It is one of the situations we see most often at our office in Alfaz del Pi: a Nordic or British family buys a villa on the Costa Blanca, everything appears to be in order — and then it turns out the pool, the glazed terrace or the extension never had a building licence. Frequently this surfaces only when the property is being sold, mortgaged or inherited.
This article explains what the rules actually say, what you risk, and what routes to regularisation exist.
Two kinds of permission — and the difference matters
Spanish law distinguishes between minor works (obra menor) and major works (obra mayor). Minor works — retiling, repainting, replacing windows in the same aperture — can in the Valencia region usually be handled through a declaración responsable, a self-certified notification to the town hall.
Major works require a full building licence (licencia de obra mayor): anything that alters the volume, structure, internal layout or use of the building. That covers extensions, enclosing terraces, basement excavations, additional floors — and, in practice, almost always swimming pools.
A common misunderstanding: that the builder “handles the paperwork”. Responsibility rests with the owner of the property, not with the contractor. If no licence exists, it is you who receives the enforcement notice — even where the work was carried out by a previous owner.
What happens if there is no licence?
The town hall can open a legality restoration file (restauración de la legalidad urbanística) alongside a penalty file. There are three possible outcomes:
- Retrospective legalisation — where the works could lawfully have been authorised in the first place. You pay the licence fees plus a fine, often calculated as a percentage of the construction cost.
- Demolition order — where the works cannot be reconciled with the planning rules.
- Fuera de ordenación — the building stays, but may not be extended and may not undergo substantial refurbishment.
Even without any enforcement action, an unregistered structure creates practical problems: Spanish banks rarely lend against a property whose registry description does not match reality, buyers withdraw late in the process, and on death the estate becomes considerably more complicated to administer.
The time limit: fifteen years — but not always
In the Comunidad Valenciana the authority has fifteen years to act, counted from the complete termination of the works. The rule sits in article 255 of the consolidated planning act (Decreto Legislativo 1/2021, TRLOTUP).
There are important exceptions where no time limit applies at all: green zones, roads and open spaces, public facilities, land in the public domain — and, most relevant for our clients, rustic land (suelo no urbanizable). A villa built on agricultural land inland can therefore never “time out” in the way many owners hope.
Note also that expiry of the time limit is not the same as legalisation. Fifteen years having passed means the town hall can no longer require demolition — but the building does not become lawful. As a rule it falls into the fuera de ordenación category.
The route to order: new-build declaration by antiquity
For buildings where the period has expired there is an established procedure: the declaración de obra nueva por antigüedad, under article 28.4 of the Spanish Land Act (Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015).
In practice: an architect or building surveyor issues a certificate of the building’s age and floor area, supported by cadastral records and aerial photography. The notary then executes a deed that is entered in the Land Registry, provided no note of a pending enforcement file exists. The property is updated in the cadastre at the same time.
Cost typically falls between €1,500 and €3,500 depending on size and complexity, architect’s fee included. Weigh that against what an unregistered extension costs you in bargaining position when you come to sell.
What to do before you buy
The only reliable check is the one made before signing. We routinely request a planning certificate (cédula urbanística) from the town hall, compare the Land Registry floor area against the cadastre and against what you can actually see on site, and check whether any enforcement file is pending. Where the registered square metres differ from reality, it is almost always a sign of unlicensed work.
Discovered before the purchase, the discrepancy is negotiable. Discovered afterwards, it is your problem.
Work out your figures
Planning a purchase or a sale? Our free calculators may help: purchase costs and capital gains tax.
Kontakta oss / Contact us / Contáctenos
Colás Abogados / Advokater — Hugo Gutiérrez Colás, Abogado nº 6.539 ICALI
Email: [email protected]
Teléfono: +34 629 549 430
Web: www.colas-abogados.com