Terms from the spanish real estate market

A

Term...........................................	Explanation
abogado	lawyer /solicitor
acta notarial	notary deed or certificate, which is required for the entry in the land register
acta de notoriedad	procedure for registration in the land-register if the basic principle of continuous registration has been interrupted. Notary certification (document)
afecciones registrales	iencumbrances on the property recorded in the land-register
agente inmobiliaria	property agent or real estate agent
agrupación de solares	combining of building plots
alta catastral	land-registry office
altura máxima	maximum permissible height of a building
alquiler	rental
anotaciones marginales	remarks in the land register referencing the registered documents.
aparejador	construction engineer
arras	a deposit paid by the purchaser when the private contract is signed. If "arras penitenciales" has been agreed, then if the purchaser terminates the contract, he loses the deposit. If the vendor terminates the contract, he has to pay double the amount of the deposit to the purchaser.
arrendamiento de obra	contract for work and labour, e.g. building-contract with construction firm
architecto	architect
asiento de presentación	a note of conveyance, which protects the purchaser for a certain period against further registrations.
ayuntamiento	local government, mayor's office, town hall

B

Term...........................................	Explanation
buletin de la instalación eléctrica	certificate about the proper electrical installation by an expert

C

Term...........................................	Explanation
cancelación	note in the land register for the cancellation of encumbrances
cédula de habitabilidad	official certificate of occupancy
certificaciones	certificates; often refers to certificates from the architect describing the progress of the construction work.
certificado bancario de devisas	bank certificate confirming the payment of the purchase price with foreign currency
certificado de no residente	a certificate declaring that the property owner was not registered as a Spanish resident at the time of purchasing a property in Spain
certificado final obra del arquitecto	certificate of the architect about the final acceptance
certificado final obra del ayuntamiento	certificate of the local government about the final acceptance
Código Civil	Spanish civil code
Colégio Oficial de Arquitectos	official school of architects
Colégio de aparejadores	official office of construction engineers
comunidad de herederos	the heirs of the person named. eg. la Comunidad de Herederos de Jose Garcia
comunidad de propietarios	condominium owner's association or residential condominium corporation
condición resolutoria	'condition subsequent' a condition in the contract which if broken will cause the whole contract to be broken.
condición suspensiva	'condition precedent' A condition under which a juridical consequence only occurs if certain other circumstances and assumptions occur prior to it, eg. a contract cannot be signed unless particular conditions have already been met.
constructor	developer or building projector organiser
consejo de administración	board of administration of a private housing estate elected by the condominium owner's meeting
contratista	construction firm
contrato de arrendamiento	tenancy agreement
contrato de arrendamiento por temporada	seasonal tenancy agreement
contrato de opción	a contractual option that may be exercised at a future date
contrato privado de compraventa	private sales contract
copropietarios	joint owners
cuerpo cierto	widely used contract clause which states that the property is bought "as seen at the inspection".
cuota de copropiedad	based on the size of your property and determines both your share of the communal fees which you have to pay and the weight of your vote at the owners association AGM.

D

Term...........................................	Explanation
declaración de heredero	certificate of inheritance
declaración de obra nueva	declaration of new building work This will be required to have a new building added to the title deeds and must be signed before a notary.
delegación de urbanismo	district surveyors office responsible for building licenses
delegación de hacienda	Inland Revenue Service, IRS
Demarcación de Costas	Department for Coastal Protection - ensures compliance with coastal environmental and protection rules.
derecho de retención	lien The right of contract partners to withhold payments or works if the other party is in delay
derecho de retracto	pre-emtion right - a right to acquire certain property in preference to any other person. Also known as 'right of first refusal'.
derecho de superficie	law about the surface area
deslindes	administrative procedure for the determination of the boundaries of the seashore or beach zone
división	official document describing the division of property between the different owners.

E

Term...........................................	Explanation
edificabilidad máxima	maximum floor area that can be built at all levels
elevación a público de documento privado	the requirement to have private certificates notarized previous to the registration in the land register.
embargo	a legal notice served on a the property of a debtor to guarantee the repayment of a debt
escritura pública de compraventa	title deed
escritura de manifestación, aceptación y adjudicación de herencia	notarial certificate affirming the acceptance of an inheritance

F

Term...........................................	Explanation
fianza	deposit
finca	property, also farm or country house
finca registrada	registered plot of land

G

Term...........................................	Explanation
gastos según Ley	contract clause that allocates the costs in accordance with the existing law, but still permits agreed variations
gestoría	office which specializes in obtaining official authorisations, permits, licences, etc.

H

Term...........................................	Explanation
Hacienda Pública	Spanish fiscal authority
hipoteca	mortgage

IJ

Term...........................................	Explanation
I.B.I., impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles	annual property tax
impuesto de actos jurídicos documentados	Stamp duty (0.5% of purchase price)
impuesto de transmisiones patrimoniales onerosas	property acquisition tax (7% of the purchase price stated in the escritura)
impuesto sobre construcciones, instalaciones y obras	municipal tax on construction projects
impuesto sobre el patrimonio	Spanish capital gains tax (since 01.01.2008 not longer collected)
I.R.P.F., impuesto sobre la renta de las personas físicas	income tax
I.S., impuesto sobre sociedades	corporate income tax
impuesto sobre sucesiones y donaciones	inheritance tax and gift tax
impuesto estatales	Spanish state tax
impuestos y tasas municipales	municipal taxes and duties
información urbanística	development rights which are applied for by requesting information regarding the development potential of particular plots, and on particular construction standards
inscripción mediante instancia privada	private application in order to correct the land register due to property being inherited
institución de heredero	nomination of one or several heirs
I.V.A., impuesto sobre el valor añadido	value-added tax ( the normal rate is 16% (18 % from 01.07.2010) - the rate for new buildings is 7% (8% from01.07.2010)

