[Anonymous]

I’ve recently been told by an estate agent that the sale of a building registered as a nave rather than as a house does not attract CGT at least for residents.

I wonder if anyone might be able to offer an opinion on the subject.

[katy]

It sounds true but would anyone want to buy a house listed on the escritura as a nave? If the Town Hall knew this they could make it illegal.

[Anonymous]

Not necessarily illegal – a lot of commercial property in Spain includes living accomodation.

For the CGT liability I’m not sure, but I can’t see any reason why it would be exempted unless it was owned by a company. However, using company ownership to evade CGT has long since been clamped down on and you’re unlikely to get away with it.

[Anonymous]

I should also point out that as I assume you’re considering buying this to sell on, having it registered as commercial rather than residential is likely to scare off the majority of prospective buyers.

[Anonymous]

The thing is that in this part of Andalucia (Cadiz), the local councils are issuing licencias de obra for naves with the full knowledge that a house will be built.

They are doing so because the Junta will not give permission to build on rural land. We have a small olive farm of 42.000 m but have been refused permission to build a house, not by the council but by the Junta. They want to see income derived from the land that will support a family before issuing a favorable report to the council.

Thus, the only way to achieve a new house on rural land here in Cadiz is to build a nave. The locals have always done it to avoid taxes and professional fees.

You’d be hard pressed to find a legal house here.

[Anonymous]

I was down in Chiclana the other week, with a bloke clutching loads of estate agent window cards picturing pretty 3 bed bungalows for €180,000. What wasn’t pictured was the aluminium warehouse on one side and the gypsy camp on the other. The blokes comment on the area was “It’s ******* ****, isn’t it?”, and I had to agree.

You’ll find the locals have always built naves cunningly disguised as 3 bed villas, but that’s why the Junta are now cracking down – they’ve taken over from the local council so all the old games are coming to a halt. These days the locals will be in the same boat as you are. If you build anything other than the Junta will allow there, I’d say you run the risk of them demolishing it.

[Author]

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