Hi Experts,

We always seem to hear different things regarding planning regulations in Spain and a friend was asking me what is actually allowed. The plot is in an Urbanization and nothing has been built so far, connections are available. Would it be possible to have a type garden studio (like a shed) with small kitchen, bathroom.

In the UK the following is apparently allowed??????????????


Building Regulations
If you want to put up small detached buildings such as garden sheds or summerhouses in your garden, building regulations will not normally apply if the floor area of the building is less than 15 square metres.

If the floor area of the building is between 15 square metres and 30 square metres, you will not normally be required to apply for building regulations approval providing that the building is either at least one metre from any boundary or it is constructed of substantially non-combustible materials.

In both cases, building regulations do not apply ONLY if the building does not contain any sleeping accommodation."

Whilst we accept that some people do occasionally use garden rooms from time to time as occasional sleeping accommodation e.g. sleepovers, we would like to suggest that it is not illegal due to pedantic bureaucrats but because garden rooms are generally far easier to catch fire. This is why they are only exempt from regulations, including fire regulations, provided they are not used overnight.

thanks for your comments.

Whatever you are doing in Spain, you HAVE to have planning permission, even down to painting the outside. See the other thread currently running, Has to be said this is Spain not UK, different rules, different well, everything

But that's everywhere in Europe. According to planning we should only use natural colours on our house, but we just painted the way we like. Our neighbours aren't bothered and if someone does complain, I'm colour blind . It depends on the area, but the UK can be far worse.

I disagree - Spain is far more restrictive than UK!

If you go against the rules (like you have with colours) then you could well be fined and have to repaint it - is it worth the risk? Why not do things legally in the first place?

Again it depends on the area and the colours are on my house at home (not Spain). It's not a protected structure, so technically I can paint the way I like, however it just states that you should keep it like other houses around (natural sand colours) If you're living in a rural part of Spain, of course it will be stricter than living in an urbanisation (not estate). Go to some parts in the UK and you'll only see grey or brown and it's not because people want it to be that way.

When we had the outside of our house painted we were given a colour chart by the painter which although it had the colours that I was interested in there was a very limited range. Untill reading about the restrictions in some towns I had not given it a thought but now I am wondering whether this colour range had been chosen by the mayor as he is the brother-in-law of the painter. There are houses around the town that do stand out due to their colour so I do not think that they are too restrictive but maybe when they can they point you into the range that they really prefer.

Rosemary

Unless it's a listed building, or some sort of heritage town, I don't see why they could stop you picking the colour you like. I think many people moving to Spain wouldn't want to annoy neighbours and scare tactics from a mayor could also add to this. We haven't painted our place in Spain, but the houses around all have different colours.

I believe that it totally depends on the area and how the reasoning behind the rules have developed. Some towns will not allow bright colours, some have to be all white etc. I have no real problem with this if it enhances the town. In my town there is a row of houses facing the by-pass which are all bright colours however these colours are not found anywhere else in the town. When you see panaramic photos I like to see everything complimenting each other so maybe if I was in a position of power I would be trying to get people to blend their houses in and yet I am all for individuality too so I would clash with myself. Oh well it takes all sorts and going with the flow in your particular town can only be an advantage to mixing with the locals.

I remember that when we had our house painted the assistant painter commented that it looked perfect so presumably the for sale sign was about to appear. We did tell him that it most certainly was not and a couple of years later he apologised and explained that he thought that we were only here to do the house up and sell at a profit and had not realised that we were very settled. When my husband died this man was not so crass and actually asked me if I was planning to stay or return to the UK, everyone here knows what my response was.

Rosemary