KL

Term...........................................	Explanation
legítima	legally compulsory heirs according to Spanish law
ley de la propiedad horizontal	Spanish property law for apartments
Ley 8/1989	Law to combat tax evasion arising from property purchases
Ley de arrendamiento urbano, L.A.U.	Spanish tenancy law
licencia de obras	Building licence
licencia de primera ocupación	licence for the first occupation certifying that a new building is fit to live in

M

Term...........................................	Explanation
memoria de calidades y mediciones	Construction certification
metro	meter
multipropiedad	time-sharing

N

Term...........................................	Explanation
N.I.E., número personal de identificación de extranjeros	tax number for foreigners
N.I.F., número de identificación fiscal	tax number normally identical with ID (NIE, DNI, CIF)
no residente	non resident
nota marginal	margin notes in the right hand column of the property register indicating the cancellation of registered rights
nota simple informativa	unauthenticated extract of land-register
notario	Spanish notary public

O

Term...........................................	Explanation
obligación personal	unlimited tax liability for residents
obligación real	limited tax liability for non-residents
ocupación máxima	max. allowed roofed area of a property
opción de compra	an option for purchase. can be registered at the land register

P

Term...........................................	Explanation
parcela	plot of land
partición	the division of a persons assets between their heirs
partida de defunción	death certificate
permiso de obra menor	license for small scale construction works on a property
plan parcial	a development plan for an area or neighbourhood
planta	floor
plusvalía municipal	capital gains tax on the sale of property
poder	power of attorney
poseedor	possessor; e.g. a tenant is the possessor, but not the proprietor
posesión	possession
precio	purchase price
primera copia de la escritura de compraventa	notarialy attested copy of purchase contract; first copy = primera copia, all others = copia autorizada
promotor	property developer
propiedad	property
propiedad horizontal	property with some element of communality which is governed by the law of horizontal property (Lay de Propiedad Horizontal) Spanish law Nº 49/1960
propietario	legal proprietor
protocolización	certification of a foreign document (provided with Apostille and certified translation) by a Spanish notary or counsel
proyecto de ejecución de obra	the building plans and other details of the proposed development which are submitted to obtain the building licence

QR

Term...........................................	Explanation
recepción definitiva	final acceptance of construction work. This determines the beginning of the warranty period
registro de la propiedad	land registry
residente	person with domicile in Spain and also paying taxes in Spain
residuos sólidos	recycling fees

S

Term...........................................	Explanation
S.A., sociedad anónima	Spanish public limited company
S.L., sociedad limitada	Spanish company with limited liability compare with Ltd.
saneamiento	Warranty; possibility for claim in case of defects
segregación de fincas	separation of a part of a plot of land
segregación de una propiedad horizontal	separation of a part of a property within a community
señal	another term for "arras" a deposit paid by the purchaser as the private contract is signed. If "señal" has been agreed, then if the purchaser terminates the contract, he loses the deposit. If the vendor terminates the contract, he has to pay double the amount of the deposit to the purchaser
separación a linderos	minimum distance between a structure and the boundary of a neighbouring plot
servidumbre	servitude obliges the property owner to do something or prohibits them from doing something as a condition of owning the land. They can be imposed by law, by the courts or by agreement between landowners. Servidumbre are imposed on a plot of land rather than the owner of the land and are therefore bought and sold with the land. An example would be access rights to a neighbouring plot which would oblige the property owner to allow the neighbouring owner to traverse his land for access purposes.
servidumbre de tránsito	access rights allowing access to a property without direct public access
solar	green areas or preserves which cannot be built on
suelo no urbanizable	land designated as agricultural the regulations require large plot of land to be able to build a small building
suelo rústico	Farm land. Building permission are restrictive; normally only a small house on a large plot is possible
suelo urbanizable	building land construction work should generally be free of legal problems on land of this category
suelo urbano	building land in area under municipal control

T

Term...........................................	Explanation
tasa	municipal fee for receipt of building license
tasa de recogida domiciliaria de basura	municipal waste collection fee
toma de posesión	taking possession of real estate e.g. by handing over the keys

U

Term...........................................	Explanation
U.T.M	cadastral number the number assigned to each property in the land register urbanización privada private community, normally for upmarket developments
urbanismo	public construction authority of local government
urbanización	residential area
urbanización privada	private residential area
uso	permitted use
uso de oficinas	permitted for use as offices
uso residencial	residential area, also called "uso vivienda"
usufructo	the legal right to use and derive profit or benefit from property that belongs to another person

VW

Term...........................................	Explanation
valor catastral	land-register value. Used as basis for ground-taxes
valor comprobado por la administracion	assumed value of real estate as a base for the property tax
valor real	market value

XYZ

Term...........................................	Explanation
zona comercial	zone of influence which stretches up to 1 km inland and on which building development is restricted
zona de servidumbre de protección	protected beach zone which extends up to 200 m from the shoreline. Building development is very restricted and has many conditions imposed on it in this area.
zona marítimo terrestre	seashore and directly adjoining area, which is public property.