# Ex-Council Properties



## adiep (Jan 10, 2010)

Hi, I seem to remember that there's a name for the ex-council properties in spain. Also seem to remember that there are some laws related to their purchase. Can anyone help and point me in the right direction?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Do you mean *viviendas de protección oficial. *If you do, they're not ex council properties, but housing that is cheaper and available to low income earners. Some of these later on can be sold on to the general public


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

VPO ? Vivienda Protección Oficial. Don't know re: the laws.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

My understanding is that they can only be purchased by Spanish nationals - in fact Spanish locals??? I'm sure thats the case around here?????

Jo xxx


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Yes, they are for local Spanish only here. This explains it, but it's in Spanish.

Vivienda de Protección Oficial - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

They've also tightened up on selling , now it's at least 10 years before you can sell without repaying discounts.


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## adiep (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks gang... That's what I was looking for.

BTW, been lurking this forum for about 2 years on and off, finally got around to registering


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

2 years of lurking!!
Was it so scary  on here that you didn't want to join?
Hope you'll find being able to post much more fun than skulking around in the background.


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## adiep (Jan 10, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> 2 years of lurking!!
> Was it so scary  on here that you didn't want to join?
> Hope you'll find being able to post much more fun than skulking around in the background.


I'm allergic to those damn registration forms and also terminally lazy 

But will post a bit more in future now ive gone through the gruelling process of signing up.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

adiep said:


> I'm allergic to those damn registration forms and also terminally lazy
> 
> But will post a bit more in future now ive gone through the gruelling process of signing up.



Glad you've finally joined us lol!! 


Jo xxx


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## Caz.I (Mar 21, 2009)

gus-lopez said:


> Yes, they are for local Spanish only here. This explains it, but it's in Spanish.
> 
> Vivienda de Protección Oficial - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
> 
> They've also tightened up on selling , now it's at least 10 years before you can sell without repaying discounts.


Perhaps it depends on which Community of Spain you live in but some friends of mine in Andalucia applied for a VPO property and were offered one, and neither of them were Spanish nationals.
They turned it down because that particular housing scheme wasnt actually as cheap as they had expected, not much below market prices really, and they had a lot of doubts about the whole thing.

Caz.I


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## adiep (Jan 10, 2010)

Caz.I said:


> Perhaps it depends on which Community of Spain you live in but some friends of mine in Andalucia applied for a VPO property and were offered one, and neither of them were Spanish nationals.
> They turned it down because that particular housing scheme wasnt actually as cheap as they had expected, not much below market prices really, and they had a lot of doubts about the whole thing.
> 
> Caz.I


This was for one of those blocks smack-bang on the border with Gib. It was a large place, very cheap with parking (which is important near the border). However, its sold...


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

adiep said:


> Hi, I seem to remember that there's a name for the ex-council properties in spain. Also seem to remember that there are some laws related to their purchase. Can anyone help and point me in the right direction?


If you're not a Spanish national then you can't legally own one.
Tallbob on here bought one on here unknowingly and ended up in court with his solicitor and agent as he found he was unable to register the property in his name


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> If you're not a Spanish national then you can't legally own one.
> Tallbob on here bought one on here unknowingly and ended up in court with his solicitor and agent as he found he was unable to register the property in his name


But if it's an EX VPO, you can I think.
Mine is, jointly owned with OH


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> But if it's an EX VPO, you can I think.
> Mine is, jointly owned with OH



Im not sure of the intricacies of it all ... he was a Brit Spanish resident, and went to court over it. First off the court found against him and ruled he had lost his money and title. He appealed I believe and it was found for him .... however last I heard he was still awaiting the money from the original seller!!!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> Im not sure of the intricacies of it all ... he was a Brit Spanish resident, and went to court over it. First off the court found against him and ruled he had lost his money and title. He appealed I believe and it was found for him .... however last I heard he was still awaiting the money from the original seller!!!


What ever, sounds like a horrible  situation to find yourself in. 
I'm not trying to point the finger of blame, but was the problem that he (Tallbob) didn't look at the paperwork enough or that the seller was trying to pull a fast one...??


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> But if it's an EX VPO, you can I think.
> Mine is, jointly owned with OH



But could that be because you're married to a Spanish national??

Jo xx


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

jojo said:


> But could that be because you're married to a Spanish national??
> 
> Jo xx


I don't know Jojo, but I don't think so because the VPO thing didn't come up at all in the sale. I mean, it was mentioned as a by the by, but it had been declassified as a vpo property a few years previously and just didn't have anything to do with the sale.

Not specifically linked to Jojos comment, but here's some info from Wiki (in Spanish) about VPO where declassification of properties is mentioned. You can't take Wiki as 100% correct, but it's a starting point
Vivienda de Protección Oficial - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

And her's another site (also Spanish)
VIVIENDAS DE PROTECCION OFICIAL. VPO
It does say that things can vary from place to place...


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> What ever, sounds like a horrible  situation to find yourself in.
> I'm not trying to point the finger of blame, but was the problem that he (Tallbob) didn't look at the paperwork enough or that the seller was trying to pull a fast one...??


Well I didnt want to raise the issue of blame, but I would have thought a good solicitor would have told him that he couldnt buy it. However the solicitor refused to turn up in court, the agent denied all knowledge and the seller denied ever having taken money from him


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