Illegal properties - Page 3

We were dealing with so called reputable well established estate agents it's impossible to tell the good from the bad until the solicitor/lawyer  advises you they always say if you shake hands with an estate agent check for your watch afterwards. LOL

Hi Sharon, This one is on the why is catral cheap

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:51pm Report

Catral is a really nice Spanish town and a very good place to live. The reason the villas are cheap is that they were built illegally in the bad old days around 2004. Some have been legalised since, others have not. The price difference gives some indication.

If the seller offers the habitation certificate, then they are a good buy. If not, it could take a few thousand to get them legalised, depending on the drainage system and the cost of the habitation certificate.

This is where the regulisation steps in and you know why they are at a stop at the moment.

So you tar us all with the same brush. I hope you don't have a profession that does this to you

I'd just like to point out that the information about the water table and mossies doesn't apply to all properties. We live just outside the Catral boundary, also on the plain (Vega Baja). 

It's not a flood plain - flat land without adjacent higher ground won't flood although it might get well and truly wet during a downpour - the water just spreads out.

I've never seen a mossie at our property, probably because there isn't any local standing water and the irrigation canals in our area are all covered.

We are only a few feet above the water table, and that does mean rising damp can be a problem if the property doesn't have a damp proof course. You can get an idea of how high above the water table the property is if it has a well you can look down, or if it has a pool. If there is a pool, and the top of it is at ground level, you should be OK, because it means the pool builders were able to dig down a couple of metres without encountering water.

The easy way to spot rising damp is to look at the outside walls of the property. If the lower parts appear darker than the higher parts, or if the paint is flaking off, then there might be a problem.

I have lived in Catral for 14 Years, in a villa in the campo. We have a beautiful garden, which we spray for pests. also we have and have a eco septic tank. We have never had a problem with mosquitoes or any other plague of flying things. Also I would like to make it clear that in 14 years we have never been flooded! had any signs of damp!

some people should get there facts right!!!! 

I have lived in Catral since 2006 and are in the same position that your “new home “ is in.  Your Agent is correct that it will all be sorted and that Valencia took away Catral’s power to issue the Certificate Of Habitation due to them charging thousands of euros for the privilege when other Town Halls only change around €80.  So as soon as Catral’s powers are returned I have no doubt that they will resume legalising all the properties.

The Estate Agent will receive a fee if this sale goes through. The solicitor will lose a fee if you don't buy, so I know which way I would go. I wouldn't proceed against solicitor advice, I'd wait for it to be made legal and then buy. If it falls through there are plenty more properties on the market.

If you still want to ignore the advice given, as a minimum I'd get a second solicitors advice, but not one recommended by the Estate agent.

Im i right to think just because a villa has a Certificate Of Habitation does not make it a legal property?

You are correct!  It just gives you access to water and electricity.   Ask the question for a campo house:  does it sit in a plot of 10,000 sq metres or more?  If no, then its illegal.

Richard

Ours sits on 4.200m2 plot in the campo and is fully legal!!

Suggest you get your facts right before commenting eh?

Iam afraid a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!!