Can I extend a country house on rustic land?

Sometimes, and often by less than buyers expect. It depends on the town plan, the size of the land and whether the existing house is legal. A house built or enlarged without a licence cannot be reformed or extended while the breach remains. We check this before you make an offer, and an independent lawyer should confirm it for your case.

Can I build a new house on a finca?

Only where the town plan allows it, and then by exception. Valencian law requires at least one hectare of land per house and lets the building cover no more than 2% of it, so many fincas are too small. We check the classification and the plan before you visit, and the town hall can confirm them in writing.

Can you estimate the renovation before I buy?

Yes. We assess the work before you commit, then plan and manage the renovation: the team, the contracts, the budget and the timeline.

Fincas and country houses for sale on the Costa Blanca North

Behind the coast, the land turns to vineyards, valleys and mountain slopes, and the planning rules change with it.

Fincas and country houses for sale on the Costa Blanca North, in the countryside behind Benissa, Teulada, Calpe, Jávea and nearby towns. Most stand on rustic land, where the rules for building are far stricter than in a residential area. Before you visit, we check what each house is on paper as well as on the ground.

5 properties for sale today, from €970,000 to €2,300,000, in Pueblo, zona residencial.

Where the country houses are

Each coastal town on this stretch has countryside behind it. Benissa is the clearest case: its old town stands about 200 metres above the sea, and its municipality of almost 70 square kilometres rises inland to the Sierra de Bèrnia, at nearly 1,200 metres. Many of its rural districts, the partidas, still carry names of Arabic origin. Inland Teulada is wine country, where the Moscatell grape is grown, and the valley of Les Sorts, a farming valley planted mainly with vines, has been a protected landscape since 2006. Behind Calpe and Jávea there are valleys and slopes of the same kind, and the Montgó above Jávea is a natural park. Country life here means space, quiet and a village nearby, with the car for almost everything. It also means more to look after: the land, the access road, often the water and the drains.

What rustic land allows

Most fincas stand on rustic land, suelo no urbanizable, and Valencian planning law treats a house there as the exception. A new family house is possible only where the town plan provides for it, on a plot of at least one hectare per house, with the building covering no more than 2% of the land and the rest kept natural or farmed. It must stand outside natural watercourses, and the owner pays for the water supply and the treatment of wastewater. Without a plan that allows more, a building may not rise above two floors. A house tied to a farming activity can be exempted from some of these limits, with a favourable report from the regional agriculture department. Extending an existing house depends on the plan and on whether the house itself is legal. This page explains how the rules work, and it is not legal advice: have an independent lawyer and the town hall confirm, in writing, what applies to the finca you want. Our guide to buying a building plot explains land classes in more detail.

Every building, checked on paper

Many fincas have grown over the decades: a house, then an extra room, a porch, a pool, a guest house. Each one needed its own permission. On rustic land, the law sets no time limit after which the town can no longer act against works built without one, and the passing of time never makes them legal. While the breach remains, such works cannot be reformed, extended or consolidated, and an order to restore the land can include demolition and the cutting of water and electricity supplies. Plans to regularise groups of houses on rustic land exist, but they can only cover buildings completely finished before 20 August 2014. So we compare every structure with its licence, the Catastro and the land registry before you make an offer. Water needs the same care. Many country houses rely on a well or a cistern and a septic system: a well must be declared to the river basin authority, and a septic system that lets water into the ground needs its authorisation. Read more in our guide to water and sewage.

What we check on every finca and country house.

The land classification, and what the town plan allows on it today.
Every building on the land, from the house to the pool and the sheds, against its licence, the Catastro and the land registry.
Water: mains, a well or a cistern, and whether the well has been declared to the river basin authority.
Wastewater: the septic system, its state and its authorisation.
Fire and flood: the distance to the forest, the cleared area around the house, and any watercourse crossing the land.

Fincas and country houses for sale today

Finca for sale in Calpe, with private pool. Finca in Calpe: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 320 m² built on a 13,000 m² plot. €1,400,000. Ref. 6645.
Finca for sale in zona residencial, Denia. Finca in zona residencial, Denia: 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 1,509 m² built on a 2,567 m² plot. €2,300,000. Ref. 04-748421.
Country house for sale in Pueblo, Benissa, with private pool. Country house in Pueblo, Benissa: 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 281 m² built on a 1,554 m² plot. €970,000. Ref. 04-875370.
Country house for sale in Pueblo, Benissa. Country house in Pueblo, Benissa: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 500 m² built on a 15,000 m² plot. €2,275,000. Ref. 04-981015.
Country house for sale in Pueblo, Benissa. Country house in Pueblo, Benissa: 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 500 m² built on a 15,000 m² plot. €2,275,000. Ref. 04-828968.

Questions we are asked

Can I extend a country house on rustic land?: Sometimes, and often by less than buyers expect. It depends on the town plan, the size of the land and whether the existing house is legal. A house built or enlarged without a licence cannot be reformed or extended while the breach remains. We check this before you make an offer, and an independent lawyer should confirm it for your case.
Can I build a new house on a finca?: Only where the town plan allows it, and then by exception. Valencian law requires at least one hectare of land per house and lets the building cover no more than 2% of it, so many fincas are too small. We check the classification and the plan before you visit, and the town hall can confirm them in writing.
Can you estimate the renovation before I buy?: Yes. We assess the work before you commit, then plan and manage the renovation: the team, the contracts, the budget and the timeline.