I have lived in a house on the campo for 9 years,but the water bill I have been paying is in the previous owners name. I tried to change it but am told I need a certificate of habitation which this house does not appear to have. Also although we have made no changes to the house and got all the necessary planning permission for the pool we now find that the escitura does not include the naya which we were told by our solicitor on purchase had been built by previous owners who had to pay a fine.
How do we rectify this and the approximate cost?

You will need to go to a notaire and get the Escritura altered - several hundred euros (I seem to recall).

Contact a plumber for the boletin then this needs to be presented when you try to alter the water contract. Again, a couple of hundred euros.

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Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Do you have electricy and an electrical contract?

The reason I ask is one normally requires habitation cert for that too and you may like to get all your ducks in a row.

Your solicitor ought to have ensured there was a habitation cert and escritura which accurately reflected the property including any modifications when you bought the property.
Paying a fine does not necessarily mean the modification has been approved. You may have to apply for retrospective approval and this may be rejected. Normally one pays as a % of the build cost for building license / permission. The regulations are the same, but the costs and how rigorously they are enforced varies depending on where you are.

See here > http://articles.kyero.com/building-licence-in-spain/738

We have an electricity and water contract and this has been no problem. Does the fact that the naya was built 4 years before we bought i.e. 14 years ago make any difference.

What's a naya, please?

A naya is a open sided porch that is attached to the side of the house.
In our case this is quite big,almost 40 sq metres and we were told by our solicitor at the time of purchase the previous owners had planning permission but as they had built it bigger than they should have they had paid a fine and it would be legal in 4 years. It is now 10 years since we purchased and it was completed over 2 years before that

I understood you have a water contract in the previous owner's name? Is the electricity contract in his name too?

You need to show recent utility bills and SUMA in your name plus habitation certificate and an accurate escritura if you ever want to sell the property.

You may hear it is OK after so many years. Authorities were lax but are becoming ever more efficient at enforcing regulations. I would ask your abogado, maybe best to use a different one to the one who assisted with your purchase. Once it is shown on your escritura, it "should" be legal

The electricity bill is in our name and we have applied for a second certificate of habitation and payed the fee to the Ayumento for this.
We had to show the water,electricity bills escitura,suma bill and residencia
to apply but are worried that when the inspector comes to check the fact that the escitura does not show the addition of the naya he will not issue one.
We have all the documentation for the pool and have paid for all of this. Is it a difficult job to get the naya on the escitura if as our lawyer told us thet had planning permission and is it possible for us to check this at the land registry?

I am a little confused as to why water bill is in previous owner's name and why this was not transfered to you when you purchsed or if you already have a habitation certificate why you would need a second?

I very much doubt they will ask to see your escritura or check whether your naya is on the escritura. This has no relevance - all they certify is that your property is fit / safe for habitation.

You ought to have details of all the approved construction in your escritura and a drawing of your plot. If this is not correct go see an Abogado and ask him to arrange a revised one approved by the notary. It is not difficult.

To answer your question: Yes you can. One can even view details of what has been approved on line. Why keep a dog and bark? A good Abogado should be able to review your paperwork and ensure it is all in order. Let him to sort out any issues. I hope your pool is detailed in your escritura?
The question you ought to ask your Abogado is: "If the construction was approved, why is this not on our escritura?" He should have checked this when you purchased the property. All kinds of shaddy deals may have been done when your naya was built 14 years ago, but that matters not a jot. If and when you come to sell the next owner may have a better Abogado who knows what is required.

In my experience of buying properties, this is never done before the sale - in fact it can't be! It has to be done afterwards with proof that you are the owner of the property or are a legal tenant.

You generally need a second habitation certificate if the first one has expired - they do after a few years. So, even for a new build where you are given a first habitation certificate, after 5 - 10 years, if you need one again, then you will need to apply for a second.


At least, this is what we have found in this area.

When we bought, that was all done by the abogado, we never had to change anything ourselves.

When I bought my house, the abogado changed the electricity bill into my name, but the contract remained in the name of the previous owner (although the water contract was changed). From speaking to other people it seems this was very common, probably to avoid having to get a boletin, and a good few people hadn't even realised that the contract was not in their own name although the bills were addressed to them. I have had it changed since then, as we had to have a new meter box etc. fitted in order to get an ICP, so took the opportunity to get a boletin and change the contract. Endesa didn't ask for a certificate of habitation, just the escritura, but that may be because it is an older house.

Of course one cannot do it before the sale <LMAO>. I said when you purchased. My point was their Abogado ought to have advised them and OP would not be faced with problems 9 years later. As others have confirmed a good abogado would have done that for them.

I was not aware there was an expiry date on a habitation certificate? I do know that when one sells property one is (usually) required to produce a habitation certificate and a 9 year old certificate is perfectly acceptable for that purpose.

I went to the town hall to change the name on the bills for water, sewage and rubbish and even though they know me and knew my husband they will not do it until I have the escritura in my name.

Rosemary