume for finance] then it has to be solved

Your lawyer should make sure that you have an English copy of the answers and the HL ...not a difficult task!!

Banks usually want to make sure that everything is on order but if you are taking the ' builders mortgage' then that may not apply

You can always ask the lender to clarify and most now insist on a HL before making the loan

You normally need HL to get service connection but more important is that if you have not got one then you do not know that the building has been passed by the local council

In the past some people who have moved in before getting one ' on builders water & elec' have waited a long time 

Nowadays there is no reason not to insist re HL

Perhaps you need a good chat with your lawyer!!

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ASk your lawyer to show to you the Habitation License with no delay or excuse. Notary deeds cannot be signed without them anymore. Of  course, do not sign without them. If necessary, mke a proper official statment to developer sayin that you will not complete till that is showed and perused to you or your lawyer.

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Thanks everyone,

Maria, I see you are a lawyer. So what our lawyer said is true that without a HL developer cannot sign a deed. That makes us feel better.

We will insist on a English copy of HL before the completion. We are using 'builder's mortgage', therefore, cannot rely on the bank to check everything for us.

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Good you have good legal representation!
M

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Quote Maria: "Notary deeds cannot be signed without them anymore".

Maria, is this by law? Or is this only what the banks are saying? I was told today (by the developer) that I can sign the escritura (for a trastero) even though the licence has not yet been issued. I believe the developer will not sign any escrituras for apartments, because they do not wish to provide water & electric, but since I need neither for the trastero, they told me if I want to, I can sign.

I am not concerned about whether the licence will be issued - it is simply taking time for the town hall to sign it, as usual. I am not using a bank, so I was just curious about your statement.

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