If you are considering buying a rustic property in Mallorca, it’s important to know its urban situation. This is crucial because, as an owner, the restrictions imposed by urban regulations can limit your options for future renovations or works.
In Spain, there has been a land law since 1956 that regulates construction activities and requires administrative permits for renovations and constructions. However, the lack of effective enforcement of the regulations and the limited prosecutorial activity by town halls has allowed the existence of illegal buildings throughout Spain.
Currently, in Mallorca, the Territorial Defense Agency has been established to enforce the regulations on all rustic land on the island. This agency conducts regular inspections and orders the demolition of numerous constructions each year. Moreover, since January 1, 2018, with the entry into force of the Urban Planning Law of the Balearic Islands (LUIB), the Administration can act at any time against properties that have carried out illegal works on rustic land, regardless of how much time has passed. Therefore, it is important to check the urban status of a property before buying it to avoid issues.
Sometimes, you may be informed that a house is “legal” because it is registered in the property registry and cadastre, but that does not guarantee its urban legality.
In this respect, buildings constructed without the corresponding administrative permit are considered out of order. If you purchase a property that is wholly or partially out of order and cannot be legalized, you should be aware that:
- If a building was constructed before 2018 without a permit and is out of order, no works are allowed on it, even if they are just basic repairs like fixing leaks or pool repairs. This is because the construction is still illegal under the Urban Planning Law of the Balearic Islands (LUIB), and although it can no longer be demolished, no works can be carried out.
- If a construction was legally permitted, but an illegal extension was made, there are two parts: the legal part and the illegal part. In the legal part, all kinds of works are allowed, except extensions. In the illegal part, no works are permitted.
If you want to buy a house on rustic land and want to know if it is illegal, it is important to request the urban documents before purchasing it. However, you should know that the “Certificate of habitability” and the “Municipal certificate of non-existence of files” do not guarantee its legality. To obtain precise information about the urban status of the house, you need a municipal urban adequacy report or an urban report issued by an expert architect in the field. Therefore, it is especially important to analyze the urban status of a property in Mallorca before its purchase and to seek advice from a legal expert and an architect.
If you don’t know who to contact, in our agency we collaborate with the real estate law firm De Salvador and the architecture studio PS-Arquitectos.
