Having read your article regarding problem expats are experiencing after Brexit,
I see that there is a mention of the “Military Licence”.
We owned an urban house in Mallorca for 10 years and decided to move to countryside as we found the neighbours too noisy. We sold, no problem, apart from the exorbitant agents fees of 5-6% of the property value!
We rented then found a property and proceeded with contracts. It was then that a kind friend advised us had we heard that we would need a Military Licence for property in the countryside?
No, we hadn’t. This licence apparently is required for purchasing country houses or plots for all non-Europeans, including UK Brexiteers and can take between 3-6 months! The estate agents were also not aware of it as they should have been.
We applied, for a fee. The sellers were not willing to wait for this uncertain time so the sale fell through. (The licence was in fact granted after 10 weeks) We have now found a third property and are waiting for this licence to arrive hopefully within the 10 weeks, but who knows.
This Military Licence requirement goes back to the Franco times and no-one seems to have ever questioned the necessity of it.
I've purchased several properties in rural Mallorca (negotiating another right now), and have never heard of or been subjected to anything involving the military. And I'm British.
I'm not arguing whether there's perhaps some stupid law still on the books, there may be... But I suspect whomever was handling your sale was perhaps unaware of some workaround, or perhaps this old law is no longer recognised by the system and can simply be ignored.
There's actually a few that are in the law books that nobody ever pays any attention to, and ignoring it is inconsequential and unenforceable anyway.
All I know is that it's news to me. Never seen that one.
1 comment
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
I've purchased several properties in rural Mallorca (negotiating another right now), and have never heard of or been subjected to anything involving the military. And I'm British. I'm not arguing whether there's perhaps some stupid law still on the books, there may be... But I suspect whomever was handling your sale was perhaps unaware of some workaround, or perhaps this old law is no longer recognised by the system and can simply be ignored. There's actually a few that are in the law books that nobody ever pays any attention to, and ignoring it is inconsequential and unenforceable anyway. All I know is that it's news to me. Never seen that one.