The Licence of First Occupancy (LPO) is an administrative document issued by the Town Hall where the property is located and has a triple purpose. The first is to accredit that, once the construction of a building has been completed, what has been built corresponds to the project that was presented to the Town Hall to apply for the building permit. The second is to prove that the use of the building complies with the urban planning regulations. This means that, for example, in Murcia, a first occupancy licence will not be granted if a dwelling is built for residential use on land that cannot be developed. The third purpose of this document is to accredit that the dwelling complies with the health and safety standards required for all new constructions.
Both the granting of the First Occupancy Licence and its regulation are the responsibility of the Autonomous Communities and municipalities and, therefore, the applicable regulations and requirements will depend on where the dwelling is located.
There are several Autonomous Communities (CCAA) where it is not necessary to obtain a Second Occupancy Licence, including Andalusia, Aragon, Castile-Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Galicia, Madrid and the Basque Country.
The rest of the Autonomous Communities do require this administrative document, such as the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Extremadura, La Rioja, Murcia and Navarre.
In this article, we are going to focus on the First Occupancy Licence in the Region of Murcia. In this autonomous community, IMONT Legal & Taxes SL opened in 2004 its first law and tax consultancy firm specializing in advising international clients on the purchase of a property in Spain.
The Licence of First Occupation in the Region of Murcia
In the Region of Murcia since the passing of Law 13/2015, of 30 March, of Territorial and Urban Planning of the Region of Murcia that introduces in its Art 264 the Responsible Declaration in matters of urbanism.
From that moment on, the Licence of First Occupancy of new buildings and successive occupations in existing buildings, which we call Certificates of Habitability, are subject to the provisions of the Law and the procedure of Responsible Declaration before the Town Hall where the dwelling is located is applied in relation to its granting, being therefore under the protection of the Municipal Body and its regulation according to municipal ordinance.
What is the Responsible Declaration of first occupation?
This declaration of first and/or second occupation is the administrative act by which the owner of the dwelling, whose construction has been completed, declares under his/her responsibility that it complies with the regulations on habitability and is suitable for residential use or human habitation, and that he/she has the documentation accrediting said compliance.
The Responsible Declaration of first occupation must be presented by the developer or owner of the dwelling to the Town Hall where the dwelling is located, accompanied by a series of documents, such as:
- DNI of the declarant
- Copy of the title deed
- Plans and photographs of the property
- Building permit
- Final building and installations certificate issued by the architects and endorsed by their professional associations.
- The building book
- Conformity of the Autonomous Community on the quality records.
- Solar thermal installation form.
- Cadastral registration
- Certificate from the water, electricity and/or gas supply companies.
- Proof of payment of the fee.
Once the Responsible Declaration has been presented to the Town Hall, it entitles the occupancy and use of the property from the day of its presentation and for the contracting of the property’s supplies, but this is without prejudice to the powers of the municipal technicians to check, control or inspect compliance with the legally established requirements and the adequacy of what has been executed to the content of the declaration.
The Importance of Compliance with Law 13/2015 for the Procurement of Supplies in the Region of Murcia
It is worth noting that Law 13/2015, of 30 March, on Territorial and Urban Planning in the Region of Murcia introduces a slightly conflictive article in which it calls on supply companies, public service concessionaires and professional associations to collaborate with the inspection services.
This is especially related to the main utility of the LPO for property owners, which in practice is not so much to confirm that the property complies with all the legal requirements for residential use, but to be an essential requirement for the contracting of water, electricity and gas supplies for that property, which are obviously essential to inhabit the property in healthy conditions.
At Imont Legal & Taxes we solve all your doubts or provide you with advice to process the First Occupancy Licence in the Region of Murcia. You can contact our team of professionals who will help you in everything you need.