CÉDULA DE HABITABILIDAD

I had to look this up, and came across this article dated April 2014, which may be of interest for those affected, however things might have moved on since then. Nevertheless it might provide some background information and act as a warning to others.:

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news-spain/andalucia/A_massive_property_regulation_in_the_air_in_Andaluc_a.shtml

May I suggest, Jesss, you identify this to your MEP (www.writetothem.com) and request that this be brought to the attention of the European Commissioner for Justice in order to place the detail on record, in the hope that this will be monitored and assessed in terms of establishing effective protection of innocent purchasers rights within Europe.

Hope you feel better soon Maria, so sorry to hear you are not well.

Why perpetuate a system that places purchasers at risk in this way and in the process blights the property? 

You can also see this from the other side.

A lot of people have bought properties dirt cheap precisely because there was some limbo over some legal aspect. Some people may have been conned by scrupulous agents, but many people were fully aware that what they were buying had some issues but it was the attractively low price that pushed them to buy neverthless.

If somebody went in and knowlingly took that risk, then it only makes sense that that risk is perpetuated and passed on to the next buyer.

Jess: AFO ( Assimilated to out of Planning regulation) in Andalucia is, since 2012, a legal way to obtain full legalisation of your property, so if right procedure is followed for this , there is no problem

Dear Maria,

This is confusing as the article from 2014 (post the 2012 decree)  reported the following:

• The AUAN declares the AFO are not being issued when a plot of land has been split into smaller plots, a frequent occurrence in Almería and Málaga, where it is calculated that 50% of the illegal properties have been built on split plots of unbuildable land.

• However the Territorial Delegate for the Environment and Territorial Ordination in the Junta de Andalucía, José Manuel Ortiz, has said, ‘52% of the town halls in Almería are not going to make an inventory. They have made a declaration of non-necessity which stipulates the decree. 20% of the municipalities have failed to adopt any agreement to put the decree into action’.

• The profile of those affected is the retired, generally British, citizen who has invested in Spain, sometimes with all his or her money, and purchased a property in good faith. In some cases with the backing of a municipal licence which later was ruled illegal.
  
  The AUAN spokesman said, ‘I have seen cases where, with a licence for building, and an escritura declaring a new property, a licence for occupation and water and electricity, and even inscribed in the Property Registry, have seen their property declared illegal by the courts many years previously with out them being told or knowing anything about it.

So where does this leave those who acted in good faith and find themselves subsequently compromised by any of the above factors? Isn’t it the case that some municipalities are not prepared to put the decree into action? Perhaps I have misunderstood the situation?

Properties have access to Land Registry after the following of the right procedure. No worries

Legal tip 1293. First Occupation License is NECESSARY Valencia Region 
28 April 2015 @ 11:16 
 

I have more questions Maria relating to lack of due diligence/malpractice by Local Councils, Notaries, Registraars, but have posted them on your thread titled "Is FOL obligatory for sales to buyers in Valencia Region? ".

Hi,

We have found a house in Javea, Pinosol area.

We never even knew about the LFO or Cedula.

We made an offer on the Villa, Vendor who purchased the land and built new, cash. Never had a mortgage and pt up for sale through and agent. He dragged his heels with repsonding to offers and would not take the property off the market subject to valuation.

When we consulted our mortgage broker, he first questioned where the LFO was and there was no Nota Simple provided for the house (just one for the land). Nota Simple was eventually provided and still no first occupation license.

The details have been sent to the Bank and when I asked regarding the Cedula, I was givin this response by the Agent.....

The lack of Occupation Licence or Cédula may be an issue for certain banks. The vendor will not be able to obtain one from the town hall until they send out the urbanisation certificates and payment scheme. This may never happen as the vendor has been waiting 15 years or more already. It is  not a legal requirement to have one to sell a property; you only really need them to create a brand new contract with electricity and water companies.

I am now very worried about buying this house?

Any comments welcome?

Xabia, I bought my property in 2013. It's an old build, according zo the catastro it was built in 1964 but we have reason to believe that it is actually older than that, so this may be the date of first registration rather than build. The house is in the catastro but the dimensions are slightly wrong so it's all a bit iffy. We don't have a cedula that we know of but this was Ok for us as we got the house very cheap. We set up contracts with water and electricity as well as the SUMA and nobody ever asked for anything. We had some work done on the exterior of the house and on the grounds in 2013 and again in 2014 and our builder obtained the full building permits from the ajuntamiento for this and again this wasn't an issue and they never asked for a cedula. Maybe it helps that our builder is a local guy and well connected. I don't know. Most of the neighbours are Spaniards and about half that I talked to don't have a cedula and the fact doesn't seem to bother them in the least. So I guess you'll be fine too.

