Buying an illegal house on rustic land in Spain: what are the risks?

When should you hold off paying a deposit?

Besides the warning signs above:

• Nobody can prove when the house was finished, or has said in writing whether demolition can still be ordered.
• The seller relies on Balearic extraordinary legalisation without the licence (or at least the application) or proof that the house is not excluded.

Before you sign the arras (purchase deposit contract):

1. Hire your own lawyer. You take over planning obligations attached to the property: find out what is outstanding and its cost (TRLSRU, art. 27.1).
2. Agree which document the purchase depends on, who obtains it and by when, and who pays for legalisation, works, demolition or connections. With no quote yet, make the purchase conditional on accepting one.
3. Check which type of arras the contract states. Expressly agreed arras penitenciales let either side withdraw without showing a breach: you lose the deposit, or the seller repays double (Civil Code, art. 1454). Otherwise the deposit is usually part payment (arras confirmatorias): if either side fails to complete, the other can enforce the contract or end it and claim damages (Civil Code, art. 1124). Either way, agree in writing on a full refund if a check or approval fails.
4. Agree who holds the money until the condition is met, and when the seller gets it.

AFO (asimilado a fuera de ordenación) is an Andalusian status for a finished house built without permission or in breach of it: the town hall can no longer order it to be put right or demolished, generally 6 years after it was fully finished (LISTA, Andalusia's land and planning law, art. 153.1), but the house is still not legal. On rustic land in the coastal influence zone (at least 500 m inland from the legally defined inner edge of the shore; Coastal Law, art. 30), current law sets no time limit, so a house finished on or after 23 December 2021 cannot get AFO there. For a house finished before then, what counts is the period in force at the time (Decreto 550/2022, art. 354.5): your lawyer checks whether it had run out.

If the estate agent says the house "can get AFO", ask for the town hall's recognition decision (resolución de reconocimiento de la situación de AFO), often called the AFO certificate; an application is not one. If there is none, wait, or make the deposit conditional on it, with a full refund if it is refused or not issued by an agreed date. If the house was finished before 1975, first read about the certificate for houses finished before Law 19/1975.

Is there a time limit for action against an illegal house in Spain?

No single Spanish deadline exists: region, land category, documented completion date and any action taken all matter.

How do I prove the age of the house and additions?

Ask for evidence that identifies this house and its additions and dates them. To register a building by age, national law accepts (TRLSRU, art. 28.4.a):

• a certificate from the town hall or a qualified building professional;
• a notarial record (acta notarial);
• a descriptive and graphic cadastral certificate.

Have a surveyor or architect check the documents against the house. In the Balearics, whoever claims the date must prove it; an unlicensed use or change of use is a continuing breach whose period starts only when it stops (LUIB, art. 196.3–196.4).

What does buying an AFO house in Andalusia allow?

AFO does not legalise the house; works that comply with the plan can be legalised at any time. If enforcement proceedings were closed because the time limit had expired, ask for the closing decision: it is useful evidence, but not AFO recognition, which you still need (LISTA, art. 152.7–152.8).

If the house was finished before Law 19/1975 of 2 May came into force without the planning licence required for its location on non-developable land, it is treated as licensed for the use it had then. This does not cover later works, or houses on the coastal public domain and its easements. Ask the town hall for the certificate.

The 6 years run from full completion, or from when the works first became visible from outside if that was later; for a change of use, from when the new use became apparent (LISTA, art. 153.1). Each extension, pool or annexe has its own completion date and period; if the AFO decision describes only the original house, the additions are not covered. There is no limit on, among others, public-domain land, rustic land protected because of a real risk of landslide or flooding (while the risk lasts), the coastal influence zone, listed heritage and green areas. In an unlawful subdivision for housing on rustic land, the 6 years can protect at most the plot the house stands on (art. 153.2). See also the guides to flood zones and Spanish coastal law.

The town hall will not recognise AFO while it can still act against the house, before the house meets minimum safety and health conditions, or, on land at real risk of erosion or flooding, until the required measures are in place (art. 173.4).

AFO recognition is recorded in the Land Registry. It shows the building is fit for use, not that any activity in it is permitted (LISTA, art. 174.4 and 174.6).

Valencia region: can the house still be demolished, and can it be regularised?

Current law sets no time limit on non-developable land (suelo no urbanizable, the Valencian term for rustic land), but the period that applies is the one in force when the works were finished (TRLOTUP, art. 255.6). By completion date:

• 1 February 2006 to 19 August 2014: 4 years (Law 16/2005, art. 224);
• 20 August 2014 to 7 February 2019: 15 years (Law 5/2014, art. 236). A house from this period can still face a demolition order until at least August 2029 and cannot use minimización, which covers only works finished before 20 August 2014;
• from 8 February 2019: no limit on any non-developable land. Demolition can be ordered at any time, so without a licence, do not pay a deposit.

