Legalising illegal rural properties through an MIT licenses

Hi John,

Are you the person referred to in this article?

https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2022/11/23/thousands-of-illegally-built-rural-properties-can-be-licensed-in-costa-blanca-and-valencia-areas-of-spain/

Couldn't Catral Ayuntamiento help you with this?

Kind regards,

Kim

Hi Kimmy, yes. We have a series of outreach event, the intervention in Lliber is going really well. I'd like to repeat that success in the Catral/ Orihuela area as they've suffered in the same way but, on an even bigger scale. We just had an event in Denia and it wasn't a success as the local council was in charge of letting people know about the event and they just don't have the contacts. I need to get hold of those affected to let them know about the opportunity to get informed and ask any and all questions about the steps to be taken to attain the license. Any thoughts?  

Hi John,

That sounds interesting.  We looked at property in Catral, but didn't buy there because every property we liked was illegal.

I know a couple of members who live in Catral, although I don't know the status of their property, so I'm going to private message them and see if they can offer any ideas.

In the meantime, I'd be grateful if you could clarify one thing for me please: when you say that you work "for" the Valencian government, is this an initiative that the regional government has initiated, or is it a commercial partnership that you presented to them?

Kind regards, 

Kim

Hey Kim, thanks for your efforts. I'm the Commisioner for Expatriates for the Generalitat Valenciana, the autonomic government for Valencia. I used to be a municipal architect (técnico municipal), the guys that issue licenses in town halls and now I have this essentially communications role. It's not a commercial venture. Here's a few links that might help:

https://youtu.be/sap59WPOhr0

https://youtu.be/mypByEygw3s

https://youtu.be/lVm-m-CGhKg

Application form: https://politicaterritorial.gva.es/es/web/urbanismo/como-legalizar-tu-casa-de-campo

Catastro webpage: https://www.sedecatastro.gob.es/

Guia-T webpage (remember you need a digital signature to use this page): https://guiat-frontend.gva.es/guiat_frontend/login

How to use Guia-T to make the sectorial impact report free of charge and in less than 5 minutes step by step: https://youtu.be/O_8MCJLc-0E

A guide to occupation licenses https://youtu.be/5Jajq0HgGSI

The MIT Orientation guide (english version): https://politicaterritorial.gva.es/documents/20551182/174929742/2.+GU%C3%8DA+ORIENTATIVA+PARA+LA+MINIMIZACION+DEL+IMPACTO+TERRITORIAL_EN+INGLES.pdf/6645488c-6811-04a2-0a82-4191e97649dc?t=1651746683614

ICV tool for proving the date of construction of your property: 

 ICV tool for proving the date of construction of your property: https://youtu.be/2H9c66hlqOU

How to find your house on the catastro database: https://youtu.be/fSWYqU1zuLg

Convert any webpage into your language https://youtu.be/5Jajq0HgGSI

Hi John,

That's brilliant, thank you 👍

Sorry if I appeared a little "cagey", but this excellent forum is occasionally targeted with scare stories by commercial ventures, purely for the purpose of selling their services.

I've already messaged a couple of members who live in Catral and hopefully others will respond direct to your request.

Kind regards, 

Kim

Thanks Kim,

Any help is greatly appreciated. I understand the circumspect nature of the reply perfectly.

Yesterday I was flicking through the forum, I was shocked at the dangerously inaccurate/ untrue information in relation to property matters. Answers to potential buyers questions about their fears of losing their life savings if they buy an illegal property, saying things like "just takes 12-18 months to legalise a property" (not through MIT, just "legalise a property" through magic I suppose), another one "my lawyer just paid to stop/ get rid of the demolition order", another one said so long as a property has an occupation license it's legal... pages and pages of really dangerous patently untrue stuff.

I'm worried that after all that's happened, over so many years, potential buyers and existing are still getting fed to the wolves by misinformation on these forums. Surely between us we can provide that minimal protection. Open to any ideas.

All the best, John

I agree, John, what you say reflects my own experience when we were looking to buy in Spain 7 years ago.  I had a particularly unpleasant experience with an estate agent who 'forgot' to tell us that the Catral property we'd offered on had a demolition order on it.  When I withdrew the offer, she told me I was "stupid" because it would never actually be demolished and, in any event, the owners were arranging to have the order removed.  Fortunately, I'm not stupid and a more honest agent told me the demolition order had been in place for 11 years and the owners had spent thousands trying to have it removed, without success.

I do have sympathy with people in this position - it's uncanny how a municipal council can tell the owner of an illegal property that they can't develop their property or land because it's illegal, whilst happily collecting the council tax on it!  I hope you're able to reach the people who can help you share accurate and helpful information.

Kind regards,

Kim  

Hi John

Kimmy has sent me the links you provided her about MIT and AVPT as we live in a property in the campo near Catral.

I've reviewed the first video, and I don't think it applies to the property we are in. Is it aimed soley at what I would call old original 'farmhouse' type properties (rather than the newish villa we live in built about 2006)? We have all services (water, electricity), rubbish collection, postal delivery etc. We don't have a habitation licence, but would qualify if we applied for one although our understanding is that there is a significant backlog at the Catral town hall for these to be processed.

Can you confirm my understanding is correct and that MIT is not relevant/suitable for us, please?

As for whether this process would be taken up by Catral town hall and promoted - I don't have a feeling for that at all and I'm completely unaware of how many of these rural properties are in the area and would be affected. However, if MIT does apply to the type of property we are in, I would expect that it may be promoted by the Town Hall - as presumably, it would be less work for Catral town hall than in processing habitation licences and reduce the pressure on their services?

Look forward to your comments.

regards

Cate

Hey Cate, thanks for getting in touch.

There are only 33 requirements for MIT eligibility, I have attached a link to the MIT guide book (in English). You'll be better able to judge whether your case meets those criteria after going through it (section 4 + glossary of terms)

6645488c-6811-04a2-0a82-4191e97649dc (gva.es)

All the best, John