Villa un regulated

[waverunner]

Have the opportunity of buying a villa that has never paid IBI as it was constructed on rural land, built around 2004. Owner has made an application to pay but no answer has been received to date. Water and electricity are all connected and its on an urbanization of around 40 properties all in the same position. Agents informed us that the the ayuntamiento are adopting the land soon and it can then be legalized. Anybody know what costs could be levied or has anybody been in a similar position....

[El Cid]

Don't touch it with a bargepole, unless it is at least half the price of the legal properties!

If it is on rustic land, built after 2002 it is certainly illegal, even if the rest of the buildings were built on urban land.

Agents will tell you anything to get you to buy it. To change the boundaries of urban land needs major changes to the Plan General for the town and these can only be approved by the Junta de Andalucia.

I live in Almunecar and the new Plan Gereral was submitted 10 years ago - it still is not approved and unlikely to be so unless it has some very major changes made to it.

Sid

[waverunner]

Thanks for the heads up on this, so its back to the agents and continue our search looking for a home in La Vinuela or surrounding area. Feeling disappointed now....

[El Cid]

La Vinuela, and most of that area is covered with thousands of illegal houses - estimates are more than 30000. There are moves afoot to legalise some of them, but since you have an open book to choose from, it makes sense only to look at totally legal properties, assuming you can find one.

Sid

[waverunner]

Must admit pretty disappointed that agents are still promoting illegal properties on their web sites. Perhaps I'm being naive

[Beachcomber]

I endorse everything Sid has written.

There is every possibility that these properties are built on land that is pro-indivisa which means that a single plot of land has been physically divided up into individual plots but not legally segregated. This means that, although they may all have a legitimate looking escritura, everyone owns a participation in the whole plot with its resultant legal implications the main one being that if one owner gets into financial difficulties the whole thing could end up being embargoed not just his own participation.

There is virtually no chance of an illegal property being entirely legalised. The best that could happen is that is 'regularised' by way of an AFO (Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenación) which in reality does little more than consolidate its illegality.

Be very careful if you are adamant about buying a rural property. Finding one on which the paperwork was completed prior to 2002 makes the situation a little less perilous but the basic requirements are that it was built with an architect's project endorsed by the college architects and a building licence granted and approved by both the local town hall and the Junta de Andalucía by way of publication of the project in the provincial bulletin as well as a legitimate final architect's certificate and a licence of first occupation.

Do not believe anything anyone tells you. Not estate agents, promoters, local mayors or even lawyers (especially not lawyers). Try to check out everything personally using a completely independent translator who knows his/her way around the conveyancing procedure if you do not have the necessary language skills or wherewithal to do it entirely by yourself.

[waverunner]

Again many thanks for the valuable information. Whilst our Spanish is pretty good we couldn't embark on this minefield without some help from a person with knowledge. We live in the Canaries and some time ago there was an amnesty on illegal builds, loads of people came forward and now so much of it had been legalized.

[Beachcomber]

There is a kind of amnesty in Andalucía, that's where the AFO comes in, but as I said it is a regularisation process and does not legalise the properties.

The procedure is explained here:

https://fueradeordenacion.wordpress.com/

and in rather more turgid detail which will put your understanding of Spanish to the test here:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2012/19/3

[waverunner]

Just some light reading for a Saturday evening Seriously think it's best we kick this one into touch - anybody out there got a legal property for sale in La Vinuela or Alcucin please get in touch....

[chrissiehope]

waverunner, I have sent you a PM

[TerryC]

I have sent a PM