Source: Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt Website: Larraín Nesbitt Abogados
Buying rural land in Spain is unlike anything in the England or any countries. You have to be beware of anyone telling you the saler because maybe the saler is lying . Before you are going to buy a house, you should contact to an independent Spanish rural property surveyor.
1. Is the Title Deed right?
You should never buy a farmland or rural property if the Title Deed doesn´t exist or is outdated or inaccurate. You have to wait until the vendor has fully updated all the missing details at the Land Registry (at their expense) to the buyer’s lawyer satisfaction.
2. Is it the same property at real-life and Land & Cadastral Registries?
The main typical discrepancies are Plot size, Inaccurate property description and Boundaries. Any discrepancy will bring about legal and financial consequences.
You can check the Cadastral Registry at http://www.sedecatastro.gob.es
3. You have to check Liens, Charges, Debts or EncumbrancesAgainst the Property
Rural property abounds with easements unlike its urban counterpart due to its very nature. Common examples are Right-of-way, Right-of-view and Right to extract water.
4.- Is the vendor the registered owner?
This may sound as a fairly obvious point but you have to check that the vendor is the registered owner. There are several legal ways to overcome this minor setback; such as an ‘Nota Simple’ or else following an ‘Expediente de Dominio’.
You must visit the website (http://registradores.org) where you can know who is the real owner. In fact, Interactive Land Registry Information Service provided by the Public Law Corporation of Land and Mercantile Registrars of Spain has been created to help international users to leap over the language and legal terminology barriers which sometimes make difficult for non residents interested in investing in Real Estate in Spain, to properly assess and interpret information issued by the Land Registry Offices.
5. Is your Rural House Built on the Land Legal?
Some owners use ‘casa de aperos’ to circumvent planning restrictions to build on rural land.
A buyer’s surveyor will determine if a rustic villa does have planning permission from the local Town Hall. If it doesn’t, then I strongly recommend a buyer walks away from it to avoid a legal quagmire.
6. Is the Property Connected to the Mains, Running Water Supply & Utilities?
A surveyor’s report will highlight if the property is connected to the mains drainage. Frequently rural properties are not connected to the mains and have their own septic tanks in use which leads to problems as these must be emptied every now and then to avoid ‘overflow’ and ‘seepage’ problems, not to mention health-related issues.
7. Contact to us (Chartered rural Surveyor)
We can help you to buy a rural property and, in this way, you can avoid to have nightmares with your Spanish´s property.
