Many buyers in Spain, instead of purchasing an already built house, prefer to buy a plot of land, order an individual project and build a home to their liking. Also, land can be purchased for agricultural purposes. In any case, regardless of the category of land, before purchasing it is necessary to check a number of documents to ensure the purity and legality of the transaction.

Buying a plot of land in Spain: where to start?

Any real estate transaction in Spain, be it residential, commercial, or land, must begin by requesting an extract from the Property Register – Nota simple informativa. This document contains information about the category of land, the area and location of the plot, about its owner (which allows you to verify that the seller is the legal owner), or several owners and their shares in the property right, about the presence or absence of debts or encumbrances, as well as about possible restrictions on the property (for example, easements).

The information contained in the extract is open to the public. Therefore, an extract can be requested by both the owner himself and any interested party without the need to obtain prior consent from the owner.

The second step is to check the cadastral status and request a cadastral certificate. A potential buyer can do this on his own, having previously learned from the owner the cadastral number of the plot. In this case, you can contact the cadastre department in person, or send an online request on the official website of the service using an electronic signature or by identifying the applicant in another way.

There are two types of cadastral certificates:

• Descriptive and Graphic: Contains basic legal, physical, and economic data as well as a graphical representation of the site.
• Text: includes alphanumeric data about the site (owner, location, cadastral number, area, purpose, etc.).

The certificates are valid for 1 year from the date of issue. After receiving the extract and cadastral certificate, it is necessary to check the data contained in them with the data of the deed of sale for this plot available to the seller.

Also, before signing any deposit or reserve agreements, you must ensure that there are no tax arrears. To do this, you must request the owner’s most recently paid IBI real estate tax receipt. To eliminate the risk of discovering old debts, you must request a certificate of absence of tax debts for previous reporting periods from the tax department of the city hall at the location of the site.

If construction is planned on the site, it is necessary to analyze the received documents together with the architect. It is important to study the technical and topographical characteristics of the site, its area and location, the presence of easements and their exact location in order to make sure that the planned project is feasible taking into account all current urban planning and legal regulations. A geotechnical study will also be required – checking the condition of the soil at the site.

Each municipality has its own urban planning regulations. And each site can be limited both in terms of construction area and in terms of number of storeys. To avoid unpleasant surprises and make sure that the planned project fits within the current limits, you need to request a town planning certificate for the land plot from the city hall.

At the stage of preparing the transaction, tax advice will also be required, both in relation to taxes associated with the purchase and sale of land in Spain, and with its ownership.

Land category

Checking the urban planning classification of a site is a very important step. The registration documents of the Property Register and Cadastre, as well as the town planning certificate, must contain information about what category the land plot belongs to:

• Urbano – urban land already included in the municipal urban planning plan.
• Urbanizable – land suitable for urban development, i.e. suitable for carrying out a number of works and preparing for their use as urban land.
• No urbanizable – lands intended exclusively for agriculture, livestock farming, or representing forest or hunting grounds. As a rule, such areas do not have a sewerage system, drinking water, asphalt roads, city lighting, etc. You can often find the term terreno/suelo rústico in documents, which is a synonym.

Later in the article we will dwell in more detail on some legislative issues that must be taken into account when purchasing a plot of land in Spain.

Taxes and expenses when purchasing land in Spain

The main burden of expenses when purchasing property in Spain falls on the shoulders of the buyer. With the exception of the municipal tax on the increase in the value of urban land (plusvalía), which is paid by the seller, all costs are borne by the buyer: realtor commission, notary fee, fee for registering the transfer of ownership in the Property Register, taxes (ITP or IVA).

VAT is paid in case of purchasing a plot from a legal entity at a rate of 21%. In addition, IAJD stamp duty is payable. However, if the plot is purchased from a private individual, VAT and IAJD are not applied, but instead the property transfer tax ITP is paid, the rate of which varies depending on the autonomous community in which the plot of land is located.

When purchasing a plot of land worth 100,000 € from a private person, taxes and expenses will average from 7,500 to 11,500 €. To this amount must be added the cost of various statements and certificates (from 50 to 200 €), as well as the cost of a geotechnical inspection (from 400 to 4,000 €).

About taxes in Spain when selling real estate read our article.

Agricultural land in Spain

Land plots classified as “No urbanizable” are the most inexpensive. Many buyers fell for the persuasion of unscrupulous sellers, who assured that, if desired, the category of land could be changed and the site could be made suitable for residential development. This is not so: agricultural land is almost impossible to transfer to another category. In very rare cases, this can be done for social projects, for example, the construction of educational or medical centers. Thus, if the goal is residential construction, the appropriate plot must be purchased.

If an agricultural plot is purchased deliberately for the purpose of farming, a number of important points must be taken into account. For example, in Spain there is a right of first refusal against the owners of neighboring plots bordering the one for sale. This means that neighbors, if desired, can buy the plot on the terms that were announced to the third-party buyer. This rule does not apply to plots of more than 1 hectare, as well as plots separated from neighboring ones by ravines, ditches, streams, roads, etc.

It is also necessary to ensure that there is access to the site, direct access to public roads or the presence of easements giving the right of way through adjacent properties.

Construction on agricultural land: what does the current legislation say?

Above we have characterized the lands belonging to the “No urbanizable” category. Let’s talk about them in a little more detail. Agricultural lands are divided into two types: ordinary and protected. On ordinary lands it is allowed to erect structures directly related to the activity being carried out: buildings for livestock farms, stables, warehouses, hangars, etc. Any construction is prohibited on lands that have any conservation status.

Unfortunately, there are cases of illegal construction in Spain. And such plots with illegally built residential buildings are sometimes put up for sale. Art. 319 of the Spanish Civil Code provides for penalties of up to three years in prison, as well as fines, for construction on sites classified as “No urbanizable”.

However, there are exceptions to every rule. Local legislation of some autonomous communities allows the installation of residential modular prefabricated houses on agricultural land that do not require a foundation, do not require any construction work, or connection to municipal utilities. Many of these houses have wheels and can be towed at any time without damaging the ground. In any case, you need to carefully study local legislation. For example, in Andalusia and Galicia not only modular houses are prohibited, but even caravans.

The legislation also allows the construction of campsites and rural hotels, including those with swimming pools, on “Nourbanizable” sites. To build a campsite, the site must have an area of ​​at least 5,000 m2, for a rural hotel – at least 10,000 m2. Regulations may vary depending on the autonomous community.

And finally, if there is an old building on a “No urbanizable” site, including ruins dating back to 1975 and earlier, there is a real chance of obtaining a building license, or rather, a restoration of the building. And it is these areas that are in greatest demand on the market.