In short. What is still called the first occupancy licence is today, in the Comunidad de Madrid, a declaración responsable. Law 1/2020 changed it, rewording article 155.c of Law 9/2001 on Land (Ley del Suelo). It takes effect the day it is filed, with no decision to wait for.
There is no direct equivalent in English. It is not a permission: you and your technicians state that the house complies, you file it, and from that day you may occupy. The responsibility is yours and theirs, and the ayuntamiento (the town hall) checks afterwards.
And the cédula de habitabilidad does not exist in Madrid since 2018. If you are asked for one, the rules of a different region are being applied.
What it is and what it is called now
Article 155 of Law 9/2001 lists what is subject to an urban-planning declaración responsable, and its paragraph c reads: “The first occupancy and use of newly built developments and of prefabricated houses, as well as of buildings and installations in general”. The earlier wording, which made it subject to a licence, is no longer in force.
The correct name today is declaración responsable urbanística de primera ocupación y funcionamiento. Councils abbreviate it as DR POF or DRPO. Nobody hands you a document saying yes, so the file has to be right when it goes in.
A false claim in circulation. Several sources state that article 159 sets a maximum period of three months for the check after the event. It is not true: the consolidated text contains no period at all and leaves it to the municipal by-law. It is best not to plan anything around that figure.
The cédula de habitabilidad does not exist in Madrid
It was abolished by Decree 111/2018 of 26 June, published in the BOCM, the region’s official gazette, on 28 June. Its single article is literal: the procedure for granting the cédula de habitabilidad as a document required in order to recognise a property as fit to be used as a dwelling is abolished for all purposes.
The reason given in its own preamble is duplication: three titles with the same purpose already existed. It survived only for applications already under way in 2018.
What documentation has to be filed
The minimum content is set by article 156.2 of Law 9/2001, but each council develops it in its own by-law. This is the common core in the western belt of Madrid:
- Certificado final de obra (the completion certificate) from the dirección facultativa, with the colegio’s visado
- Liquidación final de obra, the final account, with the changes valued
- Certificate from the technician directing the works evidencing the matters in article 28.1 of the Land Act (Ley de Suelo)
- Libro del edificio (the building manual) in full, plus the dirección facultativa’s certificate
- Energy performance certificate, registered with the Comunidad de Madrid
- Cadastral declaration, form 900D, for the Catastro, the tax register
- Receipt for the fee, and declaration of the real cost to settle ICIO
- The council’s standard declaración responsable form, signed
Depending on the municipality you may also be asked for photographs of every façade, a drainage certificate from Canal de Isabel II (the regional water utility), a topographical survey of what has been built, evidence in respect of plusvalía (the municipal land-value tax) or evidence that land for roads has been ceded.
A limit worth knowing. Article 156.3 prohibits councils from requiring data and documents that are not provided for in the law, that are already held by the administration, or that were produced by it.
Who signs what
The promotor, the developer — in a self-build, you — declares and signs. The architect and the aparejador sign the technical certificates behind it, each with the visado of their colegio, the professional body that certifies the signatory is registered, insured and entitled to sign. The law requires both technicians and not one: articles 12 and 13 of Law 38/1999 on Building Regulation (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación, LOE). Fran Cortés holds both qualifications. The technician does not “apply for” first occupancy: he makes it possible on paper.
| Who | What they do | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Promotor (developer) | Signs the declaración responsable | Art. 9.2.c LOE; art. 157 Law 9/2001 |
| Architect | Signs the certificado final de obra and forms the libro del edificio | Arts. 7 and 12.3.e LOE |
| Aparejador (arquitecto técnico) | Signs the certificado final de obra and the final account | Art. 13.2.e LOE |
| Ayuntamiento (town hall) | Checks after the event, and issues the acto de conformidad | Art. 159 Law 9/2001 |
Timing: there is no administrative silence here
Article 157.1 is clear: the declaración responsable “entitles the interested party to carry out the intended activity from the day of its filing at the register of the corresponding ayuntamiento”. There is no decision to wait for and no silencio administrativo — an unanswered application deemed decided — because there is no authorisation procedure to decide.
What there is, is a compulsory later check (article 159). If formal deficiencies appear, you must put them right within ten days; if you do not, the declaration becomes ineffective. If there are breaches that cannot be cured, the activity is stopped, the declaration ceases to have effect and no other with the same subject matter may be filed for up to one year.
The difference from the building permit. The building permit does have a three-month period for a decision and negative silence (articles 154.4 and 154.7): if the council does not decide, the application is deemed refused. Confusing the two regimes is the most expensive mistake in this field.
