# Is the house legal or illegal?



## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Hello folks! 

Just a quick question. We are 'still' looking for a house, I didn't know it was going to be so difficult but after 4 months of viewings all sort of things, we have decided for a 'casa de campo' (mostly for the cats!). 

We have found one, which according to the owners, all is legal, they built an extension (2 beds) at the back and time later they built another extension (on top of the house, as in another floor). They said all is legal and they pay IBI, they got electricity from the grid (paid lots of money at the time to the connection) and blah blah blah... 

...but I am not a very trusty person, lol! 

I looked on Goolzoom and found the house, and the 'catastro', it is there, as the main house, the extension and the top floor, as well as the land around it, so all seems to be good. 

However, I know that 'being in the catastro' does not mean all is legal. I have asked for 'cedula de habitabilidad' (not sure what the name in English), and they said all is fine. Fine, fine, fine.... 

I will make an appointment with the Urbanism area of the village and will ask them questions, but I always thought, if you pay IBI and are 'grid' connected for leccy, surely the house would be legal???? or is it not? 

It is so confusing, the house 'use' is 'agrario' but surely that's not important?

Any tips? Anyone knows?


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I know the feeling all too much, virtually no house is entirely legal around here. It's very frustrating.

You need to ask for the 'nota simple' that should give you among other things a description of the house and what if any charges are outstanding on the property.
A number of times we have found houses that look good on the catastral but once obtaining the nota simple have found that nothing matches up.

A lot of the time these can be or are supposed to be an easy enough fix but it is entirely the sellers job to fix it before sale and often they wont.

Agrario and on rustic?
It can matter for tax purposes.

cedula de habitabilidad in English is the certificate of occupancy. Some rustic properties I think may not need one.

Honestly this is just the tip of it, I would suggest a lawyer because even though it sounds as if you are doing the right checks there is so much more that a lawyer can find out.


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## maxd (Mar 22, 2009)

get a lawyer or gestor


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> You need to ask for the 'nota simple' that should give you among other things a description of the house and what if any charges are outstanding on the property.
> A number of times we have found houses that look good on the catastral but once obtaining the nota simple have found that nothing matches up.


It should also be noted that the nota simple itself may not be accurate and it is up to you or your lawyer to do the checks first and if anything needs to be fixed it's up to the buyer to make the changes, pay the taxes and get it notarised.
Because once it's at the notary for signing the deeds over the notary will do little more than the most basic of checks and offers you little to no protection.
You need to make sure that what he is given is up to date.


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks all, when I go and see the people at the Town Hall I will ask all those things and depending on what they say, I might go looking for a lawyer. I should just buy a caravan and travel around!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Lolito said:


> Thanks all, when I go and see the people at the Town Hall I will ask all those things and depending on what they say, I might go looking for a lawyer. I should just buy a caravan and travel around!


Why the town hall? To get a Nota Simple, you need to go to the Registro.

Maybe the town hall planning department can answer some questions but not all, surely.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lolito,
not sure if this will help or not. I tried a link that Alcalaina gives in the FAQ's #10, but it doesn't work, so through Google I got to this document from the government department Fomento
http://www.fomento.gob.es/NR/rdonlyres/55F07DA1-3DC3-4FB8-B140-3BE95097CD47/101724/guia_comprar.pdf
Secion 2 deals with the legal side of buying a house, but the link to _registradores_ doesn't work there either, but there is an email and phone number...


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## caromac (Nov 16, 2008)

If you are happy in the campo why not choose a house which is in a village (more likely to be legal) but within a short walk to the great outdoors. We have a dog and within two to three minutes stroll a campo and mountain range big enough to keep any dog happy.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Having a bit of a read this morning and I would be concerned about the term 'agrario' as it is agricultural land,no? It may not be a problem but it may mean that the town hall wont issue certain certificates. Best to check on that.

I have also found one of the better pieces of reading(in English) that details much of what checks either you or a lawyer should be doing as a minimum. It may help in finding the various different departments and places that are needed to visit to do the various checks.
Chapter 5 is where a lot of it starts.
Untitled Document

That said our lawyer found information out that went beyond anything mentioned in the above link.


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## Maureen47 (Mar 27, 2014)

It took us 18 months to find a house that was legal , the things you are saying are all to familiar, many of the houses we looked at were on the register but did not actually have the legal docs required to sell. Also some of the extensions on this house may be illegal if the land is not big enough for any extra builds. there is a 10,000m2 minimum in some rural areas to be allowed to build and then the buildings should only be up to a certain percentage of the land. We were able to find out a lot of info by ourselves but as others have said , get a lawyer then you can be certain you have a property that is not going to give any future planning issues.


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