The 2005 and 2014 laws set no limit on, among others, protected non-developable land, green areas or public-domain land; before 2006 an earlier law applies. If the period had run out, demolition can no longer be ordered, but the illegal parts still cannot be renovated, extended or strengthened, except for works the authorities order for safety, health and appearance (art. 256). Ask your surveyor to separate lawful from unlawful parts, and the town hall for the enforcement file.

Isolated buildings finished before Law 19/1975 came into force, without the planning licence required for their location on non-developable land, are treated as licensed if they keep their original use and type and are not formally declared a ruin (DT 26ª).

Minimización de impacto territorial (the Valencian route for reducing a building's impact) covers buildings fully completed before 20 August 2014. The town hall can mark out a cluster of at least three homes per hectare, or fewer where they are close together (art. 228). An isolated house needs an individual declaration from the full council (pleno), justified by the owner, then a licence with technical documents, a risk analysis and corrective measures (art. 230).

Balearics: could the house qualify for extraordinary legalisation?

You can apply only once the authorities can no longer order restoration, including demolition. Before you pay, your lawyer must check this and the conditions below.

The general period to act is 8 years, with no limit on protected rustic land, listed property, parks, open spaces and public infrastructure or facilities (LUIB, art. 196). This applies to houses finished on or after 14 December 2024. For houses finished from 1 January 2018 to 13 December 2024 there was no limit on any rustic land; on ordinary rustic land, ask your lawyer whether the 8 years now run and from when. For older houses, your lawyer checks which law applies.

Extraordinary legalisation has its own rules (Law 7/2024, additional provision 7, DA 7ª.1):

• It applies the classification and law at completion, or a later, more favourable one.
• On protected rustic land, the period (normally 8 years) must have run without interruption, and the works must predate their express prohibition there.
• A changed use (a barn turned into a home) can be legalised only if action against it is also time-barred; uses begun before 29 May 2014 count from when they began.

What legalisation costs (Law 7/2024, DA 7ª.2–4):

• Levy: that year's rate of the assessed construction cost of what is legalised by this route, valued at the application date; if only the use is legalised, the base is the cost of the building it is tied to. Anything legalisable the ordinary way goes in the same application and comes off the base (DA 7ª.3).
• Reduction: Spanish income tax (IRPF) payers get 50% off with a four-year average taxable base up to €33,000 (€52,800 joint), 25% up to €52,800 (€84,480 joint); a non-resident who does not file IRPF may not qualify.
• On top: taxes, fees, the legalisation project, wastewater treatment meeting the Balearic Hydrological Plan, and any municipal measures on appearance, lighting or energy and water use.
• The whole property: the application covers every irregular work and use; anything still open to enforcement that cannot be legalised must be demolished.
• Utilities: the licence is enough to sign up for electricity, water, gas and telecoms (DA 7ª.11); get the supplier's written confirmation of the connection and its cost.

For example, if building what is legalised would cost €100,000 today, the 12.5% levy is €12,500 before any reduction. The base is not the purchase price.

Excluded, among others: public-domain land, road protection zones, coastal and water easements, flood zones and buildings marked for demolition or expropriation. Ask the town hall whether it has excluded the house's use from this route (DA 7ª.2 and 7ª.5.e). On Formentera the route covers only homes, farming and the activities listed in annex IV of its island plan.

After legalisation, the use is tied to the whole registered property, which cannot be split up while the use continues unless the plot exceeds the minimum size and the link is lifted first (DA 7ª.7).

Canaries, Catalonia, Galicia and Murcia: what changes?

Does registration by age mean legalisation?

No. Registration by age (declaración de obra nueva por antigüedad) is possible only once the enforcement period has expired: never, for example, for a house finished on Valencian non-developable land from 8 February 2019. It needs the documents under proving age, with a completion date and description matching the deed; the registrar then notifies the town hall (TRLSRU, art. 28.4.a).

If the house was registered this way without a town hall certificate, ask the Land Registry for any marginal note on its planning status (TRLSRU, art. 28.4.c).

What does TerrenoCheck check about the house?

It also maps flood zones, Natura 2000, protected areas, public woodland, coastal law zones and, outside Galicia, the Balearics and the Canaries, vías pecuarias (protected livestock routes): sample report.

What should I ask for before paying the deposit (arras)?

Before you pay, settle the general checks and those for your region and the house's status, or have your lawyer make any open point a deposit condition, with a date and a full refund if it fails. Ask the town hall for its fees, and your architect and lawyer for fixed quotes and timings. The town hall has 6 months from filing to decide on AFO or Balearic legalisation, a period that may be suspended (Law 39/2015, art. 22); with no decision, the application counts as refused. Set your own refund date in the deposit contract, allowing time to prepare the application.

The sale deed must disclose the planning position of buildings that are fuera de ordenación; if it does not, the buyer can cancel the sale within 4 years and claim damages. Your lawyer must confirm whether a particular AFO decision counts (TRLSRU, art. 27.2.a and art. 27.3).