Change of use: from commercial to residential, and from building to accommodation

This is one of the jobs with the most paperwork and the least room for error, because the result depends not only on the works but on what the rules allow. That is why we always start it on paper.

A shop or an office can be converted into a home if the zoning plan allows it and if the space can meet the conditions required of a dwelling. The order is always the same:

1. Planning feasibility: whether the municipal by-laws (ordenanza municipal) allow residential use on that floor and in that street.
2. Habitability conditions: a façade onto the street or onto a courtyard, natural light, ventilation, clear ceiling height and minimum floor area.
3. Licence: a technical design by registered professionals and the application at the town hall.
4. Works: layout, insulation against noise and damp, new services and finishes.
5. Title deed and registration: with the final documentation of the works, the new use is entered in the title deed and at the Land Registry.

An office or residential building can be converted into tourist accommodation. First of all, we check the use the zoning plan allows and whether the municipality has restricted or suspended new licences for tourist accommodation.

If the change is viable, the rest is a hotel project or an aparthotel project: new layout, accessibility, evacuation, services for each unit and the documentation to register the property as tourist accommodation (alta turística).

Tourism regulations change often and are not the same in every municipality. Before giving you a figure, we check the current situation with the town hall concerned.

When commercial premises become a home, what weighs most is not the works but the starting point. Premises with a wide frontage and a good ceiling height make a bright home; deep premises with a single narrow frontage may not make one at all.

The floor level matters too: many by-laws do not allow homes on the ground floor in certain streets, or impose additional conditions. And insulation against the street, against damp from the ground and against noise from the building is the part of the works you notice most afterwards.

In a building that is turned into accommodation, what decides is the staircase, the lift and the evacuation routes. If the circulation core cannot comply, the design changes a great deal or stops being viable.

That is why we do not give a figure without seeing the premises. After the visit and the planning feasibility check, we tell you whether the change is possible, how many homes will fit and what works are needed.

• The use the zoning plan allows on that plot and on that floor.
• Whether the property can meet the light, ventilation, height and floor area requirements of a home.
• The condition of the structure and of the building's main services.
• Accessibility and evacuation, if the new use is accommodation.
• What the title deed and the land registry note (nota simple) say about the current use.
• The utility connections: enough water, drainage and electricity for the new use.

With that check, you know whether the change is possible before you sign the purchase. A change of use that is not viable cannot be fixed with building work.

This text is for information only and is not legal advice. Every change of use depends on the municipality's zoning plan, on the property's status at the Land Registry and, where applicable, on the building's by-laws (estatutos de la comunidad). For the legal and registry side, consult your lawyer or your notary; we provide the technical side and the works.