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Buying land to build properties or designated building plots can be difficult to find, but if you get the right plot of land for sale you can design and build the house of your dreams. Here in the Costa Tropical there are still plots available in great countryside locations and even right on the beach front. There are two types of land , URBAN and RUSTIC land. Urban land is land already designated in the town plan as land you can build a house on. Rustic land is countryside or agricultural land. Both will have their own rules for building properties or property development in the Costa Tropical. Very rarely does either rustic land for sale or urban land for sale come with planning permission as the permission usually states you must start building within 6 months compared to the 5 years in the UK! Unlike the UK it is straight forward to find out what you are legally allowed to build and neighbours and politicians are not consulted on the issue. The politicians can only help speed up the process or turn a blind eye if you do work you are not supposed to.
Urban land has ¨normativas¨or planning rules freely available as to what is the minimum size of plot, maximum footprint of house, how many floors, how tall the building should be, how close to the neighbours etc. Urban building plots range for 30m2 in the middle of the old town to 1000m2 in one of the "urbanisations" or housing estates. Prices will vary from 20,000 euros in a poor position in the old village centre in Otivar (a small village 20 minutes in land) to 500,000 euros for a prime plot on Punta de la Mona ( where the politicians go on holiday on the coast in Almunecar). Brief process for Urban Land development and building properties is Due your due diligence using local expertise before buying.
Purchase your land Instruct an architect to make a full planning application ( about 200 pages). This takes about 4 to 6 weeks.
This then gets approved by the college of architects in Granada. This takes 2 to 4 weeks.
Then the project is sent to the town hall where it can take between 4 weeks and six months depending on whether you or your architect know anyone in the town hall. When they approve your licence you pay the licence fee and a deposit against damage to the roads with delivery vehicles. Sometimes you also have to pay a deposit towards connecting to a sewage system at a later stage. NEVER pay this licence to the town hall. ALWAYS put it in a blocked account at your bank. Some town halls have been known to be VERY slow in returning a deposit if they hold it!!
Building in areas of rustic land can be very complicated but very rewarding, both financially and emotionally. Obviously you need more land but the land for sale is much cheaper. Below is what our architect supplied as his summary for rustic land. Notice it is a little more complicated than Urban land in the Costa Tropical.
Remember if you want advice on building land or land for development in the Costa Tropical give me a ring on 00 34 666 938 956
Information about obtaining permission to develop a building
On non urban land,
1: Legislation
All building in Andalucia is covered by the Ley De Ordenación Urbanistica De Andalucia 17 dic 2002; this encapsulates all previous planning law. Apart from this planning law, there are Provincial and Local regulations.
To be able to build on non-urbanizable land an Activity Project may be required. This document describes the agricultural use to which the land is being put, and explains the need for residential accommodation on the land. This document has to be approved by the local and regional authorities before a building project can be undertaken.
2: Building regulations.
Spain has very simple but strict building regulations, these cover all facets of the building process and also the way that the building functions. Particular emphasis is placed on thermal performance, acoustic performance, energy conservation, and the resistance of the building to seismic activity. There are special regulations concerning hotels, public dining services, swimming pools, sports facilities and equipment.
In non-urban situations the promoter must have proof that he can obtain the services required to carry out the specified activity, Water, Electricity, access etc. This means having a contract for them from a competent body.
3: The building team.
In the building project THE ARCHITECT provides the following documents.
a) Documents describing the general characteristics of the building work, with justification of the solution adopted, referring to the clients brief and the building regulations and town planning requirements.
b) Plans to scale of the floors elevations and section.
c) Plans with dimensions.
d) Plans of layout, foundations, structure, services, structural details carpentry etc.
e) Specification, list of legal requirements and regulations.
f) Measured bill of quantities. With prices based on the standard format of government prices, and if required at real prices.
g) Standard form of contract for building work.
h) The architect is required to provide 5 copies of the documents at each stage; the client or the builder as required pays for extra copies. These copies are used as follows:
1 for the Aparejador, 1 for the Ayuntamiento, and 3 to the Client (2 to be given to the builder.) Technical responsibility during construction.
THE ARCHITECT:
a) Direct the work, coordinating this with the project, facilitating the technical, economic and aesthetic interpretation.
b) Draft modifications, additions or corrections required by the project.
c) Attend the works as required by the nature and complexity of the project, to resolve any problems that may arise and issue the instructions required to ensure the correct interpretation of the project.
d) Enter in the Instruction and Attendance book, those instructions and incidents that he considers relevant.
e) Coordinate with the aparejador, the programme of the progress of the works and the programme of quality control in accord with the building regulations.
f) Coordinate the intervention of those other specialists required in the direction of the project, in accord with their speciality.
g) Prior to the start of building, check that the structure designed is adequate for the geological conditions of the site.
h) Approve the certificates for payment during the works and at completion.
i) Issue the final certificate, signed also by the Aparejador.
j) Advise the promoter during the work and at completion.
k) Prepare together with the contractor the final documentation, plans and written, of the work carried out.
THE APAREJADOR:
a) Draft the study and analysis of the project to prepare programmes of organization of the work.
b) Plan, with reference to the project, the specification, the contract, the building regulations, the economic and quality control of the works.
c) Draft when required, a study of the risks and a health and safety plan for the works.
d) Draft if required a plan for quality control of the works.
e) Set out the works and prepare the statement of setting out, together with the architect.
f) Check the services on site, together with the safety of the works.
g) Carry out, or direct the quality controls required for the correct execution of the works. Forwarding the results to the builder with the orders resulting from the tests.
h) Carry out the measurement of the works, and approve as agreed, the certificates for payment.
i) Sign together with the Architect the final certificate.
