Purchase on plane: Covid as an excuse to delay housing delivery

The year 2021 has closed with the purchase of more than 100,000 housing on plane in Spain, according to INE data referring to the units registered in the property records.The stretch given by this market has been considerable.Last September, for example, 10,933 new plant homes were sold, a figure not seen in this statistic since March 2004 (11,153 units).

The market lives a honeymoon that has led consumers organizations to ask for precautions to those who buy housing on plan, those that are unpaved and that will take between 18 and 24 months - according to promoter or cooperative - in being areality.

It is not the first time that OCU puts the focus on this modality.He already did it in 2019. Now, and seen the increase in purchases on plan, he insists: “Various vicissitudes may occur, including the delay in delivery, and it is not always easy to recover money in case of breaches of the promoter, andbe it a company or a housing cooperative ”.So much more at a time when there is a lack of provisioning of some materials and even labor for some trades.“It is possible that the promoter intends to justify delays in the delivery of homes.You have to be very attentive, ”they point out.

Because a possible shortage does not have to be the buyer's responsibility."They are contingencies that the promoter must anticipate when setting the delivery deadlines," says Carlos Cencíre, lawyer 57. In this law firm they say they have detected unjustified delays under the pretext of the pandemic.“The promoters have used COVID as an excuse and thus avoid paying compensation.The construction activity was not suspended more than 14 days and, although the incidence of the COVID could affect, it should not justify months of months on the agreed deadlines, ”he warns.Those affected who have been paying for rent or guardians can claim the promoter for damages.

Another distortion arrived in the market in recent months is the increase in construction costs that are affecting the works.The buyer should know that the promoter cannot breach the agreed price.“Variable prices should not be accepted.If the promoter cannot fulfill what is agreed, he must return the money with interest, ”says the lawyer.

The case of cooperatives is different, since buyers become promoters and assume the risk that prices can rise."That is why it is important that the manager knows how to anticipate this situation in the case of new projects and that she has a good contract signed with the construction company that protects the project in the case of developing promotions," says Augusto Abril, founding partnerof Lacooop, housing cooperatives.

Given the price increase of the new work, the OCU recommends "making numbers and remembering that the ideal is that the price of housing does not exceed four or five times the annual income of the family unit."

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Then, it is time to “verify the solvency of the promoter and, before signing any contract, you have to advise with a lawyer, an association of consumers or in a municipal consumer information office.Unfortunately, we are not used to asking for this advice to check something as simple as if the meters are built, useful or with an impact of common areas, ”says Ana Móner, responsible for the legal cabinet of the Valencian Association of Consumers and Users (Avacu), one of the member organizations of CECU.In this entity, the most numerous claims are for the qualities and construction defects.

The purchase on plan always generates uncertainty, but the truth is that, in general, it has ceased to be a high -risk activity such as in the times of the real estate bubble, when there were little professional and without experience that, rather than selling, they cheatedto the citizen.The sector is more sanitized, promotions begin when there is a high level of presales and financial entities are much more demanding in their conditions, which has greatly reduced litigation.

Unfair terms

However, there is always some rotten apple in the basket, the more when the construction activity increases and new companies arise in the heat of the greatest demand.Hence the warnings of the OCU, which continues to find contracts that contain abusive clauses."Especially those provided by penalties for breach of payments of the buyer, which are sometimes disproportionate and fouls of reciprocity (no similar consequences are foreseen for the breach of the promoter)."

They also account for contracts where the date of delivery of the house is not clear and attempts to link to the obtaining of the first occupation license by the City Council, which does not respect the legal regulations that require a clear delivery period.And the organization has reached a case where there has been a substantial modification in the plans, with the “aggravating that being a cooperative they intend to prevent the resignation of a buyer, rather than justified in our opinion, until anew cooperative ”.

Ana Móner believes that "there is and there will be abusive clauses, such as the election of the notary by the promoter."A study by the law firm 57 in 2019 concluded that only 7% of the promoters exceed 70% compliance.There are no updated data, but Co -mitre says: "We do not believe that the figure has changed a lot in these two years."Although she recognizes that "now the promoters know that buyers are better informed and banks are stricter to finance projects."

Also in the case of housing cooperatives, in which the partner buys at cost price and saves 20%. Little by little they leave behind the bad image that has accompanied them by the numerous scandals starring in the past. According to Augusto Abril, founding partner of Lacooop, “it is impossible for fraud to be committed around a housing cooperative. The laws are very strict and have established overwhelming controls; Another thing is that it is correctly managed. ” And he adds: “In a market, the new construction, which will exceed 100,000 deeds this year, and in which around 20% or 22% is in cooperative, if the myth of the insecurity of the cooperatives, the cooperatives, the Courts would have demonstrations at the door. ” The money of the cooperatives is in special accounts and all the amounts delivered by the members on account are endorsed. "Although the law only requires that these amounts be endorsed from the granting of the major work license, expert cooperatives managers endorse," explains April.