A poor energy rating will not mean that the property cannot be sold or rented and while the certificate will make suggestions as to how the energy rating could be improved, it will not be compulsory to make those alterations to your home.

The certificate can only be issued by authorised and qualified professional technicians, who will require to visit the property to take measurements and gather information to produce the certificate.  The process is a little complicated with many aspects having to be measured, assessed and calculated. The certificate will last for 10 years once issued. We are currently speaking with such a company and can now organise the certificate on behalf of clients.

The prices for the certificate including our administration fee starts at 180€ plus IVA for a property up to 80M2 and goes up in increments to 380€ plus IVA for a 300M2 property.

There are a few exceptions which do not need a certificate such as properties of under 50M2, places of worship and protected monuments but if you own a private dwelling and you want to sell or rent it then you need a certificate. The fines for failure to comply range from 3,000 euros to 600,000 euros.

So why do so many people fail to get planning permission? Well, they ask the builder when he is round to quote if they need it and he says no. This little white lie comes in the category, “the cheque is in the post”, “trust me I am a doctor” etc. Why would they tell a little porky – because the builder knows that if they apply it will take a considerable amount of time before they get the permission, if they can get it at all and the client will probably have taken cold feet and changed their mind before they ever get to loading up their trowel with a bit of cement. The other popular smoke screen is that you can do the work and get retrospective planning permission. Well, in some cases that is true but as with any retrospective planning permission, the planning department have the right to tell you the work has not been carried out to their requirements or would not have been allowed in the first place and they can make you pull it down. On top of that, you may well face fines and penalties for not having sought the right permission in the first place.

Sometimes, people do not get permission because they wrongly assume that as they have only closed in a space, which already existed they do not need any permission. Wrong! Closing in a space like a terrace by bricking up the gaps constitutes an extension and needs planning permission. The only way you can close an area without planning is with removable units, which can be de-assembled and removed. Likewise people assume that removing an internal wall to open up a space also does not require permission, well again, you are wrong. The reconfiguration of internal spaces also requires paperwork. So the next time your wife says, how about knocking down that wall and making this a big kitchen diner, tell her to buy a tray and carry the food to the table in the next room! It will certainly be cheaper and stop you getting hit with fines or worst still demolition notices to remove your work of art and restore the area to its former glory.

Not only do the NFOPP bring with them these two large organisations but also a whole host of smaller associations including commercial and business agents, valuers, auctioneers and inventory companies.

The NFOPP have always had an international property section which was called NAEA International and this in turn had links to some other organisations you may have heard o such as NAE, FIABCI and ICREA but it was not an organisation with an active membership like the AIPP.

When the NFOPP started thinking about developing NAEA International it seemed sensible to approach the AIPP who had a very strong membership base and also an established and well liked “brand” known and respected throughout the market place. A merger of the two seemed to be mutually advantageous. Through the AIPP there is a ready made link to the large international property networks, plus additional potential business links to the other organisations that are under the NFOPP umbrella. There will also be ready access to the NFOPP’s education/training arm which will enable them to look at providing training opportunities for members. In addition they will increase their membership by taking on the current members of NAEA so all in all it will be a rounder organisation and pack a bigger punch in the property market place.

As an AIPP member we have been very happy with the benefits our membership have given us and there is little doubt that our clients, the property buyers, know and respect this organisation so the joining of these two organisations can only be a benefit to us.

We would like to wish the new organisation every success for the future.

To say that Spanish capital gains tax is complex would be an understatement. Not only are the calculations difficult but the tax has had a few changes over the years. At one point we had a different rate of tax for non resident and resident. The non residents were being hammered for 35% while residents payed 15%. However, after a few clashes regards fairness etc this was changed to be the same for both non resident and resident and settled at 18%. Good for the non residents as they had a reduction of 17% but not good news for residents who had to fork out an additional 3%.

When you bought is also important as the laws changed a couple of times. Anything bought prior to December 1986 is exempt but the legislation ended in 1996 so anything bought between 1986 and 1996 is only partially exempt and anything bought after 1996 pays the full sum.

To make things even more complicated the cost of acquisition and expenditure on improving the property is allowable as a deduction when calculating the net gain. Then there is an indexation co-efficient that increases the allowable costs for inflation. This part of the calculation is based on how long you have owned the property.

Fair to say most people by now will be confused and the need for an accountant to work it all out is self evident but the new capital gains ruling is very welcome and applies no matter when you sell the property in the future. For those buying a new property they not only gain from the 50% reduction in IVA but also from this reduction in capital gains. A double whammy so to speak.

One thing to consider – lets hope the government in ten years time are prepared for the drop in income they may suffer as a result of this new ruling when today´s purchasers become tomorrow´s sellers.

It certainly looked to me from the press reports that she has taken up a bit of DIY in the form of papering over the cracks.  I only hope she is using a strong adhesive as these cracks are going to take some covering up!

Attending the Property Investor and OPP Live show held earlier this month in London Ms Corredor spoke during her keynote speech of the measures Spain is putting in place to give overseas buyers added confidence in the flagging Spanish property market.  She mentioned the falling prices, Land Registry in English and the reduction in IVA.

We should of course also remember the new cross border conveying scheme brought in to help give reassurance to prospective buyers but are these measures really enough to kick start the flagging Spanish market?

Well, the Land Registry in English is a great idea but only if you already understand something about the Spanish system.  I doubt many people would understand the difference between rustica, urbana, segregada and division horizontal even if they were written in English.  I am not sure I do and I have worked in the industry for some years.  The property size may be stated in the documentation  but are most people aware that under declaration of property sizes is common in Spain so it is unlikely what you are buying matches what is on shown on the paperwork?  Does your average buyer know what should be shown on the documents and therefore be able be to spot  anything which is missing?   The land registry documents fail to point out any issues regarding land grab and proposed new road networks etc so DIY due dilligence in this instance could leave you in a right old mess.

The reduction in IVA is welcome but sadly way under powered to get the large number of unsold properties built near the Spanish coast off the shelves and the Cross Border Conveyancing Scheme while again an excellent idea is in its infancy and we have not actually seen how it will work when – god forbid – a problem arises and the purchaser tries to take action.

Seems I am not the only sceptic about Spain´s new property face.  I read in the press that the MEP Marta Andreasen took exception to the Secretary´s over confident approach to the market in her keynote speech and alleged that she was “living on another planet and refusing to acknowledge the problems that there had been….”.

It is fair to say that the crux of the matter is not what Spain is now doing to help overseas buyers and encourage some confidence in the market, but more what it has failed to do in the past.  We have some 300,000  illegal properties in the Andalucia area alone still unresolved and this is causing a low in the overseas buying market.  I think some of the effort put in to re-branding and re-launching the Spanish property market would have been better used to show at least a willingness to address these problems and a change for the better.

To my mind a bit of paper and some paste is not going to be enough to cover the mess which has been created by what I see as poor policing of our industry.  We have a wonderful country and some excellent property offers but what we need is a bit of honesty and an acknowledgement of where we went wrong.

Still I suppose if there is a change of government come the November elections the Minister´s career options are open.  It pays to have skills in our ever changing world but I am not sure painter and decorator was what she had in mind.