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Having purchased off plan and expecting to complete this month, I have been told by my Spanish Lawyer that competion will be delayed due to the developer experiencing delays in obtaining the building licence, hence the Title Deed cannot be issued
This seems a bit ‘cart before the horse’ as the development is almost complete. The development is N.Costa Blanca.
Has anyone else experienced this type of problem?
The Estate Agent had of course assured me that the apartment would be sold prior to completion. I’m glad I took this with the pinch of salt it deserved! In fact, in order to sell, I am launching my own website and advertising campaign.
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Sven
From my experience, it is often common place for developers to promote and sell developments without the building licence in place. However that is not to say that all do. As your lawyer has advised, without this document, you cannot complete nor “turn” the property prior to completion which by the sound of it was always your intention.
Upon the receipt of a building licence a private purchase contract can be issued which will then enable you to assign the contract prior to completion.
I would be interested to learn whether you signed a reservation contract and and what deposit.
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Hello Sven,
It is true that some developers start signing private sales contracts on properties they are building before the building licences have been granted. However in my experience it is quite unusual for the developer not to have the licences in place once the development is nearly complete. Bad form is all I can say.
It is one thing for a developer to sign a reservation deposit contract without building licences in place, but quite another to sign private sales contracts. I would discourage anyone from signing a private sales contract in the absence of building licences and if you choose to do so, make sure the contract includes a clause that looks after your interest should obtaining the licence prove problematic or take too long.
Your lawyer is right to say that without a building licence you won’t be able to complete your purchase – by which I mean sign public deeds of sale before Notary. However in theory you could still sell on your claim to the property – your right / obligation to buy it as formalised in the contract you have with the developer – if you can find a ready buyer that is. However it does depend upon the details of the contract you have signed – the devil as always is in the detail. Given that the building licence is not yet granted you must get to the bottom of this question if you want to avoid problems selling on. That is where I would focus my energy for now – finding out all you can about the status of the licence. The licence will be key to your selling the property before completion. If I were a potential buyer and knew that there was uncertainty surrounding the building licence I would demand a significant discount to compensate for the uncertainty so you need to reduce this uncertainty as far as you can.
As you are no doubt aware by now many agents make claims about how easy it will be to sell on before completion. In many if not most cases it is just part of their sales pitch and is without substance.
Good luck with your efforts to market your property.
Mark
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Many thanks for the replies and the advice.
I have in fact completed two of the three stage payments for the property.
The developer has a bank guarantee in place to cover the payments I have already made which I am told will be extended until the signing of the title deed.
Does anyone know at what point the guarantee can be called upon if the title deed is delayed indefinately?
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It depends upon the penalty clauses in the contract you signed with the developer. However quite often you will find that develpers dont include penatly clauses in the standard contracts they offer (or include very vague clauses that get them off any hook) – buyers have to have switched on lawyers to look out for this sort of thing. If there are no clear penalty clauses to govern the behaviour of the developer then you have to rely on standar consumer protection laws. For more information on these you will need to consult a lawyer. If I were you I would consider consulting a lawyer before paying the 3rd payment.
Regards
Mark
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