If the property building was finished after  June 2013, First Occupation License is necessary for the registration of Finished New Work Notary Deed and registration and therefore for  posterior first transmissions  ( from developers to buyers).

For old properties,  according to  Valencia Regional Law 3/2004 of June 30th on Planning and Building Quality Promotion, renovation of the Occupation Local License is necessary  after 10 years of issuing of First, Initial one in these cases:

1. When property is further transmitted ( second or further tramsissions)

2. When a new contract of water, gas or electricity is necessary

Thank you for the replies.

The bank may not lend without it I am told.

Xabia

When selling properties to a new owner (which would presumably require a new contract for water/gas/electricity?), and if this was a cash purchase as opposed to requiring finance from a Bank, would the Notary prevent the sale from proceeding 

1) If there had never been an LFO issued?

2) If there had not been any renovation of the licence over a 10 year period?

ads, as i mentioned in my previous post when I purchased my property in 2013 it wsn't a problem.

Also switching existing electric, water and SUMA contracts to my name wasn't a problem.

I asked my lawyer about it and he said he could get me the cedula at any time for about 500 Euros and it would take maximum 2 weeks, but he advised to wait until I really need it as it expires after 10 years.

I understand your situation amogles but this appears a crazy situation if some Notaries/lawyers (and even some Banks who might be willing to provide mortgages without cedula in place) are allowing transmission of property (without a mandatory requirement to provide cedula/licence) as it leaves others open to risk of transmission of properties that may be ultimately deemed "illegal" (as posters on EOS forum have already identified).

To perpetuate a risk of this nature just because some don't wish to pay for this administrative process, until such time as they need it, seems a farcical administrative oversight in the Spanish conveyancing system, which has the potential to leave purchasers/owners vulnerable and has a knock on effect on the property market and local economy for that matter.

Either you pay for ALL required administrative processes connected with a sale to make a conveyancing system watertight, or suffer the wider implications and consequences associated with a non-mandatory system.

Perhaps I have misunderstood?

ads, from my understanding (according to both my lawyer and notary) the cedula doesn't make the building itself legal. Cedulas can be issued for illegal builds, and the posession of a cedula cannot save an illegal building from being demolished. The cedula is merely an ackowledgement that all the current norms are resepcted and the building is ultimately safe for habitation. My lawyer says most people don't renew their cedulas when they expire, but do so only when they actually need one, which may be the case when the house is sold or significant modifications are made. But when all parties to a sale mutually agree that this isn't necessary, nobody bats an eyelid. Especially if you're buying a house to demolish or to completely gut and rebuild, its suiatbility for habitation isn't really of concern. At least this is my understanding.

Thanks for your reply Amogles.

As this is quite a confusing aspect to the conveyancing process and in the interest of transparency, I thought it might be helpful to copy in some details from an article which provides a background explanation as to how the confusion has arisen and what the Spanish authorities have done to try and address this problem......

I'd be really grateful if Maria could cast her expert eye over this and advise if this is still relevant and if there have been any further changes that purchasers might need to be aware of.... Apologies for the lengthy posting but hopefully this will help to comprehend the complexities!

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Cedula de habitabilidad-Certificate of habitation- License of Occupation

Certificate of Habitation – C.H. (Cédula de Habitabilidad or Licencia de Primera o Segunda Ocupación).

This is a document which resumes the confirmation from the Town Hall that the property is ready for habitation, and it is applied once the property is finished with the Final Works License (Certificado Final de Obra) and inscribed in the land registry with the New Buildings Declaration (Declaración de Obra Nueva).D.O.N.

You need this document to obtain the permission of the Town Hall to live in the house. Before you get it, what you have a is a construction, but not a “house”.

This document will be necessary to obtain the individual supply of the MAIN utilities on your name and with ”consumption” use.

This document is then extremely important to get the electric and water contracts on individuals name in the FIRST CONNECTION. Before the builder obtains the certificate of habitation, there could be water and electricity supply in the construction, as  is normal that the builder obtains this supply to make the works (for the tolls, machinery, etc.). But the supply obtained from the builder is a supply for “works”, but not for “house consumption”.

Sometimes, buyers or promoters are left in their properties with electric and water supply for works use for years, because the builder did not obtain the proper CH (Certificate of Habitation). They have water and electricity but in a very poor condition and expensive than the normal supply for a house.

In order to guarantee you as buyer or promoter, that the builder will obtain the proper CH, it will be highly advice to leave a part of the payment of the price when the CH is obtained. It will force the builder to work right and to do his best to get this document asap.

As explained, the CH is specially important to connect the property to mains water and electric in the FIRST TIME. Sometimes, and depending on the area, is not needed to CHANGE the supplying contracts into the new owners name, but, is widely requested for the FIRST connection of the property to mains supply.

