The CEDULA DE HABITABILIDAD (also known as „habitation certificate“ ) is a document issued by the Town Hall that confirms that a property is habitable.  

It is compulsory to have this document in the following cases:

• When renting or selling a property

• For new buildings

• When setting up new contracts for water, electricity and gas or when changing the name on the contracts after a property was sold

In some regions the cedula de habitabilidad has been replaced by another document called “licencia urbanistica municipal de primera ocupación”. 

The cedula de habitabilidad is issued by the Town Hall and as explained previously, it is compulsory for setting up utility contracts. It is not possible to live legally in a property without it. Depending on the area were it was issued, the validity could be between 5 and 15 years from the date of issue. 

For the application it is necessary to fill in a form, attach several documents and in some areas there could even be a town hall fee.