If you are the owner of a property (or a buyer of a property!) which presently has no First Occupation Licence (LPO), then the following information could be your solution regarding using the property for short term rentals.
A short term (holiday) rental in Spain is a rental for a period under 2 months - for tourists seeking holiday accommodation.
The RTA or Registro de Turismo de Andalucía is a registry implemented by the Andalusian Government for having all of these types of dwellings listed, and ensure that a minimum standard of quality and safety is offered to those visitors that come to our region as tourists.
The owner/s have the obligation of registering the property on the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA), for which a sworn statement signed by the owner declaring that the property meets all requirements as per the law must be submitted. This new regulation came into force in February 2016 (Decree 28/2016), and all properties for Holiday rental must comply with it, regardless they are renting already or not.
One of the compulsory requirements for being eligible as Holiday rental is holding the Licence of Occupancy (normally, for properties recently built, the First Occupancy Licence - Licencia de Primera Ocupación or LPO) as a document that is issued by the local Town Hall when the property was built and ready to be inhabited. The LPO must be submitted almost simultaneously to the application of the RTA licence.
A significant number of properties do not have the Licence of First Occupancy due to a number of factors, such as the location of the property, number of years since it was built, the original owner never asked for the LPO (yes, this does happen!), or simply that the document is missing in the records of the Town Hall. We must bear in mind that if the property doesn’t have the LPO, it does not mean that the property is illegal, and you must also note that this LPO is not compulsory or necessary for an owner taking long term rental tenants (rental period over 2 months). However, when the new law for regulating holiday rentals was approved, it was clearly established that properties need to prove that the Occupancy Licence (Licencia de Ocupacion) is in place in order to make the registration for taking holiday rentals.
The Spanish Administration has opened the possibility of obtaining a document which is not the LPO, but it will be valid for obtaining the touristic licence: Licencia de Ocupación o Utilización por declaración responsable, which means Licence of Occupancy or “use by means of a Sworn Declaration”.
Affinity can assist you in obtaining the Licence of Occupancy (or Use by means of a Sworn Declaration), that will make your property eligible for touristic rental registration. Note that this will be only possible when the property has a minimum standard of habitability. In order to obtain this document, there is a process that must be followed, and don’t worry, we can do this all for you:
Preparation of the application file. Producing a dossier with all the basic documents and information on the property, such as the title deeds, cadastral identification of the property through the relevant certificate, updated land registry brief on the property, and town planning regulations in force.
Technical report on the property. This report must be produced by a qualified Architect, that will visit the property, make an inspection, and produce a report with all the technical details such as general description, whether the building seems finalised and suitable for living, condition and conservation of the property and installations for supplies, etc. This report, that will also include the cadastral identification of the property, land registry details, and town planning regulations in force, must also be approved by the corresponding College of Architects.
Filing the application at the Town hall. To do this we would need you to provide us with your Digital Certificate or Digital Signature if you already have one - otherwise, you will need to obtain it, a tool increasingly necessary to carry out multiple procedures by electronic means with the various administrations in Spain. If required, we can also obtain this on your behalf, with our fees being €50,00+VAT.
Pay the municipal fee for the licence application. Each Town Hall has its own fee and rules. The fee can be fixed or variable depending on the value of the property and it is not included in our fees.
Please find below the legal fees for handling this application process. The legal fees quoted include the technician report described above:
Properties under 200 m2: €1,500+VAT.
Properties over 200 m2: €1,800+VAT.
Please note that the above fees are subject to 21% VAT, and do not include the legal fees for obtaining the RTA licence, which are around €200+IVA - this is a one-off payment.
Contact us now if you want to start the procedure to get the Licence of Occupancy for your property!