Many of the houses we sell are bought to be renovated: a village townhouse with its original floor tiles, an eighties villa crying out for light, a finca with an outbuilding to sort out. The renovation is often the best part of the project — and the part that drags on most if it isn't planned. This is what's worth knowing before you buy.
Licence or prior notice?
The Balearic planning law (Law 12/2017) distinguishes three cases. Very minor works on urban land with a budget under €3,000 need no prior procedure. Simple works that don't need a technical project — new floors, tiling or bathroom fittings, updating services inside — go through prior notice (comunicación previa): you file the paperwork with the town hall and can start. And anything that needs a project — touching the structure, extending, changing the façade or volume, building a pool — needs a building licence (licencia urbanística).
A large job cannot be split into several prior notices to avoid the licence: the town hall treats it as what it is.
Timings: the real calendar
A licence with a project first needs the architect's project and then the town-hall procedure, with reports that depend on each case. Between commissioning the project and being able to start work, several months can pass — more on rustic land or for protected buildings. If you are buying to renovate, build that time in from the start, including in your financing and moving plans.
What it costs besides the building work
- ICIO (tax on construction, installations and works): set by each town hall on the construction budget, up to a legal maximum of 4 %.
- The municipal licence fee.
- Professional fees: project and site management by the architect and the building surveyor (arquitecto técnico).
- A contingency, especially in old stone houses: setting aside 10–15 % of the budget is sensible.
Get at least three comparable quotes with itemised costs, and be wary of the cheapest if it doesn't say what it leaves out.
Old towns and listed houses
In the old towns of Santanyí and the villages of the municipality there are rules on façades, windows, colours, roofs and heights. Some houses are in the municipal heritage catalogue, with stricter protection on what can be changed. It's not an obstacle, but it changes the project and the budget: check it before you make an offer.
Rustic land: more rules, and a window to regularise
On rustic land (suelo rústico), extending or adding buildings is limited and depends on the land category, the plot and island and municipal rules. Before renovating — and before buying — you need to know which part of what is built is legal. For what isn't, Decree-law 3/2024 opened a three-year extraordinary legalisation procedure on rustic land: only for buildings whose infringement has already lapsed, with a payment to the town hall that rises from 10 % in the first year to 15 % in the third, plus energy or water-saving measures. The window closes in 2027 and nothing is automatic: a professional has to study each case.
At the end: paperwork up to date
A properly finished renovation ends with the completion certificate (certificado final de obra), an update in the Cadastre and, if the floor area or layout changes, the habitability certificate and the registration of the new build or extension in the deeds. These steps are easily forgotten and later block a sale or a mortgage.
The best renovation is the one you understand before signing the purchase: what can be done, how long it takes and what it really costs.
If you're thinking of buying to renovate, we'll put you in touch with local architects to look at the house before you make an offer. Knowing what can be done with it is part of its price.
