Following the aftermath of COVID-19, the town hall of Marbella has taken an aggressive approach to help the real estate market bounce back from the lockdown. It is allowing thousands of First Occupation Licences to be approved by architects.
The First Occupation Licence is a document (also known as Habitation Licence or Certificate of Habitation and in Spanish, Licencia de Primera Ocupación or Cédula de Habitabilidad), issued by the Town Hall (ayuntamiento); granted once the building works have been completed. It provides a legal right for buyers of the newly built property to live in the property. The property developer must apply for this license, once he has been issued a Certificate of End of Construction.
The average time for granting a first occupation license (LFO) is 12 months under normal circumstances. This has now been shortened to weeks, if not days by the Marbella town hall. This initiative is to get the real estate market flowing once again after its stagnation due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Property sales and rentals will be boosted dramatically.
Last Monday, the spokesman for the PP, Felix Romero, announced that the Marbella town hall had approved a groundbreaking incentive to allow qualified architects to grant Licenses of First Occupation (LFO) under the ‘responsible declaration’ format. The architect takes full responsibility in declaring that the property meets all built regulations and it can, therefore, be used by owners and tenants for that purpose.
Before this new incentive, it took months and up to a year to obtain the LFO. The traditional procedure was complicated, having to jump hoops across various departments within the town hall to finally obtain the licence of first occupancy. It was a long and tiresome process. This new incentive enables qualified architects to issue the LFO within days.
Romero said that this aggressive approach is “necessary in oder to cope with a healthy economic recovery” within the real estate sector. The backlog of sales that were pending or conditional on getting an LFO, and rentals that were being offered in an unregulated manner, awaiting the license, will now be able to complete correctly. It will ease the backlog and move the economy forward in an unprecedented manner.