What it costs: the table nobody publishes
These are fees for the first occupancy title, separate from ICIO, from the building permit fee and from plusvalía. Each council sets its own, and the spread between municipalities is enormous.
| Municipality | How it is worked out | For works of 300,000 € |
|---|---|---|
| Las Rozas | 0.53 % to 0.73 % by band, minimum 104.96 € | ≈ 1,590 € |
| Boadilla del Monte | 1 % on 50 % of the base | ≈ 1,500 € |
| Majadahonda | 0.25 % of the material execution cost | ≈ 750 € |
| Villanueva de la Cañada | 0.2 % of the final valuation | ≈ 600 € |
| Galapagar | Fixed amount, individual detached house | 240.40 € |
| Pozuelo de Alarcón | Fixed amount per single-family dwelling | 32 € |
How to read this table. The figures are taken from the fiscal by-laws in force, consulted in August 2026, except for Villanueva de la Cañada, which comes from the council’s official instruction sheet and which we have not been able to check against the by-law itself. Before building them into a budget, confirm them on the municipality’s electronic portal.
What it is for in practice
Electricity, water and gas
Decree 111/2018 bars suppliers from contracting without evidence of the municipal authorising title. It is the first thing that gets blocked: the builder’s temporary site connection is not a permanent supply.
The deed of the new building
Article 28.1 of the Land Act requires it to execute the deed of the completed works, and it is worth obtaining the council’s acto de conformidad under article 159.5 as well. The declaración de obra nueva is authorised by a Spanish notario, who answers for its legality and acts for neither side.
And the ten-year insurance
If you are a self-builder and you sell within ten years, you will have to take out the ten-year structural insurance, unless the buyer releases you and you can show that you have lived in the house. First occupancy is what evidences that lawful use.
What happens if it is occupied without it
Article 157.6 puts it without hedging: activities subject to a declaración responsable that are carried out without filing one “shall be treated as activities without an authorising title for all purposes”, with the penalty regime of Title V.
The fines in article 207 run from 600 to 30,000 € for minor infringements and from 30,001 to 600,000 € for serious ones. A house that complies with the rules but whose declaration was not filed normally falls under the minor type; if the use also fails to conform to the planning, it becomes serious. And it chains: no supplies that can be contracted, no deed that can be registered, no mortgage and no orderly sale.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a first occupancy licence in Madrid?
Not exactly. Since Law 1/2020 there is no licence: you file a declaración responsable urbanística de primera ocupación y funcionamiento, a self-certified declaration, under article 155.c of Law 9/2001 on Land of the Comunidad de Madrid. The step is still compulsory; what changed is that it takes effect the day it is filed at the municipal register.
And the cédula de habitabilidad?
In the Comunidad de Madrid it does not exist. It was abolished by Decree 111/2018 of 26 June. No body issues it. If someone asks you for one, they are applying the rules of another region, or out-of-date information.
Can I move in on the day I file the declaración responsable?
In law, yes: article 157.1 says it entitles you to carry out the intended activity from the day it is filed at the town hall’s register. But the council keeps a compulsory later check, which can end in a requirement to put things right, in the works being stopped, or in the declaration ceasing to have effect if breaches appear that cannot be cured.
What happens if the council does not reply?
There is nothing to reply to: with a declaración responsable there is no silencio administrativo, the rule that treats an unanswered application as decided, because there is no authorisation to grant. The building permit is different: three months to decide, and negative silence — if the council does not decide, the application is deemed refused.
Will I get electricity and water without this step?
You should not. Decree 111/2018 bars water, electricity, gas and telephone suppliers from contracting without evidence of the municipal authorising title. In practice the evidence is the declaración responsable as filed, with its filing receipt.
Can I execute the deed of the new building on the declaración responsable alone?
Article 28.1.b of the consolidated Land Act accepts that a declaración responsable may stand in for the authorisations. Registry practice is more demanding. The advisable course is to obtain the council’s acto de conformidad as well, which article 159.5 of Law 9/2001 provides for to the effects of that article 28.1. With both documents there is no argument.
How much is the fee?
It depends enormously on the municipality, because the town hall sets it and not the state. For a house with a budget of 300,000 € it runs from 32 € in Pozuelo de Alarcón to around 1,590 € in Las Rozas. It is separate from ICIO, settled definitively at this same moment on the real cost of the works.
Can I apply for first occupancy in phases?
In some municipalities, yes. Galapagar regulates it expressly in article 17 of its 2024 by-law, if the part in question has an autonomous, independent and distinct use. Las Rozas allows it where functional independence is evidenced. It has to be checked municipality by municipality.
Is the Comunidad de Madrid the same thing as the Ayuntamiento de Madrid?
No. The Comunidad de Madrid is the region: Law 9/2001 and Decree 111/2018 are its rules and hold in every municipality within it. Your own ayuntamiento, the town hall of the place where the house stands, receives the declaration, sets the fee and carries out the later check.
We prepare the technical documentation
The completion certificate, the final account, the libro del edificio and the certificates that support the declaration all come out of the studio. And we know the differences in procedure between the councils of the western belt, which are greater than they look.