Coexistence with neighbors is one of the most complex aspects of residing in a building. Although each owner has the right to use and enjoy his or her own home, when it is located within a property with different floors, the Horizontal Property Law establishes a series of rights and obligations with the community and, among them, the prohibition of causing inconvenience to other residents.
As established in article 7.2 of the LPH, the owners and occupants of the property or premises “are not allowed to carry out activities in it or in the rest of the property that are prohibited in the statutes, that are harmful to the property or that contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illegal activities“.
Therefore, although the law does not prohibit setting up a business or office inside a home, the truth is that It will depend on the neighborhood community and, specifically, what is established in the statutes. And, even if they allow it, they may prohibit it the moment it begins to cause a nuisance to those who reside in the building.
Activities permitted by law
In the event that it is not directly prohibited by the statutes, the owners may carry out their work activity within the home. as long as this does not cause discomfort among your neighbors. Therefore, there is a big difference depending on the activities that are going to be carried out inside the home.
In the event that the owner teleworks and has established an office inside to be able to carry out your usual work activity and telematic meetings. These types of practices usually do not cause much noise or cause inconvenience to the owners, so they are not usually prohibited by the community or generate conflicts within it.
Things get complicated when they are going to establish themselves business or offices in which the traffic of clients will be frequent or the work activity carried out can be considered “annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or unlawful”. In this case, the law is clear, and prohibits this type of practices within homes, even if the owners are carrying them out.
The statute may prohibit this use of the home
When this type of practice is expressly prohibited in the statutes or it is established that the use of the property must be “exclusively residential or residential”, no owner may set up his business or office inside the apartment, even if these do not generate noise or inconvenience for the rest of the neighbors. In this case, Contradicting the provisions of the community is an automatic legal violation..
Therefore, it will not be necessary for the neighbors to prove that activities that harm the tranquility and cleanliness of the building are being carried out inside, but they will only have to demand the cessation of work activity through judicial means.
However, this prohibition must be registered in the Property Registry. Otherwise, it will only be binding on the owners who signed it, leaving freedom to all those who buy a home in the building after.
Neighbors may complain about annoying or unhealthy actions
For all these reasons, if it is known that a neighbor is carrying out a work activity within his home, whether as an office or as a business, and you want to demand his cessation, it will be essential to review what is included in the community statute. If it is not expressly prohibited therein, it is understood that this types of practices are allowed, but with limits.
The rest of the owners may only demand the cessation of this type of activities when they constitute an action prohibited by article 7 of the Horizontal Property Law or it is being rented as a tourist apartment or for non-residential use without having first consulted with the community. In this case, evidence must be collected to demonstrate this violation of what is established by law.
Once sufficient evidence is available, the president of the community must send a formal request to the owner requesting the end of the activity and the reasons. If the action continues, a request for cessation may be filed before a judge, who will force the cessation and may impose the payment of compensation. Likewise, the resolution may include the prohibition of this use of homes for three years.