# Renovating a masia and building an almacen



## zx10r-Al (Apr 8, 2013)

We're looking into buying a finca with a masia. In the short-term, we would like to put a touring caravan on the land for us to live in whilst renovating the masia. Once renovated, we're not sure whether the masia could be lived in permanently or whether it could only be a holiday home to rent out? We know you can't legally live in an almacen, but whats the legal standing regarding a masia?

And if we had to keep the masia for holiday rentals, could we reside on our land in the caravan in-between the odd week spent working in the UK?

We would also like to build an almacen in order to store things (given how compact masias and caravans are), are there rules regarding what size an almacen can be depending upon the amount of land you are building on? Does anyone know what a 50m2 almacen would cost to build?

The long-term plan is to turn the masia into an eco-tourist rental once we can buy another property in a couple of years time.

Thanks


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

zx10r-Al said:


> We're looking into buying a finca with a masia. In the short-term, we would like to put a touring caravan on the land for us to live in whilst renovating the masia. Once renovated, we're not sure whether the masia could be lived in permanently or whether it could only be a holiday home to rent out? We know you can't legally live in an almacen, but whats the legal standing regarding a masia?
> 
> And if we had to keep the masia for holiday rentals, could we reside on our land in the caravan in-between the odd week spent working in the UK?
> 
> ...


the only way to find out for sure about what you can do with _any _plot of land/property, is to speak to the planning dept at the local ayuntamiento - this kind of thing is hyper-local & subject to local rules.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

It used to be 550€/m2 for construction , regardless of what was being built. In these economic times I'd expect it to be far cheaper.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I had always understood masias to be rather large buildings with the lower floor given over to storage (or livestock). So there shouldn't be a problem with living in the top part of a masia and using the bottom part as an almacen, since that would have been its original purpose anyway.


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## zx10r-Al (Apr 8, 2013)

Thanks for the replies. I thought that a masia was a temporary place to stay whilst tending to the land, so wondered about the legalities of either living in one all the time, or renting it out to people who technically aren't associated with or working the land. Like so many people, we don't want to invest into an idea or project and then be told we can't do what we intend to.

The build costs for the almacen seem high, has anyone heard of any objections to people buying and using a deep-sea shipping container on their land for secure storage?


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

zx10r-Al said:


> Thanks for the replies. I thought that a masia was a temporary place to stay whilst tending to the land, so wondered about the legalities of either living in one all the time, or renting it out to people who technically aren't associated with or working the land. Like so many people, we don't want to invest into an idea or project and then be told we can't do what we intend to.
> 
> The build costs for the almacen seem high, has anyone heard of any objections to people buying and using a deep-sea shipping container on their land for secure storage?


As I said they never differentiated between building a house, garage or or outhouse for pool equipment . It was 550 /m2.
Shipping containers are used by many people without problems around here.
As are old railway goods vans,with & without wheels, Luton van bodies, etc.


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