Such properties would need to be of specific historical interest not just be an old property. For instance in the UK we lived in a property first built around 1630 which had been an old inn , it had on the outside wall an historical plaque stating this and that Oliver Cromwell had stayed at the inn. The property in appearance was little different to other houses nearby and unlisted. Most inland rural village houses in Spain will not meet or I would guess capable of being brought up these new standards but they will not be of historic interest. Of course they are of interest as pretty white villages for tourists to visit which the Spanish tourist board like to push for tourism. Not sure if they are flattened and replaced with new builds or left to go derelict they will have the same charm for tourism.

There are different criteria for Grade 1 and Grade 2 listing in the UK and different buildings might have been listed for different (non-overlapping) reasons, so one building may have been listed for a link to a famous person or event, and another have no specific historic association.

That said, in any case, a building older than 1700 that contains significant original material, is likely to be listed irrespective of any specific historic significance, other than the age of the buiilding/ remaining structure and materials. And most buildings built between 1700 and 1840 are also likely to qualify for Grade 2 listing for no other reason than that are both old and mostly original.

Our old house had been modernised yes but it did still have many original features inside . It had originally been thatched I believe up to 1800s . The house and it's history is mentioned in a couple of historical written articles on the village including council literature. I can assure you it was not listed. Anyway it's going off topic I mentioned as a point re older properties probably being listed certainly not the case re all older properties in the UK . Maybe they can make some exemption re some of the white villages within Spain ? I wasn't implying our old house should have been listed because "allegedly Oliver Cromwell stayed in it" as he's alleged to have stayed many places, that was an aside and the information and plaque came about because the it had been the outcome of a local historical society investigation ,The point I was making was not all old houses are granted listed status there is usually a good reason for it being listed. It could be because of famous person status but more usually architectural features or method of building peculiarities to a specific time or region etc.

Just been looking on Idealista and almost all of the properties of interest to me, when we come to move either have no rating, are waiting to be rated or are F or G.
Some of these are actually pretty modern looking and one with an E has solar already installed.

I found this which is worrying.

​​​​​​Potential Costs:
Be prepared for potential renovation costs, as a large percentage of older Spanish homes (over 80%) are expected to require upgrades to meet future energy efficiency standards by 2030

Also as to 'protected'
​​​​​​While the EPC ruling aims for broad application, Spain's new rules will have some exceptions, including for small isolated properties under 50m², officially protected buildings (monuments, historic sites), and properties bought for complete demolition or extensive renovation. Properties used for less than four months a year or those with a rental contract for less than four months are also generally exempt. However, it's essential to consult with a lawyer to confirm if these exceptions apply to your specific rural or village property, as penalties may apply for non-compliance.

Oh well we will just have to bring our moving plans forwards to 2027 and then leave the kids the hassle of selling it on once we are gone.

I assume this will have a knock-on effect with the 'equity release' schemes that are beginning to a thing here now. Again that was something we pondered on, when we got old and could take the money in the property and gift it to the kids.

Although Equity Release is legaly possible in Spain it is almost impossible to arrange. I spoke to a specialist morgage broken about it and he said that in the last two years he has found it impossible to find a willing lender.

Any schemes that do exist are usually complex investment based systems whose terms do not favour the owners.

As for the EPC rules, it would collapse the housing market as the majority of apartments are rented and when the landlord is refused permission to let it the tenants will have to leave creating an immense problem, far worse than climate change could achieve - hopefully common sense and pragmatism will prevail.

As for the EPC rules, it would collapse the housing market as the majority of apartments are rented and when the landlord is refused permission to let it the tenants will have to leave creating an immense problem, far worse than climate change could achieve - hopefully common sense and pragmatism will prevail.


I think you are correct, the same has happened in the U.K., a property will shortly have to be a C rating to rent it out, but the government is always suggesting a shake up of the rules, which could make a C now a D next week, in other words they all keep moving the goal posts, so many pragmatic landlords have left the field (coupled with the renters reform act). It is causing a huge shortage in the private rental property and rents are going through the roof.

