 Building your own property in Catalonia
December 2004
Buying a plot and building your own villa is less common
in Catalonia than in other parts of Spain for a simple
reason – there are fewer golf developments and urbanisations
geared up to offer overseas buyers this option. Because
there are fewer foreign buyers there are also fewer
architects and builders who can deal with overseas buyers
in English. More obstacles to going down this road mean
that fewer people do. All the same a small but growing
number of people do choose to do so every year. However
the number who do so will not grow rapidly because,
unlike in other parts of Spain, the supply of plots
on Golf developments and urbanisations that target foreign
buyers is not set to grow rapidly in Catalonia. Also
there are far fewer estate agents in Catalonia focusing
on overseas buyers. This means that the ‘channel’ for
overseas buyers is far less developed in Catalonia than
in other parts of Spain – another reason why the build
your own is less accessible to overseas buyers.
Nevertheless a small but growing number of overseas
buyers do buy a plot and build their own in Catalonia,
either on one of the excellent golf developments or
on one of the coastal urbanisations. Catalonia tends
to attract a different kind of buyer to the costas down
south. It offers more than just the beach and golf combo,
the countryside is more varied as are the seasons and
the summer heat is not as fierce. This attracts more
upmarket buyers with an interest in culture and architecture.
Catalonia has a great reputation for architecture –
a reputation that Barcelona certainly enhances – and
compared to for instance the Costas Sol and Blanca,
Catalonia offers a greater variety of highbrow architecture
and architects. Therefore if you want to build your
own property in Spain and you are interested in architecture
and design – if you value these things – then Catalonia
is increasingly recognised as the place to be. Talk
to anyone in the know about contemporary architecture
and they will tell you you have a much greater choice
in Catalonia.
The obvious advantage of build your own is that you
have great control over the design, layout and functionality
and end up with a property that is exactly to your tastes
and needs. Many properties on the market have surprising
design or functional faults – those that don’t tend
to get snapped up very quickly. Building your own with
a good architecture means you end up with a tailor-made
property and that is always more likely to be perfect
for you.
The problem is the headache that you might have to
go through in the design and build – can be a genuine
nightmare if you don’t have a good project manager on
the ground who speaks your language, understands your
needs, knows about planning permission and how to get
round the problems they cause, and most importantly
can manage the builders and get the build done on time
and budget. Many projects will overrun on both these
critical issues if great care is not taken.
Also when you build your own there is the risk that
you have difficulty articulating your ideas and turning
them into reality, working through architect and builders.
You might end up with something quite different to what
you had in mind. At least when you buy a ready built
property what you see is what you get.
If you have the time and resources there is no doubt
that designing and building your own property can be
one of the most satisfying and rewarding ways to buy
a property in Spain. From an investment point of view
it can also be interesting, as you won’t end up paying
a developers commission, which can reduce the cost to
you. However going down this route can cause you a great
deal of problems if things go wrong – problems you wouldn’t
have to face were you to buy a resale of newly built
property. The key to success is a good project manager
who looks after your interests, knows where the main
risks lie, solves problems for you and gets it done
more or less on time and budget.
© Mark Stucklin (Spanish Property Insight)
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