Is this document needed to complete a sale?. In other words, if I want to buy I house, is this document required to be presented?-

Before July 2008, it was not necessary to obtain a Certificate of Habitation to complete a sale. Sellers were not requested to present the CH to new owners. So, notaries, land registry officers, banks, lawyers, etc were not requesting the CH to complete the sales. Thus, this document was not obligatory before July 2008.

Why this document was not obligatory to complete sales? – Because, the aim of this document, as explained above, is to “connect” the property to water and electric for the first time, and, once connected, to “change” the existing contracts into the new owners name.

In fact, for RESALES, during decades, Spanish buyers and sellers have been connecting their properties to water and electric, and changing the supplying contracts without this document. Specially in rustic land areas, electric and water companies were not asking for  this document to change the supplying contracts.

So, NEW properties, and RESALES were bought and sold, and sales were completed at the notary office, and registered in the land registry office, without CH. Thus, builders were selling their new built houses to buyers without this document. Also, vendors (in resales) were selling their properties to buyers without.

In some areas, even supplying companies were not demanding this document to contract. In the majority of the cases, buyers could contract the water and electric by a phone call, or changing the name of the contracts into their names, and the CH was never been requested. Even today this is possible in determinate areas.

The problem arrived with NEW properties, like new apartments, urbanizations, etc, and for the explosion of the Spanish crisis.  As explained, before July 2008 was not necessary for builders to provide to their buyers the CH to complete their sales. So, it was really common to sale properties “on construction”. For example, in an urbanization with 500 houses, the builder could sale by blocks of, for example, 100 houses, once they were completed, without to wait to complete ALL the urbanization infrastructure.

The CH is the last document obtained after the finalization of the construction works of the building. So, as before 2008 it was not necessary to present CH on completion, builders were building and selling their properties before they were “completely finished”.  With this scenario, buyers they were buying their new properties ready to be used, but, sometimes without to “complete” other phases or blocks from the urbanization, or some urbanization infrastructure.  Buyers were connected to supplies with “building supply” eventually, with the hope that the builder, once completed the rest of the urbanization, or the rest of the urbanization works, would then provide them with “mains” supply.

This was the scenario before the crisis.

But, with the crisis, it was repeated in the market that builders entered in bankcrupcy suddenly, and their companies were in big financial troubles because banks were closing . Also, the market stopped, and big urbanizations were suddenly unsold. So,  builders were blocked with a dramatic position in which they could not finish the urbanizations or construction already started,  because they could not find enough credit to do it from banks. In addition to this, they could not get private finance from their sales because the market was stopped, and they could not sale their properties.

As result of this scenario, buyers who previously had completed their sales and bought units from the builder from urbanizations not completed, they found theirselves on “building supply” utility contracts, and they saw how the builder simply disappeared, leaving the urbanization complex unfinished. As the global works of the urbanization were not complete, the CH was impossible to be obtain it, and buyers, and families, were left with “building supply” for long time.

This problem did not happen in RESALES where, with very few exceptions, sellers and buyers of OLD properties, which were really connected to water and electric, could obtain the change of the contracts into the new owners name, after the sale, without any kind of problems. Thus, it was really common in the market NOT to apply to the CH on resales (urban and rustic), if the properties were already connected to water and electric, and when the CH was not needed to change the utility into the new owner’s name.

But, in July 2008, a new law came into force for all the Spanish territory. One of the intentions of this law was to avoid situation of buyers of New properties in urbanziations, complex, buildings, etc. This law said that builders cannot complete the sales of NEW properties without the CH. And ordered to notaries, land registry offices, etc, to request the CH to complete the sales of new properties. But this law, was forcing the notaries and the land registry officers to ask for the CH to complete purchases ONLY FOR NEW PROPERTIES.

In instance, this law did not say anything regarding RESALES.  So, as consequence, to complete a sale of a resale, it was not necessary to provide this document.

This law helped to avoid future problems with buyers buying NEW properties, but, as they did not mention anything in relation to RESALES, creating a big confusion in the market.

As explained above, buyers and sellers were selling, and reselling their properties, without the CH. Resale buyers were changing their water and electric bills without any kind of problems, and the notary never asked for the CH in their transactions.

The confusion was created when, after the approval of this law,  durign the years 2009-2010, buyers started to ask to vendors to provide this document.  Sellers were requested to provide the CH, but, when they consulted the notary office to confirm if this document was obligatory to be supplied,  they were confirmed that it was not requested by the law. So, notaries, land registry offices, etc, only required the CH for NEW sales, and not for RESALES.

A big confusion started on that period between buyers who were requesting this document in RESALES, and sellers who did not want to provide it as they were not forced to.

