Does a container home need a licence?

Yes. A container home needs a licence from the ayuntamiento (town hall), even without foundations or when it is sold as “mobile”.

What the law says

The national land law requires an express act of the ayuntamiento for “the placing of prefabricated houses and similar installations, whether temporary or permanent”. The ayuntamiento’s silence does not count as a licence (TRLSRU, art. 11.4).

In December 2024 the Supreme Court applied that rule to a mobile home: it treated it as a prefabricated house, not a trailer, and required a planning licence for both temporary and permanent use. An activity licence, such as a campsite’s, does not replace it.

A new dwelling is a building under the Building Act (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación, LOE). It needs an architect’s project and has to meet the Technical Building Code (Código Técnico de la Edificación, CTE): structure, energy, health, fire and noise.

Step by step

Planning information. A planning enquiry, certificate or report from the ayuntamiento: land classification, minimum plot, site coverage, heights and uses. Before you buy the land.
Basic and execution project, by an architect. The basic project is enough to apply for the licence; the execution project is needed to start the works.
“Visado” (approval by the professional body) of the execution project (RD 1000/2010).
Major works licence. You pay the ICIO (up to 4% of the material execution cost) and the municipal fee.
Site management: works director and execution director.
Final completion certificate, with “visado”.
First occupation: a licence or a responsible declaration, depending on the community. In Madrid and Andalucía it is a responsible declaration.
“Cédula de habitabilidad” (habitability certificate), only in some communities. Confirmed in Cataluña, Illes Balears, Canarias, Extremadura and Navarra.
Certificates and connections: the authorised installer issues the electrical certificate. Without first occupation or the cédula, getting water and power connected is usually impossible.

How long it takes

The licence alone takes between 6 and 12 months, depending on the ayuntamiento, and sometimes more. Allow 9 to 18 months from the project to first occupation. That is our own estimate from those timescales, not an official figure.

The land decides

Urban land. You can build with a licence if you follow the plan: alignments, height, site coverage and, sometimes, design conditions.
Developable land. Only once the plan has been developed and the infrastructure built. For a single house, in practice, it does not work.
Rural or non-developable land. A home is forbidden as a rule. Some communities allow it as an exception, with a large minimum plot: the Comunitat Valenciana asks for at least 1 hectare and a maximum site coverage of 2%.
Protected land. You cannot build a home.

Building without a licence

Fines are set by each community: in Andalucía, €3,000 to €29,999 for serious offences, plus demolition.

On non-developable land, building without authorisation is a crime: 1 to 3 years in prison, a fine and disqualification (Criminal Code, art. 319.2). On protected land, 1 year and 6 months to 4 years (art. 319.1). The judge can order demolition at your own cost. Anyone building their own house is the developer, and criminal law applies to developers.

Ten-year insurance

If you build a single family home for your own use, it is not compulsory. If you sell it within 10 years, you will have to take it out for the remaining period, unless the buyer releases you in writing (LOE, second additional provision).

Where to start

Ask the ayuntamiento for the planning information for the plot. Rural is not urban.
Choose a plan with the area your community requires. To live in, plan for two 40 ft containers: the 2×40.
Hire an architect before you buy the container.

The Contentar guide explains the route through the ayuntamiento step by step.

Work out my cost See the Contentar guide · €19

General information. Not a substitute for your ayuntamiento, an architect or a lawyer.