Do you need planning permission to erect a Log Cabin in Elche

Hi,

We are planning to move to Elche, and have enough land for a couple of log cabins. Can anyone tell me what the rules are regarding planning permission, because Ive been told by a couple of estate agents that as long as it it "temporary" then you dont need permissions.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

If you need permission to erect a wall, paint your house, do major repairs, inside or out, I would expect you would need planning permission. There are lots of estate agents that will tell you any thing you want to hear just to get their commission on a sale. You need to ask at the local town halls to be sure.

You need to ask at the local town halls to be sure.

But even that is not for certain. There are a number of people who had planning permission to build, but whose property has now been, or is  under threat of being, demolished.

Good luck

Hi - I was very keen on building a log cabin for a while and looked into it carefully.  In my area, which is not too far from Elche, a log cabin is dealt with in the same way as a permanent house and you need planning permission.  You will also need to check that you are buying enough land to build on as, if it is rural land, you may need as much as 25,000m2 to build anything at all, and then you need to restrict the size of the building, including pool etc, to 2% of the land area.

Each town hall makes it´s own rules and it will also vary from plot to plot.  Take the exact details of your plot and a description of what you want to do with the land and go see the town hall.  Ask if there is anything you need to do, not just planning permission.  I had friends who asked if they needed planning permission to glaze in their terrace and the town hall said no.  So they did it and were then fined because they did not ask if they needed a licence, which they did need!

And Mr Kevin, there are also many decent estate agents who would not want their clients to have any problems with planning. Quite apart from the moral issue, we want our clients to recommend us in the future!

Claire, sorry if I offended you, it was not intended. I do aknowledge that there are a lot of decent agents out there.

We were lucky when we bought, our agent a very nice and honest lady who told all we needed to know and guided us throught the process and for a long time after we signed, she also told us about possible problems that may occurr in the future in this area, as far as her knowledge extended that is. Our agent has come out of the crisis still in business because she is so good.

But, I do know of people around here who were duped by bad agents, they are friends who are very unhappy and finding difficulies now because of the original sale was not handled well and they were informed at the time that all was correct.

You have stated that you are planning to move to Elche if this is a permanent move  then your log cabin is not going to be classed a temporary dwelling it will be a permanent home if you live in Spain more than 183 days you will be classed as a permanent resident of Spain I.E a Spanish citizen that says it all.