[Sheila48]

Hi I am looking for advice we have put down 10% deposit and all was well until the solicitor rang to say there was a problem here is what she said…

 

 

The situation with your purchase is that the extention on the kitchen has not been inscripted and cannot be inscripted on the Escritura (deeds) until the end of 2017. The reason for this is that the Obra Nueva (legal building document) was not first registered until the end of 2007. This means during the first 10years from this date, any alteration made to the property cannot be put on the deeds.

 

We have confirmation that this extention was done more than 4 years ago. In this situation the town hall cannot put a levy (fine) or demolition order on the extention. So if you decide to go ahead with the purchase you can be assured that there will be no problems with this in the future.

 

The vendor has now offered 600euros towards the inscription which at the moment costs around 1,400euros. It is your decision as to whether you then inscript this in 2017 or leave it until you sell the property.

 

Please give it some thought over the weekend and let me know your final decision as to whether you wish to continue with the purchase. I hope that you will as this really is not an unusual situation here in Spain as laws are totally different here to the UK.

Can anyone advice please?

[philocd]

I agreed a price on a house in early August 2012.

When the pre contract documents were sent to me, I noticed that the property was specified as having less than half of the actual number of square metres. I stated bluntly that, under no circumstances, would I purchase a property that was not already 100 % legal.

It turns out that substantial extensions had been made several years earlier, with all of the appropriate planning permissions, but the architect had failed to make the final declaration of end of work to the local authority.

I was given the same sort of advice that you have received, namely that things are different in Spain.  However, I stuck to my guns and told the agent, make it legal and I will buy. Otherwise I walk.

Everything was sorted out, and we still met the planned completion date of September 20.

Why should you take the risk of making a property legal ?

Why would you agree to a deal where you have to pay 800 € that should have already been paid by the current owner ?

One thing to remember is that many people failed to properly register extensions, so they would not have to pay the inevitable increase in local IBI taxes. If you accept and register in the future, it is highly likely that you could be held liable for unpaid IBI at least up to the point of prescription, which is usually 4 – 5 years.

My advice, and I am nowhere near being a specialist in this area, is to ask for your deposit to be returned, as the property is not wholly legal.

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