How to legalise an unlicensed porch

If the porch is dismountable (no brickwork/concrete) you can take it easy and forget all your worries. Otherwise tlak to your "Arquitecto Municipal" who is there to tell you what to do.

Hi Killjoy

Thank for the information.

The porch is aluminium with a plastic tile effect roof and removable glass doors.

Will I be able to put the porch on the house deeds without any problems?

If I go through official channels I am worried I my be in trouble.

I have heard the council can have it demolished if you didn't have planning permission in the first instance.

Would my solicitor be the best person to go to first?

Kind regards Dave

Unfortunately its too late for this solution, but your solicitor should have ensured all additions to the property were on the nota simple or added before you bought. Too many purchasers aren't aware of this or advised of this. We are just buying a property in San Miguel and have ensured all the additional works are added to the deeds. We have seen so many 3 bed houses that are actually 2 bed with an illegal underbuild that cannot be legalised, yet they are still being advertised and sold as 3 bed and not advised correctly by the agents.

Hi swcoulthurst,

Thank you for your comments. Been getting differing advise from all's good to illegal.

Still not sure where I stand.

Is there any solutions to this? Or do I just keep quite and hope for the best as long as I don't need to sell?

Kind regards Dave

Tbh I wouldn't bother too much and get it legalised if needed when you decide to sell. Obviously you bought as is and no doubt someone else will. I am not a legal person but there is also something about if it has been on the property for 15 years then it should be added automatically if you can prove when it was built (I would think it hasn't been yet). I'm not sure of the urbanisation you are on, but I do know of one in San Miguel where the properties have pools added and allsorts but due to some legal issues with the urb from the beginning they can never be added to the deeds. They do however sell and as far as I know no-one has had any problems. You could ask your lawyer, but they didn't advise you very well at the time.

Hi swcoulthurst 

There is a place in Quesada, One Way Services. May ask there to see where I stand legally. But thanks for your advice. There are lots of properties on the Urbanisation that have had work done. Unless the town hall has a crack down we should be ok.

It's always good to have a backup plan.

Kind regards Dave

It happens everywhere in the area. I have sold our villa and had to add the pool on the deeds even though we thought everything was done as it should be 19 years ago. Sometimes you don't know (unless having done previously) until you come to sell. According to the facture from the architect he should have done this but obviously didn't. We are buying another and pretty much everything we have looked at has not had the deeds updated or sold as habitable illegal underbuilds. Room in a garage as a bedroom but not accessible without going through the garage. It's a total nightmare plus the time taen now to add to the land registry is about 8 weeks (that's how long ours took). Then there is of course August on the horizon. Nothing will be done by any government body during that month. 

Hi swcoulthurst 

Thank you for telling me about  your experience in buying and selling Spanish property. Sounds like it's pretty normal to have work done on your property and not inform the local council.

If the buyer and seller are both in agreement about the renovations carried out, it shouldn't be a problem.

Kind regards Dave

It's minefield. My other point is that as a Brit, we are not used to this system. As I said we had our pool all done legally but the architect didn't do his job. The seller doesn't always know until the sale. Then some of the lawyers leave everything til the last minute so just when you think all is going well...something rears its ugly head. Another thing with ours..20 years after it was completed we put our villa up for sale only to find the deeds say the house is still under construction. In this case the builder didn't finish off their job.