Outbuilding and workshops

Hi

Could you please help me with the legal requirements / planning applications etc for outbuildings orworkhops.

I recently read that in Spain planning permission is now very, very tough in rural Spain and that properies requiring renovation can only be rebuilt to the original foot print and that approval will not be given for a larger footprint.  Also that no one is allowed to build outbuildings at all.

When we purchase our property we would like to have a large workshop (much larger than a double garage ) and may be another outbuilding to house a tractor and other equipment for the land.

If we find the right property in every other respect, are we allowed to build a garage / outbuilding without planning permission.

Is there a limit on the size you can put up?

Is it easier to  gain approval using certain materials?

Or would it be very difficult / impossible to build these buildings, we plan to move to a rural location with land.

Any legal understandng / experience would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

We have 4 ha (10 acres) in la Vera, Extremadura. From our experience you need planning permission to build anything other than a small (eg 6m x 6m)  garage type structure without walls. We are only allowed one dwelling per plot, and the plot has to be at least 25000 sq m which entitles you to put up a house of about 200 sq m. I understand that for bona fide agricultural use one can probably get permission to build agricultural outbuildings in proportion to the size of the enterprise. Allow at least a year to get the permissions approved, as in our case it was Town Hall, then Mancomunidad, then Junta.

You would do well to get all your planning permissions in writing - and then go to your junta and check the documents are genuine - before buying. Insist on the seller fencing the entire property before you buy and then visit each neighbour and ask whether he is happy with the boundary. 

Check, check and check again your water supply. If the property has wells and, for example,  the seller tells you he gets 3000 litres a day, go with a submersible pump, empty the well, and then empty it again every hour and confirm that you are getting 125 l a time. 

Act in Haste, Repent at Leisure

Just like in the UK planning/building regs vary from place to place (even within Muncipalty boundaries) so ask at the planning dept of the town hall concerned