We bought a finca and land in the Costa de la Luz. We did everything by the book - we thought - and were told we could add 30sqm to the finca and could not go 2 storeys high (the building is 9mx9m) and even met the Mayor, Town Planner and the Town Architect before signing anything.

We had a plan drawn up and sent them to the town planner - it was rejected - we went over and had an interview with them to be informed that we couldn't have the extra 30m2 but we could have the roof raised for a room to be put in upstairs at a later date. We submitted plans, again only to be rejected saying it was not in keeping with the rest of the town but we are using an architect from the town.

At one side of the property there is a 2 storey house and on the other side a 1 storey bungalow.
Can you help?

Jeanette Paddock & Bill Gisbourne

Des Sparkes answer

In your letter you say you were told that you could add 30sqm to the building, and that you met the Mayor, town planner and town architect before signing anything. Yet after you purchased the property the planning department of the Spanish local authority told you that you could not have the extra 30sqm.

This is a common problem for English buyers buying properties in Spain. The seller and estate agents often tell prospective buyers that extensions can be built. Of course this makes some properties appear to be a more attractive purchase, and appear better value, and so assists the sale of the property. Buyers should, of course, not rely on these statements. If the local Mayor, town planning officer or council architect make these statements it is understandable that some buyers believe that they can rely on them.

This is not the case. Council officials often give verbal answers to enquiries which may not always be correct, and so cannot be relied on prior to the purchase of a property. If the only reason you wish to buy the property is because you want to be able to build an extension, it is essential that you know in advance that it is legally possible under the local planning laws. Therefore, it is always advisable to instruct a Spanish lawyer who specialises in planning law to contact the local authority's planning department in advance of purchasing the property. Your Spanish planning lawyer will meet with the Council's planning officer and ask them the Council's requirements for an extension for the particular property in that particular area. Then the lawyer will check what the planning officer says against the actual Spanish planning law for that type of property in that area.

Land in Spain is categorised into different types or rates for planning law purposes. Ranging from protected land upon which nothing can be built, rural land where certain sizes of property can be built depending on the meterage of the land, and urban land again within which certain sizes of building can be built, but in greater density with less land around them. In this particular case, the property appears from the facts given to have already filled the full buildable square meterage for that size of building, on its particular size of plot under the local planning laws. Therefore the Council will not allow an extension to be built.

As your planning permission for your extension has been rejected, I would advise you to instruct a Spanish planning lawyer or Solicitor to draft you a report on the actual legal planning status of the property. That is the only way you will be able to independently check whether the planning department was correct in its decision to reject your application for an extension. If your planning lawyer does discover that you have the right to an extension under the law you can, of course, use that lawyer to re-apply for planning consent.