aspainwreck

I've a friend who wants to buy a portion of my surrounding land and put a wooden cabin on it. Is this possible or what legal hurdles will we face?

Dick Dasterdly

It may well be possible to do it,but as I understand it a wood cabin has no more rights than a caravan in Spain, and is not looked on as a permanent construction,therefore the authorities can come along at any time they choose and order its removal.
No doubt there are others with a better understanding of the finer points of the law who will be along to give you more detailed advice.

snikpoh

If it is to be considered to be more than a caravan, then he needs to have at least 10000m2 of land.

Also, there are major issues if the land is rural.

JLFS

Also to become 2 seperate plots instead of one, access could be another problem if you are selling land for a dwelling.
I should think it would need to have its own access from the road without crossing your land and your land would also have to have access without encroaching on the other plot of land that you are thinking of selling.

I speak as the owner of several polts of useless land, well good only for growing potatoes.

Some of these plots are only small and not big enough for a house to be built, but even the ones that are big enough, it would be impossible due to lack of access from the road,

Meaning that to reach my "house" I would have to cross land that does not belong to me.

cricketman

My OH and her family have lots of these little plots across Asturias as well, through centuries of inheritance. Like you say, only good for growing vegetables, as pastor for animals or collecting nuts off the trees - which is what they have always been used for.

JLFS

Quite a lot of ours has trees, so the fallen wood is collected, another thing is to actually find the piece of land amongst the others.

Usually there are no borders to mark the plots, any fences or wall that were boundaries years ago, maybe still there, but as the land has since then been divided into smaller plots, it is impossible to know what is what.

O course a few of the oldies, know every inch like the back of their hand, but as they are dying off that source of information will soon be gone.

Most of the "inheretees" (is that a word, I want to say herederos) dont care what happens, they dont work the land or in our case, dont even visist it, and cannot sell it.

In the past other people would have looked after it, very fertile in Galicia, ( that region of Spain was know as the "pantry" of Spain during the SC war) and grew food for themselves on it, but most of the people who were interested in in doing that are either too old or dead.

It does seem such a waste, to think it was a way of life and the generations that left this land to us, thought that they were leaving a lasting inheritance, it is quite sad really.

In an ideal world, I would be able to pack up these fertile plots, send them to a poor drought riddled country and let them feed the village people, instead of leaving them unproductive.

HBG

I'm not normally a facetious person, but I can't resist commenting on what's been referred to as 'useless' land. My local mayor bought two plots of such useless land a few years ago for 140,000 Euros, got planning permission to build houses on them, and sold them for five million Euros. I've got that slightly wrong, he didn't buy the plots, his wife did.

If you've got friends in the right places, there's no such thing as useless land.

JLFS

Quote:

Originally Posted by HBG

I'm not normally a facetious person, but I can't resist commenting on what's been referred to as 'useless' land. My local mayor bought two plots of such useless land a few years ago for 140,000 Euros, got planning permission to build houses on them, and sold them for five million Euros. I've got that slightly wrong, he didn't buy the plots, his wife did.

If you've got friends in the right places, there's no such thing as useless land

I udrestand what you are saying, there have been a lot of cases of "useless" land being sold, and then becoming a "solar" for building.

What Cman and me are talking about is truly "useless land", unless you are grwong stuff.

cricketman

Yes and there isnt as much illegal building in the North as there is in the South.

Plus people really dont want to live in the mountainous regions of Asturias, it is incredibly remote, so it wouldnt be worth building on. There are loads of old buildings lying derelict as it is.

My OH's parents always said the countryfolk have always lived in absolutely poverty but in absolute wealth at the same time in Asturias. When they were growing up their families never used money, but lived off what their plots grew and anything left over was used to barter for clothes and sugar. They said noone was ever hungry, but they didnt have things like electricity!

This was in the 1950s, almost noone lives like this anymore which is why the land goes to waste. People would rather live in a comfortable small flat in the city.

JLFS

A very normal way of life for most country folk, now unfortuntely a lot of these people never paid into the SS, as they did not have "jobs" even though they worked very hard, and as you say had food and shelter in plenty, but no "cash".

They thought their way of life would continue throught the generations, but it is not so, but now they have not "cotizado" into their pension, and have to rely on a "non-contributory one", which is a pittance.

A lot of these are spinsters who never married because they stayed home to look after their aged parents, they manage, but som still have to rely on generators and have open fires.

A lot of these hardy folk are still keeping the village alive, but only just, lack of facilities are becoming more of a problem as they get older, but they could never leave their way of life.

In the UK these villages would be worth a fortune, the houses would sell for huge amounts, because they are not really far from big towns or cities.

The commuters would snap them up.

cricketman

Yep, there are some villages only 10-15mins from Oviedo like this.

However, the ones my OH's parents lived in are a good hour from any city. Absolutely beautiful, but a bit of a journey out there via windy mountain roads.

It all depends on the region, the Basque country is much richer than Galicia and parts of Asturias, we have a friend who lives in a lovely village 30 mins from San Sebastian and the houses there are all 300-500k.

Also, there is a neighbourhood close to Gijon (Somió) where all the houses are 600k plus. But if you go in the other direction they are all much cheaper. This is actually where we got married. We had lots of English people come over and they were asking about the house prices becuase they loved the area. When we said the houses were around a million euros, they couldnt believe it!

jdr

That is what the guy on TV thought, but cos he had put it on concrete it was classed permanent and he got a 30'000€ fine for no licence etc.

jay01

I have just moved into a rented house in Alhaurin el Grande and although I have an access gate it is shared with the house a joining mine, he has right of way infront of my house but must park within his gates and I am not able to park on the drive but pull it into under the sun bay.

We have had words with regards to him leaving my gate wide open while shutting his as it is the only way for friends and family of his to get access and there is no bell, this has been referred back to my landlord to deal with.

I do not understand what you were saying about not crossing your land etc, it seems to me that any problem can be resolved given enough money and connection.

JLFS

I suppose that the same rules apply in the UKa bout crossing land, If a plot is to be sold and have electirc gas and sewerage supplies it must have access from the road, ( I cant imagine the utility companies digging up a neigbours garden to get through to the new dwelling, also even if an agreement takes place between the neighbours involved, they are storing up problems in the future, as supposedly the properties will still be there long after the owners are dead, and it becomes a legal mess.

Usually the land with no access is not appropriate for building on.

Dick Dasterdly

Also to bear in mind is that any access point onto a road of any description has to be approved and normally checked out by the local police.
In my area there has to be clear view in both directions and 10 meters each side belonging to the property.
Other factors also incl. the width of the approach road which has to be adequate to handle any increase in traffic.