The Architect is not required to provide services such as:
- Contracting the works,
- Negotiations with financial sources,
- Negotiations with lawyers, notaries, registrars or tax authorities.
- Financial administration, holding of funds for payment to contractors.
- Translation of documents.
- Legalization of the building at completion for the issue of the licence of occupation.
- Services outside the terms of engagement will be charged for separately.
THE BUILDER:The conditions of contract for the builder require that he be efficient, carryout the works diligently, obey the health and safety regulations and other regulations. He is also required to provide a decennial warranty in the form of an insurance policy in favour of the promoter, which will be handed over at practical completion. He also has to provide the bulletins of installation for water, electricity, gas and telephone. The promoter retains normally 5% of all payments until completion of the works.
The owner has to pay the building licence, completion certificate, new building deeds at the notary, registry costs, land improvement tax, and all the appropriate taxes including IVA (vat).
For a project of this type the following is the documentation required:
1. Escritura publica de compra venta. Deeds to prove ownership of the property. Including contract or licence for water. (client)
2. Nota registral simple. A certificate from the land registry proving ownership. (client)
3. Certificado catastral. A certificate from the land tax office, with plan. (client)
4. A topographical survey of the estate locating all the boundaries, buildings and ruins as well as canals, wells, tracks, paths and rights of way. (Client/topographer)
5. A geological survey of the site where the building is to take place, to ensure that there is no hidden fault or failure in the subsoil, and to allow for a correct calculation of the foundations. (Client / Geologist).
6. For new buildings on RUSTIC NON URBAN LAND a Proyecto de Actividad will be required to justify the need to have a house and to explain the agricultural use for the land. (Client - Architect or Agricultural engineer)
7. An environmental impact study, based on the projected building and use. (Client/Environmentalist). May be required
8. A licence to dispose of sewage, if there is no mains drainage. This includes the need to design and specify the method of disposal. (Client/Architect) May be required
9. A health and safety study for the protection of those working in the industry proposed.
10. A building project based on the brief provided and all the above information. (Architect).
- Ante Proyecto, preliminary project, basic design for the project to be used to obtain preliminary opinions from the public authorities, banks etc. 20% fees
- Proyecto de ejecución. The final project used for obtaining all the permissions licences etc.70% fes
- Proyecto de fin de obra, completion project, the document provided at the completion of the work as a record of the building and a manual for its use and maintenance. 100% fees
The building licence is conditioned on the presentation of a health and safety project for the building work. This is a separate document from the building project. 11. Building licence. This comes from the local Town but depends on the approval of the junta de Andalucia and all its departments.
a. MOPU Ministerio de obras Públicas
b. Conserjería de obras publicas y transportes.
c. Delegación Provincial – Servicio de Ordenación del Territorio y Urbanismo.
d. Confederación Hidrográfica Del Sur- Departamento De Residuos Líquidos.
e. Delegación de medio ambiente.
All these departments also have to approve the completed building to allow it to be inhabited.
The project contains the following documents.
- A description of the proposed construction, the promoters and the use proposed. Documents describing how each of the elements in the design has been calculated.
- Documents justifying, handicapped access, sound performance, thermal performance and energy conservation, compliance with the fire regulations, structural design and seismic performance, plumbing design, electrical design, telecommunications design, disposal of residual water and environmental impact. Some of these documents are specialist documents which are outside the normal terms of engagement.
- Layout plans, sections and elevations to scale.
- Plans of foundations and structure.
- Plans of the installations of water, electricity telecommunications, sewage.
- Plans and schedules of carpentry, sanitary ware and other elements within the design.
- A list of all the regulations relevant to the project.
- General conditions for the execution of the works, standard form of Building Contract.
- Bill of quantities including prices. Note the prices quoted in the bill in the project are used as the basis for calculating all the licences and subsidies available. They can be real, fictitious or based on the government published prices.
Other work such as translation, investigation of the site, consultation with public authorities, measurement of existing buildings and land, valuations of buildings and land, study of documents, arbitration, interior design and furnishing are services available that will be charged in accordance with the fee scale recommended by the COLEGIO OFICIAL DE ARQUITECTOS DE GRANADA.
The costs to be considered are:
Financial costs, banking, transfer of cash and interests.
Land cost:
Purchase Price.
Notary and registration costs.
Land taxes and capital transfer taxes.
Preliminary studies:
Topographical survey.
Geological survey.
Environmental impact study
Proyecto de Actividad.
Building Costs:
Building cost
Demolition costs.
Material cost.
Industrial benefit.
Standing costs.
Decennial insurance policy
IVA at 7 or 16%. Work within the main contract is at 7%.
Architects fees: based on the demolition and material cost and depending on the total size and cost of the project.
Basic project
Execution project
Practical completion and direction of works.
All with 16% IVA.
Aparejadors fees: based on the demolition and material cost. Approximately 30% of the architects fees.
Direction of works
Practical completion
All with 16% IVA.
Health and safety project.
Cost depends on the value of the work to be carried out.
With 16% IVA
Building licence:
Approximately 4 - 6% of the Material cost. 6.3% in Almuñecar, less in other areas
At completion there are the following: (as applicable)
Electricity contract
Drinking water contract and irrigation water contract
Sewage disposal contract
Telephone contract
New building Deeds
Royal land taxes (derechos reales)
Land registry correction.
Catastro correction.
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