This confusion was even worse in RESALES in RUSTIC Land properties built in less than 10.000 m2. During a long time Town Halls in rustic areas did not know how to react when sellers, or buyers, where asking for the CH to complete their sales.

Several Town Halls (TH) decided to give the CH with no restrictions. They considered the CH as an “administrative” document to get, or to change, the electric and water contracts. As these Town Halls did not consider this document as a “legal” document, there were cases in which a property could have a perfect CH, and a fine to be built illegally.

In other cases, TH decided to give CH to all properties (built in more or in less than the minimum plot), always that no fines for construction were affecting that property.  This was the most logic position.

In instance, some others decided not to give the CH to rustic land properties, if they were not respecting the minimum size of land (mainly 10.000 m2). The position of these Town Halls created the unfair and illogic situation in which quite old properties, even built 20-40 years ago, were refused to get the CH because they were built in plots smaller than the minimum.

Also, the confusion was even worse because, in the majority of the cases, buyers were asking to vendors the CH to buy their properties, even knowing that, in the area in which that property was located, the CH was not being requested by the supplying companies to change the utility contracts in their names.

In the meantime, the country of Spain has been supported financially by EU institutions. One of the requirements from the EU to Spain to receive financial help was to improve the Environmental Protection, and reduce Environmental Impact. The reason of this requirement is that, during decades, Spain  has not followed the EU directives on this way. Translated into the construction market, it means that constructions and buildings were built in Spain without considering or respect the EU laws on this way (mainly, reduction of the energy consumption, and reduction of the residual water)

During 2012-2013 and 2014, this confusion now seems to arrive to an end. It seems now that the majority of the Town Halls and Regional Governments (including complicate areas like Catral, Elche, Denia, Javea, etc) have created a base of what it should be required to obtain the CH, which is, more or less the following for RUSTIC  LAND properties:

• Independently of the size of the plot, the property must be FREE of fines for construction.
• That the property and its constructions are declared and pay the proper council tax
• Is widely requested to supply an architect report of the construction.
• The property must fulfill with the environmental normative of the area (energy consumption, and residual water).

With this, the eventual confusions created about if  rustic land properties in less than 10.000 m2 without CH were finish. So, is general the POSITIVE position from the maority of the Town Halls  in respect of the legal situation of the thousands of OLD  properties BUILT in rustic land (and legally consolidated properties), in a plot smaller than the minimum standard. So, after all these confusions and disputes, the Town Halls are widely giving CH if the above conditions are provided.

We have to say that there are only few Town Halls (like Crevillente) with a very unreasonable position to refuse to give CH in an open way.

I am a seller (not a builder), DO I NEED TO PROVIDE THIS DOCUMENT TO THE BUYER?. The answer is easy: From a , LEGAL POINT OF VIEW: NO. There is not any law in Spain which forces the seller (in a resale) to provide the CH in order to complete.

But, in instance, from a COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW, it will be MORE RECOMMENDABLE if you provide it, because it will confirm the buyer that, whatever is the interpretation of laws in the area, or whatever are the requirements  from the utility companies, the changes of the utility contracts are guaranteed. In other words, your property will be easy to market it if the CH is provided.

The same if the CH is expired. CH use to have a validity of 5 years (now 10?). So, even if you obtained one when you bought, and even in the case that the Spanish laws do not force you to provide it, from a “commercial” point of view, it would be better for the buyer, if you offer the property with the CH renovated.

UPDATED NEWS ABOUT CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION IN VALENCIA REGION:

– Free legal advice on getting certificate of habitation in Catral

– Albatera Certifcate of Habitation – How to obtain CH in Albatera

– Free legal advice on getting certificate of habitation in Albatera

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Is this a correct assumption Maria, "It seems now that the majority of the Town Halls and Regional Governments (including complicate areas like Catral, Elche, Denia, Javea, etc) have created a base of what it should be required to obtain the CH, " or are there still some Town Halls that are being obstructive to this?

And is the conclusion to this that if no CH can be obtained from the Town Hall, that the likelihood is that the development or property has not achieved the correct planning authorisation (or has other outstanding contentious legal issues) and is therefore deemed to be an illegal build?

Many thanks Maria, in anticipation.

Ads, like you I look forward to Maria's confirmation. However the gist of what you write conforms with my understanding of the situation. 

I am the only expat on my street. The neighbors are not only all Spaniards, but the majority have lived all their lives in the immediate area so I  guess they understand how things work here. They tell me the Cedula is just a milk cow for local authorities. They say it has little real value but is an additional source of cash for the ajuntamientos and the longer you can postpone getting one, the better. Of course neighbors are not the best source of legal advice so please don't interpret this post as such. 

If the property building was finished after  June 2013, First Occupation License is necessary for the registration of Finished New Work Notary Deed and registration and therefore for  posterior first transmissions  ( from developers to buyers).