The Land

If you want to build a house then you need some land .. pretty obvious really! When you are looking for land here are our "Golden Rules":

1. Never believe the "man in the bar" - he may be a friend and /or well-meaning but the chances are that he is NOT a lawyer nor well informed, all he will know is rumour and assumptions (don't forget the old adage that ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and ME).
2. Never, ever believe what the land owner (or agent) says about building on the land. Before you buy, ALWAYS go to the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), speak with the 'Architect' (think Borough Surveyor) who may not speak English so take a translator with you (do NOT rely on a phrase book).
3. Things you MUST ask the Ayuntamiento's architect:
1. Whether you can build on the land you are interested in - the word you do NOT want to hear is'protegido' (protected).
2. What are the local building requirements (these vary across Spain), for instance how much land you need - here in Valencia to build in the campo you need a minimum of 10.000 square metres.
3. Ask to see the land usage map showing exactly where you can and more importantly CANNOT build.
4. If to get your required land you need to buy more than one plot (we needed four!) then they MUST be contiguous, that is all the plots must directly connect to each other without ANYTHING between them (not a path, road or stream .. nothing!)
5. Do NOT pay over the odds, expect to pay €2 to €3 per square metre and no more (and hopefully less).
6. When you buy, ALWAYS use a Spanish Abogado (Lawyer) making sure they are registered to practice, and do NOT use the lawyer the seller (or agent) suggests.My own lawyer is actually Uruguayan but qualified to practice law in Spain and speaks good English as well.
7. Make sure that the seller includes any property water actions in the price (you WILL need water!)
8. If possible, ask any neighbours if they know of any problems with the land
9. Although you cannot apply for building permission until you actually own the land, you must ask your abogado to check with local government that there is no reason why permission would be refused.

We spent almost six months looking for suitable land within a twenty kilometre radius with no luck. Then a rumour reached us of some land barely one kilometre from our village (Pla de Corrals). Without hesitation we jumped in the car and went to look and wow! what a place - close to a minor road, blissfully quiet, covered in Olive trees and facing a glorious mountain view. We both fell instantly in love with it. While we were looking, the owner appeared and within 20 minutes we'd agreed an outline deal for the land. Then we discovered why it hadn't been sold - legal problems of ownership involving a minor. To cut a very long story short, rather than deal with the courts we waited 18 months for the minor to come of age then bought the land having initially secured it with a compraventa (an agreement binding on both seller and buyer, if the buyer pulls out they lose their deposit and if the seller pulls out they must pay the buyer double the deposit). Prior to purchase we contacted an architect (the usual definition) and he double-checked with the provincial administration that there was no immediate reason not to obtain building permission.