Habitability certificate and occupation licence in Spain

Why the answer depends on where the home is

Housing is a competence of the autonomous communities, so each one sets which document proves that a home may be occupied, who issues it, how long it lasts and when it is demanded. Two documents are often confused:

• The habitability certificate (cédula de habitabilidad in Spanish, cèdula d’habitabilitat in Catalan) is the regional document that authorises a home to be occupied (the Catalan page names it as required to sell, rent or hand over use of a house).
• The occupation licence (licencia de ocupación, or de primera ocupación for a new building) is the municipal document: the Valencian law refers to the local administration for it, and the national construction law names it as one of the documents that authorise occupation.

Which one your purchase needs, and whether both, depends on the region and on whether the home is newly built or already occupied. The two regions below were read; they are examples, not a national rule.

Catalonia: the second-occupation certificate

The Generalitat’s procedures page says the cèdula d’habitabilitat de segona ocupació is required for “Selling, renting or handing over the use of a house”, and for contracting water, electricity, gas, telecommunications and other services. It states: “The certificate is valid for 15 years.”

Other points read on the official pages:

• Fee: “20.45 € per house”.
• Reduction: the page mentions a 30% allowance on requests for the certificate; check on the page the conditions for it.
• Time to decide: the Generalitat’s housing FAQ says the period to notify the grant or refusal is 30 working days (dies hàbils), counted from when the Housing Agency’s register receives the complete application. The procedures page adds that the period can be suspended if the administration asks for more information.

The Catalan decree that governs the certificate was not read for this guide, because the official legal portal returned no text. The rules for a first-occupation certificate for new homes, and the technical conditions a home must meet, are therefore not stated here.

Valencian Community: licence of occupation, with a transitional certificate

The Valencian housing law (Ley 8/2004, consolidated at the BOE) sets documents for sales and leases:

• Selling a finished home (art. 16): for finished new-build homes, or homes from the full rehabilitation of a building, the seller must provide, among other items, “La licencia de ocupación”, and for newly built or rehabilitated protected housing, on the first transfer, the final qualification certificate (cédula de calificación definitiva). The sale requirements also include the guarantees against construction defects, any mortgage loan on the home and the building book; the guarantees and the loan details must be shown in the deed.
• Letting a home (art. 17.a): the home must have the occupation licence “o, en su caso, cédula de habitabilidad”. Under art. 18 the landlord must give the tenant the documentation that authorises occupation.
• Transitional rule (second transitional provision): “En tanto los ayuntamientos no adopten las medidas adecuadas para la puesta en marcha de la licencia de ocupación, será requisito necesario la previa obtención de la cédula de habitabilidad conforme a la legislación autonómica vigente.”

In other words, in the Valencian Community the municipal licence is the document the law has in view, and the habitability certificate stands in until a town has put the licence in place. This guide did not read the Valencian regulation that applies the certificate, nor its validity period. A draft consolidated text mentioned on a regional housing site is a proposal, not a rule, and is not described here.

Other regions

The regions other than Catalonia and the Valencian Community were not read. The rule is regional, and so are the issuing body, the validity, the fee and the cases in which the document is demanded for a sale. Ask the regional housing department, or the town hall, before you assume that your home needs, or lacks, one of these documents.

Off-plan purchases

For homes bought during construction, the national construction law gives the buyer a statutory link between the building’s completion and the occupation documents. The additional provision on advance payments requires the contract to state that the developer will return the sums paid, plus legal interest, if the building is not started or finished on time, or “no se obtenga la cédula de habitabilidad, licencia de primera ocupación o el documento equivalente que faculten para la ocupación de la vivienda”. Once the competent body issues the certificate or licence and the developer proves delivery, the guarantees are cancelled. See the guide on buying off plan.

What to check before you buy

These are checks on the facts of your own file, not a legal opinion:

• Ask the seller which occupation document exists for the home, who issued it, and its date.
• Check the region’s validity period against that date.
• Compare the document with the nota simple and the cadastral reference, to see that the home described is the same one.
• Ask which energy document is available; see the guide on the energy certificate.
• If the seller has no document, ask who will obtain it and put the answer in the contract; see the arras deposit contract.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can tell you which document the sale requires in your region. An architect can inspect the home and prepare the technical file; see the page on the architect. The licence is a municipal matter; the Catalan certificate is handled by the Generalitat’s housing administration.