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The regime of Horizontal Property exists once more that one owner are under the features described in provision 396 of the Civil Code whether or not they have granted the title of horizontal property.
What does the 396 of the Civil Code says?
Some questions and answers clarify:
- When there is a community of owners?
When there are different floors or premises of a building or parts of it susceptible to independent use because they have their own exit to a common element of that or to the public road
- What is the main feature of the community of owners?
The existence of co-ownership rights over the common elements of the building, which are all necessary for its proper use and enjoyment, such as:
-The ground, flight, foundations and covers
- Structural elements and among them the pillars, beams, slabs and load-bearing walls;
- The facades, with the external coverings of terraces, balconies and windows, including their image or configuration, the closing elements that conform them and their external coatings;
- The portal, staircases, gateways, corridors, steps, walls, pits, patios, wells and enclosures for elevators, warehouses, counters, telephones or other common services or facilities, even those that are for private use;
-Lifts and installations, pipes and pipelines for drainage and for the supply of water, gas or electricity, including those for the use of solar energy;
- Pipes and pipelines of domestic hot water, heating, air conditioning, ventilation or smoke evacuation;
- Fire detection and prevention devices;
- Electronic door entry and building security devices
- The collective antennas and other facilities for audiovisual or telecommunication services,
- The easements and any other material or legal elements that by their nature or destination are indivisible.
- What is the legal regime of this commun elements?
The parties in joint ownership are in no case liable to division and may only be sold, encumbered or seized together with the specific part of which they are inseparable.
In the case of sale of a flat or a premise, the owners of the other units, for this single title, will not have the right of pre-emption or buying-out.
This form of ownership is governed by special legal provisions and, as far as they allow, by the will of the interested parties.
As said below, these communities are governed, in any case, by the provisions of the LPH as concerning the legal status of property, its exclusive parts and elements common rights, as well as the reciprocal rights and obligations of commoners (LPH art.2.b).
Therefore, if the building meets such requirements, although there is no title, in fact it is already a community of owners and the LPH is applied
https://blog.costaluzlawyers.es/blog/2013/10/30/spain-2013-property-communities-act/
If you have further questions, please contact us at web@costaluzlawyers.es