When you enter the process of buying a property in Spain, the term “cadastral value” enters early on during the process. Regardless if you buy to live in the home or as an investment, knowing the cadastral value is crucial. In this post, we look at the main issues linked to this concept.
What exactly is cadastral value, and how is it calculated?
To know the actual value given to any property and the related taxes to be paid, knowing the cadastral value is essential.
The cadastral value is the value the Spanish administration gives to a piece of real estate, based on land registry data. Hence, it is a reliable assessment of the capital value of a property. It will help you compute many of the taxes associated with acquiring and maintaining a property in Spain.
The cadastral value is worked out taking into consideration a number of criteria established by the town in which the property is located.
The cadastral value is usually considerably lower than the market value of the property, and it can never be higher than the market value. Notwithstanding, it can be updated annually, depending on new specifications approved with the yearly budget legislation.
So why is the cadastral value useful to know when purchasing a property?
If you are planning to invest in Spanish real estate or you want to buy a new home to live in, knowing its cadastral value is important. This is because it sheds light on the information you need to know before buying. It will help you understand exactly how much you will end up paying.
A seller will never sell below cadastral value, but they may be having trouble with paying taxes or have other debts and be willing to let it go cheaply. Consequently, you now know the minimum price a seller would sell the home for (its cadastral value). This information is extremely useful for negotiation purposes and to compare selling prices between different properties.
Taxes
It is the cadastral value that is taken into consideration when regarding the taxes you must pay to both the Spanish government and the local town hall. Hence, assessing the cadastral value lets you work out how much tax you will be paying once you have bought the property. This is relevant whether you are a resident or a non-resident in Spain.
Obtaining Information
There are a number of ways to obtain the cadastral information of real estate assets. The information is available to anyone, as long as it does not include any protected data. Although, if you want to know the current owner’s name or precise cadastral value of a property, you will only be able to get it if:
- You have authorization
- You own the property
- You can confirm that there is a particular interest regarding the property
So, let us assume you meet one of the three specified scenarios. How to access the information?
There are two options.
If you are the owner, you can wait for your annual real estate tax (IBI) receipt. The cadastral value is outlined there.
If you are not the owner or do not want to wait for the receipt, there are other possible options. You can go to the appropriate townland registry office and ask for it. Bear in mind, you will have to show a valid passport or other photo ID.
Otherwise, you can access the data via the corresponding website of each autonomous community and look it up there.
Each region has its own criteria and methods to obtain the information.
Websites
Property in Catalonia
Property in Madrid
Property in Valencia
