A recent letter in SUR in English complained that the writer and discovered that the property he bought had less square metres then he had been told. This is not an uncommon problem as we find during our building condition and valuation surveys that most times registered Nota Simple size differs from the Catastral size that in turn differs from the actual measured size. According to the lawyers Ilagoson International, if the purchase contract has mentioned paying a price per square metre and the actual square metres is more than 10% different, then it is possible to claim compensation from the seller as long as the claim is submitted within six months of purchase. If, however, the price was not related to the square metres then there is no right to claim.
That’s another reason for having a building/structural survey carried out before buying as it is standard within our reports to compare the three sizes mentioned above so that the buyer’ lawyer can make sure that everything is correct before the final legal documents are signed and registered.
