CONSULTATION:
Dear lawyers,
We have built a property in La Marina Alta (Alicante) in accordance with the building or construction license granted by the Town Hall. But now, this same city council refuses to give us the occupation license or habitability certificate, saying that we should have paid or transferred to them some land as part of the urbanization process. Without this license we cannot get water and electricity contracts. What can we do against the license refusal?
Dear reader, thank you for your consultation.
First of all, we must inform you that we cannot give you advice without seeing and studying all the documents.
Nevertheless, generally, we can say that the Occupation license has a dual objective:
To confirm that the property is suitable to be used and occupied, that it fulfills the habitability requisites, ventilation requirements, etc.
The first occupation license also confirms whether the property built corresponds with the building project presented in the build application license.
This is also foreseen in the Valencian Community, in the article 32 of the Law 3/2004, of Quality in the Edification.
Having said that, we understand that sometimes, when an occupation license is applied for, some Town Halls take the opportunity to claim for things that are not related at all, such as: penalties for illegal buildings, transfer of plots, debts as a consequence of the urbanization process, etc.
In your case, it could be understood that the Town Hall cannot deny your occupation license, merely for the lack of transfer of part of a plot as per the urbanization process, because as said, that is nothing to do with the occupation license, whose process must only determine if the property has the necessary habitability conditions and if it is a new property, and if what is built matches with the building project and license.
In this sense there are also some court precedents, such as the Court Order number 1370/2000 from the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TJS), which states: “requesting for the transfer of land or its economic value in order to grant the first occupation license is… against the law and therefore must be declared null”.
If you have a property and you have a problem getting the first or the second occupation licence, our firm can help you.
The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.
Carlos Baos (Lawyer)
White & Baos
Tel:+34 966 426 185
E-mail: info@white-baos.com
White & Baos 2013 – All rights reserved
