Buying property with incorrect house size on land regisrty

[chrismac]

Hi. In the process of purchasing property but the size of house on land registry is incorrect. Have been offered to have the registry changed by seller, which will take time or a reduction in price for us to do it ourselves in our own time. Anyone had any experience of this? Is this normal practice in Andalusia? This offer has come via our solicitor. Thanks.

[costakid]

Hi. In the process of purchasing property but the size of house on land registry is incorrect. Have been offered to have the registry changed by seller, which will take time or a reduction in price for us to do it ourselves in our own time. Anyone had any experience of this? Is this normal practice in Andalusia? This offer has come via our solicitor. Thanks.

My advice is Dont accept a reduction. Ask the seller to do it but do not give a deposit until it has been rectified at land registry.

[El Cid]

How big is the diffence? Is it a Campo house? How old is it? What is the size on the Catastral record and Escritura?

Sid

[chrismac]

How big is the diffence? Is it a Campo house? How old is it? What is the size on the Catastral record and Escritura?

Sid

It’s a town house , built 1994. Registry shows it as over 300 sq m , cadastre as 180 sq m but it’s actually less than 100sq m. We will be building a small extension to a store room.

[El Cid]

What does the escritura say about area?

Sid

[markwilding]

We are in the process of selling our house and was quite surprised to see the local municipality has records quite a bit higher than my perception, which was based on the living area.
It’s because the official size includes parking spaces and the storeroom.

My perspective would be that the price you agree on would be based on market value. However, the municipal value is based on their own records. I would suspect you have looked at various houses and have offered the price you thought is correct so although you not be overpaying for the property, municipal taxes are higher than they should be.

[chrismac]

What does the escritura say about area?

Sid

Sid, the Escritura has the same area recorded as the registry.

[El Cid]

This is a very common situation. We have three different sizes for our land and more different ones for the house we built on it! It's very difficult to get all the affected documents changed as they all will say theirs are correct. As it is quite old I wouldn't consider it to be a problem, especially as it's smaller than the records say. If it was the other way round that would be different as it would imply it was built oversize or extended which could make it illegal if it didn't have the correct licences.

It would not be a concern for me, but if you can lower the price, I would take the money and forget about it.

Sid

[costakid]

What does the escritura say about area?

Sid

Sid, the Escritura has the same area recorded as the registry.

I understand what Cid is saying but whats not a problem today could be in the future when you decide to sell. Would it not be easier to buy a house thats not got problems? If it’s your dream house and you intend to keep it forever then thats a different situation.

[Wicksey]

If it's a town house is it more than one floor? I've seen them for sale saying 50m2 for example, but that is the ground area, but the house is 3 floors so nearer to 150m2 habitable area in total.

[spanish_lad]

As well, it might of been one large house originally, but has now been split into two?

[chrismac]

Thanks for the advice folks. It’s one floor with a store room/ bedroom on upper terrace. That’s actually in the cadasral. It’s not actually part of any other building so don’t think it has been split up. We’re thinking that we’ll take it at a reduced price as it is. We plan to stay in it long term but also plan to extend the store room a bit to make it a self contained living area for friends/family. I think then we’ll get it changed to the correct size because we’ll be leaving the house to kids and would rather it be in order for them.

[El Cid]

Make sure that the town hall will give you a building licence for this extension before you buy it.

Sid

[chrismac]

Make sure that the town hall will give you a building licence for this extension before you buy it.

Sid

I’ve been advised by a trusted source that the town hall will issue a construction licence.

[chrissiehope]

Iknow you said "a trusted source", but we trusted our 'architect/ project manager' who did indeed get a permiso, but only for minor works, not a refurb. He also ripped us and our builders off for a considerable amount.... (this was quite a few years ago)
So just be careful, and double check direct with the town hall