Owning a large home and wanting to divide it up for rent can be a major headache. It is a complex process that is complicated if the house is located in a neighbors associations, since it does not only involve construction work inside the house.
Divide or segregate my home?
The first thing you should be clear about is whether you are going to divide or segregate your home.
- Division: the house as we knew it ceases to exist in the Land Registry, having as many new seats as houses are made.
- Segregate: separate a part of the original housing that is maintained.
Division of a house in a neighbors associations
The first thing we must do is consult with the technical services of the municipality, since the houses must keep basic habitability requirements. Maybe what you what you want to do is an illegal work, so you should consult it to avoid throwing money away.
Community Ownership Authorization
You should also check with the president and administrator and review the bylaws to verify that you can do it. In case it is prohibited you will not be able to do it.
In the event that the statutes do not say anything, the works and the new quota distribution must be approved by a qualified majority. You must keep in mind that you are not going to carry out a work only from the inside. You have to verify that the light points are correct, exit to the landing, doorbells, access to supplies …
And the community fees?
In general, the community fees are distributed according to the surfaces of the houses. For this reason, a modification will be made in the quotas if you modify the sizes.
Once verified with the Community and Administrator, you must present the project of the work to the Board, and the new distribution of the fee must be defined.
Project of work and license
The project and the authorization of the Board of owners must be delivered to the City Council to request the major construction license, and must accept and pay the fees.
Until everything is verified and the building license is granted, it is not allowed to carry out a division or segregation of the house. As it is a major job, the work project, direction and execution of the work should be carried out by an architect or technical architect, always verifying that the Technical Building Code is complied with.
Completion of the work
When the work ends, the architect must sign it, issuing a certificate of completion of work that must be delivered to the City Council. This will send a technician to verify that the work done corresponds to what was agreed and, later, they will provide us with the first occupation license.
Deed and registration
It is mandatory to go to the notary to carry out all the procedures, since the new homes must be reflected in Public Deed. The process will be subject to the Documented Legal Acts tax. In addition, the modifications must be registered in the Property Registry.
It is not an easy task, but it is not impossible if you know who to go to. Although, a priori, it requires an investment that may seem high, in the long term, it can be a good option to have extra income by renting or obtaining more additional homes.
If you have any questions or queries about the division of a house in a neighbors associations, you can comment or contact us.
