Is My Overseas Property Legal? Building Permits, Occupancy Licences and Illegal Builds in Spain, Italy and Greece

Published on: June 18, 2026

A house can have a clean title in the Land Registry and still be a problem. Title tells you who owns the building. It does not tell you whether the building was allowed to exist in the first place, whether every room on the floor plan was authorised, or whether the swimming pool, the enclosed terrace and the guest annexe were ever signed off. Across much of southern Europe, a large share of the housing stock carries some kind of planning irregularity, and for a foreign buyer that gap between "owned" and "legal" is one of the most expensive things to miss.

This guide is general information for international property buyers, not legal advice. Planning law differs by country, region and even municipality, and it changes often. Before you commit to any purchase, confirm the current position for your specific property with a qualified, independent lawyer in the relevant country.

"Legal title" and "legal building" are two different things

When you buy abroad, two separate questions sit underneath the transaction. The first is ownership: does the seller hold good title, free of charges, as recorded in the Land Registry? The second, and the one most often overlooked, is planning and building legality: was the structure built under a valid permit, does what stands on the ground match the approved plans, and does it hold the certificate that says it is fit to be lived in?

A property can pass the first test and fail the second. You can become the undisputed legal owner of a building that the local authority considers wholly or partly unauthorised, with all the fines, utility problems, resale difficulties and, in the worst cases, demolition exposure that come with it. Paying local property tax does not fix this. A common seller line in Spain is that a house "must be legal because I pay the IBI council tax." That is a myth: paying tax does not prove planning compliance.

The mechanics differ by country, but the underlying due diligence is the same everywhere. You want to see, before you sign anything binding, the original building permit, every subsequent authorisation for extensions or changes, the document confirming the property is fit for habitation, and independent confirmation that the building on the ground actually matches all of the above.

Spain: the first occupation licence, and the rustic-land trap

In Spain, the key habitability document for a new or relatively modern home is the Licencia de Primera Ocupacion (LPO), the First Occupation Licence (sometimes handled today through a "Declaracion Responsable" sworn-statement route, depending on the municipality). It is issued by the town hall and confirms that the build complied with its building licence and meets habitability rules. In practice you often need it to connect mains utilities cleanly, to get a mortgage, and to register a tourist rental. After roughly ten years it is typically replaced by a habitation certificate (cedula or licencia de habitabilidad). Many older properties simply never had an LPO because, in some municipalities, one was not required when they were built, which is not automatically a problem but is something a lawyer should assess rather than wave through.

The bigger exposure is on rural land. During the construction boom of roughly 1995 to 2009, very large numbers of homes went up on rustic land (suelo no urbanizable) without proper building licences, especially in provinces such as Almeria, Malaga and Alicante. Regional data cited in Andalusian legislation suggested that, out of around 500,000 buildings on non-developable land in the region, a very large share were irregular. For some of these, the route to a recognised status is the AFO or DAFO certificate (Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenacion), an Andalusian regularisation tool for older irregular buildings that can no longer be demolished because the enforcement window has passed.

It is important to understand what an AFO does and does not do, because it is easy to oversell. As of writing in 2026, the position is broadly this:

• An AFO recognises that the building exists and typically allows utility connections, an entry in the Land Registry in many cases, and essential conservation and safety works.
• An AFO does not fully legalise the property in planning terms. It confirms a tolerated status, not full compliance.
• An AFO generally freezes the property as it is. You can renovate the interior and maintain the structure, but you usually cannot extend the footprint, add a floor or enlarge the pool.
• Typical qualifying conditions include that construction was completed several years earlier (commonly six or more), with no open enforcement or judicial proceedings, and that the land is not specially protected.

Specially protected rustic land is the genuine red zone. On certain protected categories, including some coastal-influence and environmental-protection land, enforcement is not always subject to the standard time limit, which means demolition can remain a real possibility regardless of how old the building is. The exact rules sit in regional planning law (in Andalusia, currently Ley 7/2021, known as LISTA) and differ across Spain's autonomous communities, so this is squarely a question for a local lawyer and an independent architect, not for the listing agent.

Italy: conformity, sanatoria, and why you should not wait for a condono

In Italy a property is considered compliant (conforme) when three things line up: the original building permit (permesso di costruire or older concessione), any later authorisations for modifications (CILA, SCIA or full permits), and the current cadastral floor plans. When they do not line up, an extra bathroom here, a repositioned kitchen, an enclosed balcony there, you may be looking at an abuso edilizio, a building irregularity. National statistics have long suggested that a meaningful share of Italian properties carry some unauthorised construction, with higher rates in parts of the south.

This matters at the deed stage. A conformity declaration is a mandatory attachment to both the preliminary contract (compromesso) and the final deed (rogito). Without the paperwork in order, the sale can stall, a mortgage can be refused, and the seller can face fines and, in serious cases, demolition orders. So Italian conformity is not a soft "nice to have"; it is wired into whether the transaction can complete at all.

There are two routes that buyers and sellers confuse, and the distinction is important:

• Sanatoria is an ordinary, ongoing administrative process to regularise work that needed a permit but was not properly filed. The catch is the "double conformity" requirement: the work generally has to comply with both today's rules and the rules in force when it was carried out. Many small changes turn out not to be regularisable for exactly this reason. Substantive abuses, such as building in a protected zone, exceeding permitted volume, breaching boundary distances, or changing agricultural land to residential use without authorisation, generally cannot be cured by sanatoria at all.
• Condono is something different: an extraordinary, time-limited amnesty law passed only at specific moments (historically 1985, 1994 and 2003). Do not buy on the assumption that a new condono will rescue an irregular property. As of writing in 2026 there is no general national building amnesty open in Italy, proposals to reopen the 2003 amnesty have circulated in budget debates without becoming law, and a separate measure has pushed municipalities to close out the still-pending applications from the historic amnesties. The honest planning advice is to treat the property on the basis of what can be regularised today, not on a hoped-for future law.

