What is a First Occupation License?

Information sourced from Lawyer and legal expert Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt’s website and amended where applicable for Sotogrande. You can read the original article here: www.larrainnesbittabogados.com.

A First Occupancy License (also known as a Certificate of Habitability), is a license issued by the City Council and granted once the construction works have been completed, which allows the buyer to legally inhabit the property.

The developer is responsible for applying for this license, once the End of Construction Certificate has been issued. Each newly built home will have an individual First Occupancy license; although in large projects the licenses are usually grouped for scales of economies. Second-hand homes will have a first occupancy license.

If it has been a long period of time since the construction works were completed and the developer has not been able to obtain this license, it can lead to serious underlying legal problems. Although it is not illegal to notarize without a First Occupation license, not having one will prevent you from accessing the property’s water and electricity supplies. It also means that no bank is going to be willing to grant a mortgage.

Would you like to know more? Get in touch with us! 

Charles Gubbins.
✉ charles.gubbins@noll-sotogrande.com
+34 607 911 661