house wanted to rent

my understanding is that for a new build it is illigal to charge for connection to the utilities. This is in the general forums and clause 4 in particular

http://www.eyeonspain.com/Secure/articles/article.aspx?article=/consumer-abusive-clauses.aspx

Hi All,

when we signed for our bungalow back in May, 300 euro was taken by Taray for the eventual connection of utilities.

It looks like it was illegal from reading Julians post. It would be interesting to know if anybody else has paid??? 

Best wishes

Jim

In our case, our solicitors charged us 300 euros (as part of the conveyancing fee) for the eventual setting up of our utilities connections/accounts.

Kevin

Just looked at the property price calculator here on eye on spain. It says to calculate 200-300 euros for connection of electricity and the same for water. Only usually applies to new builds.

Pat

Hi all just checked up on what I had read. It came from Buying a Home in Spain by David Hampshire and it states

 Connection & Registration
The cost of electricity connection (acometida) and the installation of a meter is usually between €100 to €300, although it varies considerably depending on the region, power supply and the type of meter installed.
When you buy a community property, the cost of connection to utility services is included in the price of the
property and it’s illegal for developers to charge buyers extra for this.

Hacienda San Cayetano is definitely a community so there should be no charge.

I have found the book to be very useful and so far very accurate. I bought it after reading about it in the general forum, and it is available via amazon.

Cheers Julian and Ange

Hi eveyone ,

Thanks Julian, you are spot on with your info however Taray are getting around  charging this by saying the money is for passing on the details of the residents for registration of account billing. In other words a very basic spanish telephone conversation, they even told us that the spanish residents on site "ofcourse do not pay for this".  I think its a bit off if they can't do that for the customers as simple good will and part of the selling process. If anyone were to be visiting the site it may be a very good question to raise, perhaps they may re consider the very expensive costs?

David & Claire block 6

http://www.eyeonspain.com/Secure/ForumPostsDesc.aspx?thread=2282&dev=FB11&name=General%20chit%20chat

"Some, if not all banks have a service whereby they will set up your utilities for you, we used Solbank's free service for this and they were extremely efficient and quick. Much quicker (and cheaper) than lots of our neighbours who used their solicitors to do it. Banco Santander also have this service. so I'm sure the others do."

Utilities connection has been discussed on the General Forum.  This post is from 16 September 2007 and the link above should take you to the thread.

I think I'll be checking if my bank can set up the utilities for me - seems logical as the bank will be dealing with the payments.

Diane

Are we missing the point when the builder charges you EURO300 to connect you to the services this is due to not having the LFO. The builder will provide water and electricty FOC until the LFO is granted then he will pass it to a supplyer. Both my agent and solicitor have said this am I being told correctly only you already out there and connected will know?

peter

Hi All,

So if we had waited for the LFO we would not have paid the 300euro???

We were under the inpression that everyone would have to pay 300euro for the utility connections and we were on builders supply FOR FREE until Officially connected. Obviously it is costing 300Euro whether you are using it or not. A bit of a Clever Con!!!

Pat.

Hi All

Having come back to the UK after spending six weeks fitting out our place I would just like to say that we experienced no problem with the water or electricity. During that time we did not have a power-cut nor did the water pressure go down.

We also paid up the 300 euros. The Solicitor said it was in our best interest as it will save time when the LFO is finally issued. The reason being because the Solicitor has the money and will be able to hand it over immediately,  therefore putting our name to the address for the billing of water and electricy.  She explained that the supply could be cut off if the money wasn't readily available. So, lets enjoy the free electricity and water. It could be another 18 months before we start to see the bills dropping on our door mats!!!

Regards

Gill

Peter,

At the moment no one is connected, except to builder's supply. We completed in February of this year, and, like everyone else, are waiting for the LFO. It's only then that we can have an account with the utility companies.

Kevin

Hi Gill,

We have also been on builders supplies since April and have not encountered any problems with it whatsoever.

From reading your post it seems that everyone will be expected to pay the 300 euros eventually but ours will be simple because they already have our money. This dont make sense as they will have everyones money as and when they complete.

The original question of whether this charge is illegal seems to have got lost. Are there already water and electricity meters installed? I cant remember a water meter and Taray said they still need to keep a set of keys for the utility people to gain entry.

Regards

Pat 

Hi Pat

Sorry for the delay in replying.

As far as I am aware the meters have not been fitted. i think they are going in the stairwells (Penthouses and Bungalows). We were told that the reason they held a key was so they can go in and do the snagging. No mention of anyone going in to connect up the utilities. Not sure why they have to go into the properties as the supplies are already there. They just have to be connected to the meters which will be outside the properties.

Cannot help about the charges being illegal. Our Solicitor said it will save time if it is paid now so we thought they must know being Solicitors!!!!!!!!!

Best regards

Gill

Going back to the issue of paying Taray (or not) to make arrangements to register with the utilities companies ...

For anyone who banks with the Halifax in Spain and has the Xtra account and the Halifax club membership:

http://www.halifax.es/halifaxing/club/default.asp?content=services

UTILITY REGISTRATION SERVICE

Get your house ready to move in!

If you have a new home in Spain, don’t worry about registering with the telephone, electricity, water and gas companies. The Halifax Club Helpline Service will arrange everything for you!

Hi All

I have just been on the Torre Alacantara site, as they are slightly ahead of us it is good to find out what is happening there.

I am shocked to see that residents are now having 170 euros taken from their bank accounts for water meters. This has never been mentioned to us by Taray, our agents Medsea or our solicitor.

The other unerving thing is how are they able to take 170 euros out of bank accounts with no written permission?

If this is happening on another Taray site it is likely to happen here. Can anyone shed any light on this?

We have paid the 300 euros to the notary on completion which we were told was for electricity & water connection. Our solicitor then went through how the council tax etc would be collected, but at no point mentioned this 170 euros.

Kind Regards Sue

The charges that you have indicated are pretty much in line with what you would expect to pay for these connections if slightly high.

What is in dispute is when this charge should be paid, normally only after the LFO is issued and the connections are made

In Spain they have a good syetm that if yoy find that any money is taken out of your account where you do not agree the transaction, especially standing orders for insirance or servives that you can, withing 2 minths of the transaction, go to the bank and demand an immediate reversal of the transaction which they will do immediatley crediting your account

It is a simple process to arrange this with the local supplers and your lawyer should arrange this as part of the buying process

Please note that, while you are on builders supply, it is ILEGAL for the builder to make any charge for supply of servive after a test case that went through the Spanish courts 15 months ago setting a legal precedent

Hi Roy

Thanks for the reply.

Just to check I am reading correctly - we have already paid 300 euros to Taray via the solicitor for meter connection, but does this not include the water meter?

So should we have to pay another 170 euros on top of this for the water meter as on the Torre Alacantara site? If that is the case what do you thing the 300 euros covers?

The combined charge of 470 euros is what I would expcet buyers to pay in Spain as the standard connection fees

It varies by region depending on the local supplier abd in my area Alicante I paid a total of 430 euros doing this directly myself

Hi Gill (strewth) and everybody,

It looks like you were right about Taray holding the300euro until the LFO is granted. All makes sense now that it needs to be readily available when the time comes for those who are not permanently living there. According to Roy's calculations we still owe 170euro for the water meter?

Hope everyone is well and looking forward to spring, pouring down here at the moment.

Regards

Pat