RZB

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of general knowledge regarding the ease or difficulty of obtaining planning permission/consent / building permit for a pre-fabricated "log" home.

Looking at Spain, Portugal, Italy, South France or anywhere else with a "mediterraniam climate". It would be an isolated rural piece of land (5+ acres) suitable for agriculture.

Would like to guage whether obtaining planning constent for such a building in such a location would be difficult or easy in the various countries mentioned.

Or to put it another way... which is the easiest contry in Europe to obtain residential planning permission in?

Thanks.

dmu

Hi, as far as France is concerned:
Any agricultural land is firstly offered to neighbouring farmers before an "outsider's" offer to buy is accepted. This takes time.
If no one in the farming community is interested in acquring the land, you'd have to officially change its status to "constructible". If accepted by the Commune, this would cost some.
All this would have to be done before you submit your request for a Permis de Construire and your plans, even for a log cabin (unless it measures less than 20m² by 12 m in height).
I would look for somewhere with less Bureaucracy, even if you do speak the language!

Moses2013

Can't speak for other countries. We built a holiday home in Spain or let's say are still finishing it from abroad but the land is urbano. Even different areas of Spain have complete different planning regulations. www.spanisharchitect.info/english/faq/
Apart from that, being isolated might mean you won't always have that mediterranean climate you'd expect. You need to know the regulations before you buy the land.

scot47

The rules are "country-specific" so you might be better choosing a country and then pursuing your goal.

RZB

Hi, thanks - that does sound fairly beaurocratic. About the 12m height, shoudl that be feet? (I'm imagining a rather nice tower!)

RZB

Thanks for the link, that's really helpful. When I say isolated, i wasn't thinking half-way up a mountain! Just that whatever I build wouldn't be spoiling anyone's view.

RZB

Cheers, it certainly seems i'll need to research each of the countires I'm considering and futhermore specific regions within those countries as things vary so much. Just initially trying to gain an overview.

dmu

Strangely enough, the official French site says 12 metres!!

https://www.service-public.fr/partic...osdroits/F1986

I forgot to mention that a piece of land officially classified as agricultural wouldn't have water or electricity laid on....

Diddion

I think all countries you mentioned have unwieldy, and to our eyes, unnecessary bureaucracy.

Portugal has complex rules for building. In principle, if a plot of land has even a ruin, you can build, generally, up to the floor area of the ruin. It does depend on the classification of the land, and the attitude of the local council - if you find somewhere you like, you should go to the Camara (town hall) and chat with the city architect. They will let you know what is what - certainly it is very inadvisable not to follow local regulations on such things, here.