NEW SPANISH PROPERTY - ‘OCCUPANCY PERMIT’

First Occupation License

It is absolutely essential that your new build property in Spain is granted a Licencia de Primera Ocupación (sometimes referred to as a ‘Certificado de Habitacion’ or ‘Cedula´) before you pay fully for it. This vital certificate is granted by the local town hall planning department upon completion of a Spanish new build and declares the legality of the property in Spain. Also, it acts (in theory) as confirmation that the Spanish property meets all necessary local and national planning regulations.

If your newly built Spanish property, when completed, does not have a Licencia de Primera Ocupación (sometimes referred to in English as a First Occupation License - FOC) then ‘alarm bells’ should ring! One sign of this is when a Spanish property is not connected to mains utilities (water, electrics and telephone). This is known sometimes as being on ‘builder’s electrics and water’ - which is an accurate phrase!

Indeed, your property in Spain may literally have its services connected to those of your builder rather then the services suppliers. This is usually obvious but can be proven by the fact that you will not receive or be able to obtain any formal services bills.

Certainly, by Spanish law, utility companies cannot connect their services to illegal properties in Spain. If they do they can now be fined heavily. So, services suppliers tend not to connect to illegal properties - when in the past (pre-fines) they turned a ‘blind eye’ to the law.

So, if your new Spanish property lacks a mains supply of electricity, water and land line telephone then you should take this as a potential sign of illegality. At best, it may indicate that there are delays with regard to legalisation or final completion of your Spanish building project.

Note that sometimes personal registry on the local ‘Empadroniamiento’ can also be affected by a lack of a First Occupancy License.

Being on ‘builder’s electrics and water’ used to be laughed off and was tolerated by many buyers of new properties in Spain. Frequently these people were told that it was ‘quite normal’ and would be ‘sorted out soon’... However, some found out later, to their great cost, that the underlying reason for this seemingly ‘innocent’ delay was related to the far more serious and worrying issue of illegality. So beware...

Note that failure to supply a Licencia de Primera Ocupación constitutes a breach of contract on the part of the seller. Indeed:
· You are not obliged to sign the Escritura (UK ‘Completion’) until the Licencia de Primera Ocupación is presented.
· Your seller cannot cancel the contract on the grounds that you refuse to sign the Escritura without the Licencia de Primera Ocupación.1