Short answer: five checks before paying a deposit
Before putting down a deposit on a plot, check five things: planning status and building parameters, access and utility connections, slope and ground, registered encumbrances, and the full cost of preparing the plot. Skip one and you may find that the house you want cannot be built there, or will cost considerably more.
In the province of Barcelona this matters even more. The Garraf, the hills above Castelldefels and the Maresme have plenty of sloping plots, in urbanizaciones next to woodland, on narrow streets. A sea view tells you nothing about where, or what, you can build.
Start with the house, not the plot
Before comparing plots, describe the house: number of bedrooms, guest area, parking spaces, pool, garden, one storey or two. That list turns into a minimum footprint and a footprint shape.
A large plot does not guarantee a usable footprint. Setbacks from boundaries, maximum site coverage, height and number of storeys can leave you a narrow strip in the middle. That is why the room programme should be defined before you start looking; it has its own article.
Planning status: what you are allowed to build
First, the land classification. An ordinary detached house needs urban land that qualifies as a buildable plot. On rural land, housing is heavily restricted, and the seller’s everyone builds here guarantees nothing.
Next, the parameters: permitted floor area, site coverage, height, number of storeys, setbacks from the street and neighbours, and sometimes requirements on materials and facade appearance. The ajuntament provides this information, in Catalonia often as a cèdula urbanística. Ask a technician to read it alongside your room programme and tell you whether the house fits.
Access, utilities and encumbrances
Check that the plot has access from a public road that a concrete mixer and a materials lorry can use. Then utilities: water, sewer or the need for a septic tank, electricity with enough capacity, telecoms. A connection point at the boundary and a network two hundred metres away are very different budgets.
Order a nota simple from the Registro de la Propiedad: it shows mortgages, easements and rights of way. Compare boundaries and area between the cadastre and the land registry; discrepancies are common and are resolved before buying, not after. In an urbanización, ask whether any outstanding infrastructure works could be charged to owners.
Slope, ground and woodland
The slope determines the volume of earthworks, retaining walls and the drive to the garage. The ground determines the type of foundation. A full geotechnical study is rarely commissioned before purchase, but a topographic survey and a site visit with a technician are worth it. We explain the difference in our article on topographic and geotechnical surveys.
In urbanizaciones next to woodland, wildfire prevention requirements apply and affect the garden and maintenance costs. The specific rules are confirmed with the ajuntament.
Compare total cost, not price per square metre
Two plots at the same price can lead to houses with very different costs. One has a flat platform and utilities at the fence. The other has a slope, retaining walls, spoil removal, a power line from a distant pole and a narrow street that large machinery cannot use.
When comparing, add to the plot price: earthworks, retaining walls, utility connections, site access, the project and permits. The exact scope becomes clear after surveys, but the order of magnitude is visible on the first visit.
How we help at this stage
Send us the cadastral reference, the seller’s documents and a description of the house you want to build. We visit the plot, look at access, slope, utilities and neighbouring buildings, and give you a list of confirmed facts and open questions for the technician. It is a basis for a decision, not a promise of planning permission.
BCN YARD builds on a full-cycle basis, like the private house with pool and solar panels completed between 2022 and 2024. We reply within an hour and work in Spanish and Russian.