If this happens in Spain I agree it will collapse the market, and I didn’t realise from an earlier poster that a relatively new apartment from 2004 would command such a poor EPC rating, that is shocking and would really create a lot of issues in the future for a lot of people.

My personal apartment which was built in the 1990s is very efficient, it costs little to run, I hardly ever need to heat it but as an EPC rating it is probably an E, and as another poster points out how could I ever improve it? In a block of similar apartments! Maybe this will become a community issue with water heating solar panels being retro fitted! The cost would be immense.

I think the whole energy efficiency thing, which is obviously an advance in one way, is detrimental to the lives of the citizens of countries that pursue it. The u.K. being one of them!

safe as houses is becoming an outdated phrase, but where will it end!

Regards
Al

We've just had our house rated. It's about 100 years old, in the campo, we've done a lot to it including insulating the walls and roof, double glazing and solar electric and water.
Came out to be rated as a D.

Just through interest does anyone know how to find an Epc rating for a property in Spain? in the uk there is a national EPC register, is there a similar one in Spain?

regards
al

We bought our apartment (built in 1985) 8 years ago, it came with an EPC rating of E. That was without double glazing or solar power. We've made a few changes like double glazing the largest windows on the south facing wall, installing an awning which shades the whole south facing terrace installing all LED lighting and more energy efficient aircon and domestic appliances, but whether that would do enough to achieve a D rating I don't know. I agree with others that things like improving external insulation would be extremely costly and impossible to achieve without all owners in a community being willing to fund their share, which a great many people would not be in a position to do. But what I strongly suspect will happen is the same as I've experienced with getting electrical installation boletins - estate agents will have cosy relationships with "tame" people who do inspections and issue energy certificates, and will tell people wishing to sell not to worry, they will be able to obtain a certificate with the minumum rating for them. We had boletins issued by people who were certified to do so but had never even visited the property. And nobody will ever check the validity of the certificates.

Totally agree Lynn - I recently obtained one - the guy asked me a few questions over the phone and upon receipt of his fee I received the certificate.

My friend in Extremadura (published author, fluent in Spanish and generally 'switched on') asked me what it was all about having to have one now to sell as she had just sold a property in Extremadura and no one mentioned it including the notary.

Sorry, I missed "unlisted" buried in your lengthy list of attributes justifying why it would/ should be listed.

El Mundo featured this story two days ago, now they've corrected it with the following headline:

No, it's not true that the European Union will restrict the sale and rental of housing from 2030 onwards if the energy efficiency directive is not complied with (in Spanish)

Thanks for posting - good news!

That sounds like a u turn to me.
Obviously, there has been uproar amongst the social elite who own all the soon to be concomplant housing.

While I agree with the whole carbon thing in principle, trying to make a 300 year old house 'greener' would perhaps cause more greenhouse gases to be emitted than it would ever save. That would be a case for excempting it from upgrades.
New builds should be solar/grid have all led lighting, but you need to be careful if using the transformer versions as they waste power through heat generation, good double glazing and low watt underfloor heating as well as solar water heating.
I worked out it would cost around €1500 to rip the tiles from the flat and fit underfloor heating and then laminate flooring (about 87 m2) a couple of years ago. Ok that was a diy cost but it would make the flat warmer and cost very little to run.

I find it ridiculous that a country where (in our area) they boast of 300 days of sunnshine yet few houses have solar capture water heaters. The things were and are commonplace in the caribbean, even on the islands that would be considered poor. I remember seeing a setup in Barbados in 1980 and it fascinated me at the time.

I remember it being mandatory to have solar water heaters during the boom years around 20 years ago for new builds.
I think this was dropped nationally again but certain parts still make it mandatory today. Saying that, many regulations don't make sense and in one way they want people to be green and then force people in our area to build larger homes. There is now a new regulation that newly built houses have to be 100m2 but when the house is 100m2 you need two parking spaces and one isn't allowed.

With all the redundancies happening now, it looks like the crash is coming but who knows. At the moment it seems impossible to meet all the requirements due to rising costs.