I completed on a new build apartment without the LFO, on the advice of my solicitor who assured me it was only a formality.

In theory it was. However, by the time the town hall came to inspect, some of the neighbours had installed winter gardens (glazed in the terraces) which contravened the planning regs. This delayed the issue of the LFO by two and a half years. It didn't make any difference to us as, although the supply was a little sporadic, we were not living there full time.

If there are delays and your supplies are cut, life could be very unpleasant. Difficult one I know.

You will have to pay your next deposit as you have agreed that in your contract - otherwise you will be in breach of contract. The final payment is the one we needn't pay until the licence has been granted. That is being paid by mortgage.

Smarties, what stage is the property at? When is completion due (I mean physical completion, not rubber stamps on paper completion)?

If you are just at the putting down 20% deposit stage it sounds like you still have some way to go?

If you have no LFO then you are actually living in the premises illegally as its not licenced for habitation.
One day you are using the electric and the whole place catches fire and also burns out 4 or 5 other properties.
Tell me what happens next ?

Good point jdr! This is one of the things keeping me awake. We are still waiting for confirmation from the builder.

Builders confirmation wouldn`t count to the Guardia, only legal paperwork.
Anyway what is the builder confirming, that its ok to break the law cos he said so.....
I dont think people realize the actual dangers and consequences of living in a premises that is not legally habitable.
Some would say "its ok the insurance will cover any accidents etc" sure they will, lol, Have they told the insurance company they are living illegally in a place with no habitation licence.
We all know what ins companies are like if they can dodge a claim.

We completed without our Licence after long discussions with the builders who are quite reputable and they told us they have never had any problems getting them on any development. They had already received them for phase 1 and some for Phase 2. We are Phase 3.

We decided to go ahead and got keys in April 06. We were able to get our Iberdrola supply and water even when the LFO had not come through. Our builders told us that Iberdrola and water authority will do this if the builders show them a copy of the application for the LFO for each property. They sent us a copy of the LFO application to the town hall for our property so we knew they had applied.

We got the proper supply in August last year but the LFO did not come through until December.

Yeah but the property should not of been lived in until it was licenced, re the name of the licence. ;-)

Well the property is deemed to be key ready so we asked for May and they said okay. Having been to the property it seemed complete and just needed a good clean up after any building job. The 20% is due end of this month with rest on mortgage when I get in the property but this is now a serious concern given some of the comments on here re insurance and things. Am I able to withdraw from this at this stage if I needed to and just lose the initial 3000 euros holding fee? That has to be an option? Not saying I will but I have read something in this thread about having to pay or being in breach of contract or something like that and need to be sure of my options.

Smarties have you talked with your solicitor about your concerns? Are there already others living there, if so then talk with them and hopefully put your mind at rest. We feel it will be ok moving into ours as there are lots of others who have done the same and eventually got the LFO. It's mainly a case of mañana and nothing will speed things up We still have it at the back of our minds about pulling out if it goes over contract though. Just need to clarify this with our solicitor.

SmartiesUK - do you not have a lawyer (an independent lawyer) acting for you? Did they not flag up that there was no LFO before you handed over any money?
A property cannot be key ready without an LFO.
PLEASE please please visit the Spanish Property Insight forum and read about the problems people are experiencing with properties with no LFO. You are likely to have problems with utilities, insurance, mortgage, reselling.....
Find yourself one that's already legal!

I know you are asking for advice here, but we are mere mortals on a forum. You really need to speak to your abogado, and hopefully he isn't the one that the estate agent recommended.

For what its worth, the paperwork on my house wasn't complete when it was finished but we still took the keys. Told the builder I needed a mortgage, and obviously the bank wouldn't give it. So I didn't make the final payment of over 35k until it was sorted which sort of gave them some impetus to get the matter finalised

I am purchasing through a major developer and paying over the odds for what I thought was peace of mind. The solicitor, well they are taking care of all that though this LFO was never discussed at any stage not once.

Change your solicitor immediately ....... using the builders or agents pet solicitor is absolute folly!!!!

Smarties, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be very careful about how you are interpreting the advice that is being given to you here.

By the sounds of your comments, eg withdrawing from the purchase seem to suggest that you believe you have put a deposit down on an ILLEGAL PROPERTY. I have read nothing so far to suggest that you have purchased an illegally built property. Why do you think you need to pull out???????

The delay between the property being physically finished, and having all its paperwork in place is ABSOLUTELY NORMAL. I wouldn´t expect it any other way!

It is also absolutely normal for people to complete on properties that do not yet have their LFOs in place - however, the British tend to be a little more "by the book" than the Spanish and many prefer not to complete without the LFO. That is absolutely fine, and they are well within their rights not to do so.

HOWEVER, pulling out of the sale altogether because the property doesn´t have its LFO yet is LUNACY!!!!!!!!! (and breach of the contract no doubt)

When you purchase a property off-plan (which technically you have done as you are buying from a developer) there is NEVER an LFO in place. How can there be?

If you want to be super duper sure, just tell the developer you are going to delay completion until the paperwork is stamped - but for god´s sake don´t pull out of the sale just because of some crap that you have read on a forum!!