Lapsed Habitation Certificate

Hello...we are hoping to buy a finca in Dayer Vieja, everything is in order apart from the Habitation Certificate has apparently lapsed. The finca has been renovated and has a pool etc and used to have a Habitation Certificate. The finca is more than 15 years old.

Could anyone please tell me what we have to do, I understand that the property would need a new septic tank fitted and then the habitation Certificate would be issued by the town hall. This being the case, could anyone help with how much the work and process of obtaining this certificate would be and do we need it?

Looking forward to hearing from you...Kind regards Eve & John Brady

It is down to the present owners to obtain a habitation certificate not you. Basically without one you legally cannot live in it ..also make sure you have a Escutura with full planning consent for what you are buying ...you also require a   energy efficiency cert... your lawyer should also check that the property has no outstanding dept .

Hello...thank you for your reply Windtalker. Apparently according to the estate agents the owners are going to be given two options. The first being that they install the septic tank etc and we pay the agreed price for the finca, or they reduce the finca by 4000 Euro's so that we can get the work done one we are in. Do you consider this to be fair.

Everything else is in order, apparently and there is no outstanding dept.

We currently still live in the UK but we are going over to Guardamar again on the 8th and hopefully the contract will be written so that we can pass it by our solicitor.

Thanks again for you rely, kind regards Eve

Sounds fair .. Dropping the price by 4,000euro ..But make sure they get a habitation cert and have building permits for all the refurbishment work on the property especially the pool good luck enjoy Spain

I would expect a good independant lawyer would tell you not to buy until 'all' the paperwork is available

Before the recession many took a chance and paid the price:still no First Licence 

If the Licence has not been obtained by the seller already then you can be sure that there is a good reason why it is not available

Now if may well be a straightforward reason why the seller does not have it but it has to be sorted and by the seller

if they cannot do it quickly then neither can you-you cannot put a value on this sort of risk as in a worst case scenario you may end up with a property which is unsaleble to anyone else

This message was last edited by Spanishpunter on 04/08/2017.

This message was last edited by Spanishpunter on 04/08/2017.

If there is no habitation certificate available and renovations done since the previous certificate was issued you will probably need an architects report to enable a new certificate to be issued. This will proably cost about Euro1000 plus fees for town hall (it cost us that 6 years ago and there had been no alterations to our house).

If the renovations have not been done legally there will  also be fines to pay to regularise the alterations - if that is possible.

I would insist that sellers get certificate before you buy and insist that it written into any contract.