For a buyer, the practical step is to have an Italian technician (a geometra or architect) and a lawyer (notaio plus, where useful, an avvocato) check the permit history against the cadastral plans and the physical building before you sign the compromesso.

Greece: arbitrary constructions and the Building Identity

Greece carries a long legacy of unpermitted building, especially in rural areas and on the islands, going back decades. The current framework is Law 4495/2017 (which replaced earlier laws and has since been updated, notably by Law 5106/2024). It covers "arbitrary" constructions (afthaireta) carried out between the mid-1950s and July 2011, classifies them into categories by severity, and sets out how owners can regularise them by paying a single special fine calculated through the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) electronic platform.

Two points are decisive for a buyer:

1. Post-July-2011 major violations generally cannot be legalised. The most serious category of post-2011 construction is excluded from regularisation and can face demolition. Older, lesser violations from before that date are the ones the law is designed to absorb.
2. Since 2011 you generally cannot transfer or mortgage a property with undeclared illegal structures. A notary will typically require an engineer's certificate of legal status, a certificate of regularisation, or a valid Electronic Building Identity (Tautotita Ktiriou, mandatory for transfers since 2021) before a sale can proceed.

There is one moving part you should not take from a blog, including this one: the deadline for submitting older Category 1 to 4 constructions for legalisation has been set and then extended more than once, and a surcharge applies to recent submissions. Because the cut-off has shifted repeatedly, you must confirm the current deadline and the property's exact status with a licensed Greek civil engineer before relying on any date. The safe assumption is that nothing about timing is permanent.

Before you sign: a practical legality checklist

Wherever you are buying, the same independent checks protect you. Complete them before any binding deposit or arras agreement, not after.

• Get the permit history. Ask the town hall (or local equivalent) for the original building licence, any later authorisations for changes, and the occupancy or habitability document. In Spain also request a certificate confirming no recorded planning infraction.
• Commission an independent survey. Have a qualified local architect, geometra, or civil engineer physically inspect the property and confirm that what is built matches the approved plans, paying special attention to pools, terraces, extensions and outbuildings.
• Reconcile the records. Check that the physical building, the cadastre (tax map) and the Land Registry all describe the same property. Discrepancies, an extra room, a garage or an enclosed terrace that does not appear in the records, are a classic red flag.
• Check the land classification. Establish whether the land is urban, rustic, or specially protected, and what that means for legalisation and future works. Protected and coastal land carries the highest risk.
• Use independent professionals. Engage a lawyer who acts only for you, with no link to the seller or agent. In several markets this is the single most effective protection a foreign buyer can buy.
• Price the fix, and hold the funds. If an irregularity can be regularised, get a written cost estimate (regularisation in Spain can run well into five figures, for example), and discuss with your lawyer whether to retain part of the purchase price until it is resolved.

This guide pairs closely with our deep dives on the rural land traps of access, water and boundaries, on the property inspection gap abroad, and on how land registries and cadastres really protect title.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a mortgage on a property with planning issues?
Often it is harder, and sometimes impossible. Lenders in these markets increasingly check planning and habitability status, and many will decline or reduce lending on irregular or rustic properties, or insist on a recognised status first. Speak to a mortgage broker who knows the specific country before you assume financing is available.

Does a regularisation certificate make the property "fully legal"?
Not always. Some tools (such as Spain's AFO) confirm a tolerated status rather than full compliance, and they typically restrict future extensions. A first occupation licence or full permit is a higher standard. Ask your lawyer to explain exactly which status the property holds and what it allows.

The seller says everyone in the area has the same paperwork. Is that reassuring?
No. The fact that irregularities are common in a region does not make any individual property safe, and it does not bind the authorities. Each property is assessed on its own facts.

What is the worst-case outcome?
It varies by jurisdiction, but on certain protected land the worst case can include fines, an inability to connect utilities cleanly, difficulty reselling, and in some cases demolition exposure. This is precisely why pre-purchase legal and technical due diligence matters more here than the cosmetic condition of the house.

How to protect yourself

The single most useful habit when buying abroad is to separate the romance of the property from the paperwork behind it, and to put a genuinely independent professional team between you and the contract before you are emotionally or financially committed. A lawyer acting only for you, plus an independent architect or engineer who physically inspects the building, will catch the issues that a glossy listing and a friendly seller never will.

JanusHermes is a cross-border property information and listing platform. We help international buyers understand the questions to ask in each market, but we are not a law firm or a tax adviser and we do not provide legal or tax advice. For any specific property, the right next step is your own qualified, independent professional in the relevant country. Explore listings and country-level intelligence across 50+ markets on JanusHermes.

Disclaimer. This article is provided for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, planning, or financial advice, nor does it create any professional or advisory relationship. Property and planning law differs significantly by country, region and municipality, and changes frequently; deadlines, certificates, fines and procedures described here were believed accurate as of writing in 2026 but may since have changed. Nothing here should be relied upon for any specific property or transaction. Always carry out independent due diligence and obtain advice from a suitably qualified, independent professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction before acting. JanusHermes is a property information and listing platform, not a legal, tax or advisory firm, and accepts no liability for any action taken in reliance on this content.