A lot has been talked in Marbella about these licenses and it is still an important matter when buying, specially in Marbella, where a number of illegalities where passed under the previous GIL’s governments. Therefore, I thought it was a good idea to comment what is the License of First Occupation and what it is needed for.
What is? It is a certificate issued by the town hall to confirm that a building, once the construction or refurbishing is finished with no outstanding works, fulfills all planning and building regulations and it is fit for its purpose. It also confirms that the building complies with all health and safety regulations, has been built legally with all building licenses in place and finished according to the project laid out in the original building license also issued by the council. The license of first occupation can be issued to a single villa, to a whole apartment complex or to an urbanization.
What is needed for? A property that does not have a license of first occupation is not fully legal and can not be occupied. Although it is true that thousands of properties are being lived into without that license and there are properties with that license that are not 100% legal, and here comes the previous comment I made about the Marbella’s GIL Governments where first occupation licenses were issued on buildings that were not complying with the planning permission, in general terms, you can say that when you have that license that the property is legal, built for its purpose and, therefore, can be occupied.
Furthermore, the utility companies such as the water, electricity or gas are required by law to ask for the license of first occupation before entering into a supplying contract on all new buildings. Although an important number of properties are getting the supplies without the license, the utility companies are in these days applying the law more rigorously and you may be cut if you do not have a license in place.
There is a third issue regarding these licenses: with the actual situation and taking into account that the banks are not really open to give credit, when a property does not have a license of first occupation means that is not fully legal and, therefore, not entitle for a mortgage. The banks will not take the risk.
Finally, if you are thinking on selling and you do not have a license of first occupation for your property, try to sort it out before selling because that may be a major issue raised by the lawyer of the buyer that may ruin a sale so difficult to achieve at the present times.
* If you have any concerns about the license of first occupation of your property, it is fully recommended that you check it your lawyer and/or architect.
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