# House swap



## deefitz (Apr 19, 2014)

Good morning from a cold UK

As we have said in older posts we are moving over to Spain later this year.

We are in a bit of a quandary as we have been offered a house swap and don't know if there any problems associated with this. 

The house is near Crevillent and we are told it has the certificate of Habitation but we have also been told that it's not 10,000m2 that is needed for a rustic/country property.

It's not a new property and they said that after all these years there would be no problem with this but that's not to say it wouldn't.

Please can we have your thoughts and anything you can think of that might affect us?  TIA


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

deefitz said:


> Good morning from a cold UK
> 
> As we have said in older posts we are moving over to Spain later this year.
> 
> ...


from what I have read you'd still need to treat it as a sale/purchase situation, from a legal point of view

certainly you should still do all the same checks as with a 'normal' sale


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

As Xabiachica says, the same costs will be incurred.

I would strongly suggest you find out if it is fully legal whether you sell, swap, or stay there.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> from what I have read you'd still need to treat it as a sale/purchase situation, from a legal point of view
> 
> certainly you should still do all the same checks as with a 'normal' sale


We looked into a house swap a few years ago, and yes, it has to be treated as two separate contracts and procedures. The only benefit is that you don't have to look for other parties to buy/sell to. Also the property prices in the two countries can vary hugely over the time it takes.

We thought it would be an easy option, but...... no, so we didn't

Jo xxx


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## deefitz (Apr 19, 2014)

jojo why did you find it not an easy option?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

deefitz said:


> jojo why did you find it not an easy option?


Because the only advantage was we had a buyer for our house and they for theirs. The disadvantage was that the buyers lived in Spain, as did we. Both parties had to have a Spanish solicitor/abogado and UK solicitors and would have needed to flit back and forth a fair bit 

For us and at the time we were looking to do it (2009), the Spanish house seemed to lose money on a daily basis, which meant we were selling our UK house at the same rate of deflation - which didn't reflect the UK housing market..... We were living in rented in Spain at the time, so found organising searches, surveys etc in the UK complicated....... it potentially could have been quite messy and costly

Jo xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I found the old thread about this. I've not re-read it, but it may be of use http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...-living-spain/5648-uk-spanish-house-swap.html

Jo xxx


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## deefitz (Apr 19, 2014)

Thank you jojo.

My heads going round in circles. As far as we know the other house doesn't have a mortgage and ours doesn't, so that's one problem out the way. But many more swirling around.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

deefitz said:


> Thank you jojo.
> 
> My heads going round in circles. As far as we know the other house doesn't have a mortgage and ours doesn't, so that's one problem out the way. But many more swirling around.


Yes, we had a small mortgage, but that was the least of our worries lol!!! Also, we didn't really want to spend the same money..... we wanted something cheaper with money over, but the other party didn't want to pay money to us, because of the costs, CGT, solicitors fees... and at the time the exchange rate was nose diving..... eeekk, its all coming back to me now lol!!!! 

That said, I think the economy is a little more stable now
Jo xxx


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## Expatliving (Oct 21, 2013)

Europe is on the verge of using QE to boost the economies. The result will possibly mean the continued decline in the euro against the £ ...

The only blip on the horizon in the UK is the election in May and the instability that may cause to financial markets. There is a distinct possibility that the GBP could rise to 1.30 euro by the summer, with it tailing off towards year end. In the words of Del Boy that would be "lovely jubbly" ... Fingers crossed!


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## Tracey W (Oct 24, 2014)

If the house was built before 2002 it is classed as "outside of regulation" and is legal if it's built on a smaller plot. The law changed in 2002 and since then you can only build on plots of over 10,000m2 on rustic land. Some town halls have allowed houses to be built on plots of 5000m2, but NATIONAL Spanish law overrides local planning, so beware if you're told everything's legal on a newish house built on a small plot (Rustic land only.)
However, I'd be very wary of buying a property in Crevillent. Some parts of it are quite rough and there are a lot of Morrocans, Algerians and Romanians. Be very careful.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Tracey W said:


> If the house was built before 2002 it is classed as "outside of regulation" and is legal if it's built on a smaller plot. The law changed in 2002 and since then you can only build on plots of over 10,000m2 on rustic land. Some town halls have allowed houses to be built on plots of 5000m2, but NATIONAL Spanish law overrides local planning, so beware if you're told everything's legal on a newish house built on a small plot (Rustic land only.)
> However, I'd be very wary of buying a property in Crevillent. Some parts of it are quite rough and there are a lot of Morrocans, Algerians and Romanians. Be very careful.


Don't different areas have different rules on this? I read that it was 30,000m2 in Murcia for example.


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## deefitz (Apr 19, 2014)

If we go ahead with the house swap can anyone tell me what we would likely to pay in taxes/fees etc? The price of the house for sale is 

Also the house if outside of Crevillent in Campillos, if anyone knows anything about that area, and was built around 1972 so hopefully does not come under the 10000m2 rule.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

With the increase in ITP (transfer tax), you should allow about 15% of the purchase price.

BUT, be careful as if you are deemed to have not paid enough, then they will chase you for the 'extra' tax.


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