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Thread: The Licence of First Occupation Explained

  1. #21
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    Dear Sir or Madam,

    Until a LFO is issued by the Town Hall you will not be allowed, normally, to be on official supplies. As my article mentions, exceptionally there are regions of Spain which allow you to connect to the official utilities providing only a receipt of having requested the LFO (which may or may not be granted).

    You can hire your own electrical device if you wish. But as per the article that starts off this very thread, it is ILLEGAL to live in a property which lacks the mandatory LFO. Although it is legal to complete on such a property if you wish to.

    You can all group together and request from the Town Hall the Habitation Certificate if you wish if the developer has gone bankrupt. But you will then be expected to finish off any pending communal works or remedial work as well as paying the associated Town Hall fees for issuing the First Occupancy Licence. Because the issuance of this licence has associated a fee. Normally it is developers themselves who request and pay for the LFO.

    Yours sincerely,
    Raymundo LarraĆ*n Nesbitt

  2. #22
    Ramani Hopgood
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    Default The Licence of First Occupation Explained

    My parents in law have lived in Spain for 4 years. The purchased a proprty with 100% mortgage from the bank. Recently they leanred that their house has been built illegally. Although they have been told they wont pull it down, they have been told that they will have no electricity to the property and of course they cannot sell the house. The builder is "missing"

    How can it be that a bank gae them 100% mortgage without checking that it was legal or not?

    I am desperately trying to find out what to do, please help.

    Their house is in Buggara/Pedralba Valencia

  3. #23
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    Dear Sir,

    This is a common blunder foreigners make on buying property in Spain.

    The logic behind this is that if a bank has to give you a mortgage on a property then, even if it's for their own sake, they will make all the legal checks on the property verifying it is legal.

    In fact, why bother using a lawyer at all if the bank checks everything?

    The mistake underlying this flawed logic is that it's not the bank's job to check the legalities of a property and they simply don't do it; it is your duty, as a buyer, to check them out. Which is why I always advise foreigners to hire a Spanish registered lawyer on buying either an off-the-plan property or a re-sale. Please read my article on the matter:

    Buying Property In Spain Part I. Buying Resale: Avoiding the Pitfalls - 31st January 2010

    The lawyer you hire will make sure the property you are buying is fully legal and complies with both local, regional and national laws.

    Yours faithfully,
    Raymundo LarraĆ*n Nesbitt

  4. #24
    Philip Howard
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    Default The Licence of First Occupation Explained

    My friends bought a house and it does not have a first occupancy certificate. They have an escritura but want a catastra. They are not paying IBI. They have lived in the house for five years and pay electricity, water and the charge for waste. How can they get a catastra?

  5. #25
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    Dear Mr Howard,

    I'm sorry I do not understand what you are referring to by a "catastra".

    Yours sincerely,
    Raymundo LarraĆ*n Nesbitt

  6. #26
    Philip Howard
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    Default The Licence of First Occupation Explained

    They have no certificate catastral. Their local authority has checked the computer and although there is a record of the property the record is limited and a certificacion catastral has not been produced.

  7. #27
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    Dear Sir,

    Your query is unrelated to this thread's content.

    A certificaciĆ³n catastral is not the same as Licence of First Occupation (LFO).

    Maybe the confusion stems from the fact that a LFO is also known as a "Habitation Certificate". Your friends may be confusing both.

    Yours sincerely,

  8. #28
    Angel
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    Default The Licence of First Occupation Explained

    How many years do the certificate of first occupation lasts for? 5,10, 15 years?

    When do you need the second certificate of occupation and how long do they last for, 5,10,or 15 years?

  9. #29
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    A Licence of First Occupation has, as a general rule, no expiry date (*). It is for off-plan property as the article that starts off this thread explains in detail.

    A LSO may be required by some Town Halls when the property:

    1. is sold on
    2. when there's a change of the legal classification of the property
    3. the property has undertaken significant refurbishment/overhaul
    4. a change of the utilities supplier etc.

    (*) in some parts of Spain there are expiry dates of the LFO i.e. 5 years for a LFO as per Valencia's regional Planning laws. And 10 years for a LSO as from the time the LFO was issued. But as I write, this is normally an exception.

    Spain is made up of 17 different regions, so besides the national legal administrative framework common to all of them you additionally have all the local and regional laws that rule further on the matter.

    Yours sincerely,
    Raymundo LarraĆ*n Nesbitt
    Last edited by Lawbird Lawyer; 04-05-2010 at 05:03 PM.

  10. #30
    Diana Myers
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    Default The Licence of First Occupation Explained

    We purchased as a resale from a builder who siad he livedin property for one year before granting of first licence of occupation. The licence does not include the outbuildings or swimming pool and only the house is on Escritura. Should we have received a separate licence for outbuilding and pool . We did use a solicitor but obviously all was not checked thoroughly. Help please

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