I have an Escritura & my house is on the Catatral !
Why is my house not considered fully legal?
This is one of the most common questions we are asked, and the answer is often misunderstood.
Owning a property in Andalucía with an escritura (title deed), a Catastro reference, and paying IBI (council tax) does not, by itself, mean that the property is fully legal from an urban planning perspective.
These documents simply confirm that the property exists, who owns it and that it has been registered for taxation. They do not certify that every part of the property was built with the correct planning permissions or that it complies with the building regulations in force when it was constructed.
In your case, your title deed records the original house that you purchased in 1990, but the roof terrace added in 2000 does not appear in the deeds. This usually indicates that the alteration was either never licensed, never declared, or never incorporated into the property's legal documentation.
In addition, many older village houses were built before the requirement for a First Occupation Licence (Licencia de Primera Ocupación) existed or before local councils consistently issued them. Others were altered over the years without obtaining all the necessary planning approvals.
For a property on urban land, being considered fully legal generally means that:
The building and any later extensions or alterations were carried out with the appropriate planning permissions (where required).
The property complies with the applicable planning regulations.
The legal documentation (Registro de la Propiedad and, where appropriate, Catastro) accurately reflects what exists on site.
The property has, or is eligible to obtain, the appropriate occupation licence where one is required.
The absence of a First Occupation Licence does not automatically mean a property cannot be sold. Many older village houses are bought and sold every year without one. However, today's buyers and their lawyers usually carry out much more detailed legal and technical checks than they did decades ago. Any discrepancies between the property as built and its legal documentation may need to be investigated and, in some cases, regularised before or after a sale.
Every property is different. The age of the building, when alterations were carried out, the planning legislation in force at the time, and the records held by the local Town Hall all affect the legal position.
At Andalucía Country Houses, we carry out detailed pre-sale legal and planning reviews to identify these issues before your property goes on the market, helping sellers avoid delays and giving buyers confidence that they fully understand the property they are purchasing.
