Legalise Property Due to Age

It is important that you know that you can sign a new construction deed due to age before a Notary completely digitally, via videoconference, without the need for any travel, so we can process your new construction deed with you completely digitally, without any travel, from anywhere in Spain where you may be.

Thus, legalising a property due to its age includes the registration in the Land Registry of extensions or modifications made to a property or even buildings on land where no dwelling is recorded, whether done with or without a licence, provided there is no invasion of public domain.

For this, a declaration of old new work must be processed. The first thing you should know is that every local legislation has a date that determines the prescription of administrative actions declaring it illegal. In the case of Catalonia, the prescription period is 6 years provided that the constructions are not carried out on non-developable land or public use systems.

If you meet the requirement, the second step is to gather the available documentation to present it to the Land Registry.

For this, it will be vital for you to collect the following data:

The documentation to be submitted is divided into:

• Documentary images or photographs that describe the age of the building before the date determined by the legislation
• Witness statements
• In most cases, a cadastral certificate stating that the building is more than 6 years old is sufficient. From the notary's office, we can process the obtaining of this document.

• Certificate from the Town Hall, or
• Certificate of age and surfaces: Report from an architect, building surveyor or engineer indicating that the construction complies with existing regulations and guarantees safety. It includes the characteristics of the construction, its year of construction and a topographic plan with georeferenced coordinates, or
• Descriptive and graphic cadastral certification, which can be obtained from the Notary and includes the characteristics of the property, year of construction and the location of the building.

Although the main benefit has already been mentioned, we summarise below the benefits of legalising housing due to age:

• Legalising the situation of the building to provide its owner with legal security
• Its registration in the Property Registry
• Enables the possibility of accessing mortgage loans and financing
• Increases the value of the building on the market by being properly registered
• Its processing is necessary for the transfer of ownership or even an essential step in inheritances that have been received without being formalised.

To process before a Notary the public deed of declaration of old new construction, graphic evidence and documentation proving the existence of the building and those indicating compliance with urban planning regulations must be provided.

Once you have them, make an appointment. As Notaries, we can help you whenever you have a question to resolve your queries both before and after the procedure to be processed.

We will prepare the deed of declaration of old new construction which will include the description of the property: dimensions, characteristics, location, and its compliance with urban planning regulations. In addition, evidence related to its age will be added. The owner's details and the date and signature of the parties involved will also be recorded.

With this notarial document, you will be able to carry out the registration in the Registry. You should know that if you wish, we will take care of the registration of the deed in the Registry on your behalf.

You should know that since Law 11/2023, new constructions can be signed before a Notary in a completely digital manner. We can process your new construction by age through our digital notary without you having to make any trip, managing everything electronically on your behalf.

The cost of carrying out the new construction completely digitally is the same as in person, with the greatest convenience of a digital and smooth process.

The deed of declaration of old new construction is based on the Notarial Tariff and is a document of significant amount that will depend on various factors such as the dimensions of the building. If you provide us with the value of the construction, we can give you an exact estimate of the cost of the deed, with no obligation.

If you wonder how the declaration of old new construction is taxed, we inform you that it is subject to the payment of the Property Transfer Tax. If you request a quote for your case, we will calculate this tax for you and we can take care of the communication management with the Tax Agency and the payment of taxes.