The Licence of First Occupation Explained

[Marta]

The non resident tax is payable from the completion date as stated on the property deeds.

[Pamela Harte]

Thank you Marta, just one last question. Can I pay this annual non resident tax personally direct to the relevant tax office or do I have to appoint the services of a gestoria?

[Marta]

You are most welcome. I know I will probably sound biased here, but I certainly recommend the services of a gestoria, lawyer or accountant who is able to do this for you. Bear in mind that you are not given an exact figure (just as you obtain for the IBI or basura tax), but it is something which varies from year to year and must be correctly calculated, filled out and submitted to the tax authorities. Failure to do so can create unnecessary headaches! Please feel free to contact us for a quote.

[gina]

i have bought a villa in altinkum turkey we have our tapu and habitation certificate we bout the villa with pool, but we have now heard that unless the pool is listed on the tapu or habitation certificate that we may have to pay 5000 lira to get it registered is this true?

[mark r]

Buying a villa in tenerife built 1990 has all services....do i need a habitation license from the seller.Previous ownwer has been there 10 years...

[aflores]

Dear Mark R.

In principle, the answer is yes. The license is necessary to ensure the legality of the property with respect to the Town Hall. If there is no license, you need to be told the reasons why this is the case, and particularly whether the Town Hall considers it to be fully legal. I would suggest you hired a lawyer for this purpose.

[yolanda]

we are buying a villa in tenerife it has a nota simple,escritura and is around 20 years old ,the owners have been there 10 years.They have all services and provided bills....question is do i still need a habitation license or cedula.

[Patricia]

Hello Yolanda,

You need to request the copy of the building license form the vendor, as well as the First occupation licence, or cedula. He may not have it, and in this case you can check that the dwelling is a single family house and that the whole total area is inscribed in the Land Registry note.

For a better guarantee, you can request that the vendor obtains a certificate from the town hall that indicates the legality of the building and that there does not exist any pending file for urban infractions in relation to the said dwelling.

We recommend you to have the assistance of an expert solicitor during the purchase process.

Best Regards,

[Andy Nash]

Hi, We puchased a ruin in 1990 in Formentera del Segura.We have an escritura for the land but the ruin was not listed ,we obtained planning permission from the town hall to renovate and also permission to convert an adjoining barn into a restaurant. we had permiso de obras,fin de obras, an opening licence for the restaurant. We have water and electricity contracts etc,in fact everything but a cedula.The town hall clerk said we were developers and when we sold the property if we brought the new owners in with a water and electricity contract they would issue a certificate of habitation .Unfortunately this clerk has recently been sacked, just as we have found somebody who is interested buying the property from us .My question is do you see any reason for the town hall not to issue a certificate now given that we have lived in the property for over twenty years. should we try and obtain a certificate prior to selling or should we follow the advice of the ex-clerk and let the new owners try and obtain one.

[Patricia]

Dear Mr. Nash,


Even if the ex-clerk suggestion was valid, we recommend you to start the process to obtain this First Ocupation Licence or Cedula because the fact of not having it yet can minimize the number of prospective buyers and could also be an excuse for them to try and lower the selling price.

The aid of a solicitor in these cases is most convenient.

Best Regards,