Thinking of turning a shop or a ground-floor commercial unit into a home? Here is what a change of use from commercial to residential (cambio de uso) actually involves in Spain.
More and more buyers are converting commercial premises into flats. It appeals to people who want to live in the centre of town. It has also become one of the more profitable ways into the rental market.
Over the past four years, conversions of this kind have grown by 8,500%. But not every commercial unit can be converted, and that is where buyers tend to get caught out.
So here is what we check at Klic Arquitectos before anyone signs anything.
Requirements for a change of use from commercial to residential
Not every unit is suitable. Move in without the right consents and the property is not legally habitable. After an inspection, the town hall can open planning enforcement proceedings (expediente de disciplina urbanística) for improper use of the unit. That means a fine, and an order to stop using it as a home.
These are the boxes the unit has to tick first.
Planning compatibility
Start with a study of the unit and of the building it sits in. Can another dwelling be added here at all, or has the residential density set by the local plan (Plan General de Ordenación Municipal) already been used up? Every town hall writes its own plan. The answer in Málaga is not necessarily the answer in Torremolinos.
Then read the statutes of the residents’ association (estatutos de la comunidad de propietarios — roughly the articles and house rules of a UK block of flats). Some prohibit a change of use outright. If yours does, the conversation ends there.
And if you are buying an older unit in order to convert it, it is worth knowing what the structure can throw up: our article on what aluminosis is and how to spot it covers one of the defects we look for before anyone commits.
Habitability standards
Once the planning side stacks up, the next question is whether the unit meets habitability standards (normas de habitabilidad). These are the Spanish rules that define what counts as a home fit to live in.
They vary by region and by town hall. The usual sticking points are minimum floor area, minimum ceiling height, and direct ventilation and natural light. Light is normally the hard one. A deep unit with a single shop front and no patio has nowhere to bring daylight into the back rooms.
Steps for a change of use from commercial to residential
With all of that confirmed, you can begin the process that ends with the deed of change of use (escritura de cambio de uso) signed before a notary.
The change of use project
Start with an architect in Málaga and a report on whether the project is feasible at all. Before any work begins, the architect draws up and signs the change of use project itself. In Spain this is not a document an owner can submit alone. It has to comply with the Spanish building regulations (Código Técnico de la Edificación, or CTE) and with the local plan of the municipality.
Paying the fees
Once the project is lodged with the town hall, you pay the municipal fees for the licence (licencia de obras — planning permission and building control rolled into one document). That licence is what allows the work to start.
Registering the home
When the work is finished, the certificate of completion (Certificado Final de Obra) goes to the town hall. You are then granted the first occupation licence (licencia de primera ocupación). That is the document that confirms the property can legally be lived in.
The new home still has to be regularised in two separate records: the Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) and the cadastre (Catastro). Spain keeps them apart, and a change entered in one does not travel to the other. To do it, you go to a notary (notario) to sign the deed of change of use. Only then is the conversion fully legal.
That is the whole route: planning compatibility, habitability, project, licence, works, first occupation licence, notary, registers. Miss a step and you own a flat that is still legally a shop. That becomes a problem the day you try to sell it or let it.
If you would like to keep reading about architecture, refurbishment and homes on the Costa del Sol, carry on through our blog.
