In Marbella and when you are in the real estate business, you hear many times that a home is outside the council’s planning ordinance (vivienda fuera de ordenacion) but do we know what that means?
Homes can be in this situation for two reasons:
- When the property was originally built under a proper and legal license but a later change in the urban planning ordinance changes the parameters or conditions under the ones the house was built and license granted. Those are homes that were fully legal when built but that ulterior change in the planning ordinance pushes them out the planning compliance—”out of plan”.
- When the properties were built without license or without complying with the regulations that the urban planning ordinance required for that plot and the Town Hall did not initiate disciplinary actions to enforce the restoration of the legality within the legal time frame allowed for that proceeding. This is mostly the case of many properties in Marbella that were built at the “boom” times (from 2001 to 2007), just prior to he 2008 crisis, without proper licenses or without complying with a legally approved urban planning ordinance.
What does it means that a home is declared as outside the approved planning ordinances (fuera de ordenacion)?
The first one is that that legal category limits the possibilities of use, occupation and transferring of a property and that is why it is extremely important that that specific legal situation and its consequences are fully known by the owners and potential third parties interested in renting or purchasing that home.
The main limitation is that owners can only do conservation and maintenance works on the property but never works to increase its size or volume and, in general, works that may add value to the building. The final goal is that, once the lifetime of that construction is over, it disappears naturally. This ”out of plan” situation can be considered as a temporary regime that allows the use of the property until the use of the property is exhausted by the pass of time. For example, if an “out of plan” house is burnt by a fire may mean that it can not rebuild or use anymore.
Due to this irregular/temporary situation, in general, the homes with that “out of plan” regime have a lower price, are more difficult to sell and, depending on the level of illegality that caused that regime, banks will not give mortgages on them because they do not consider them as sufficient guarantee to cover the loan.
* In any case, and as every property is different and every situation singular, for additional information and/or any clarification, it is highly recommended to get further advise from your trusted lawyer or architect.