Contentar · Land and the ayuntamiento
Most container homes get stuck at the ayuntamiento (town hall), not on site.
Yes. A prefabricated house needs an express licence from the ayuntamiento, temporary or permanent. Silence does not count as a licence (TRLSRU, art. 11.4). The Supreme Court applied this to mobile homes in December 2024.
The route: planning information, basic and execution project by an architect, “visado” by the professional body, major works licence (with ICIO and fee), site management, final completion certificate and first occupation.
First occupation is a licence or a responsible declaration, depending on the community. In some, such as Cataluña, Illes Balears, Canarias, Extremadura and Navarra, you also need a “cédula de habitabilidad”.
Allow 6 to 12 months for the licence alone.
Spain has no single minimum area for a dwelling. It is set by each autonomous community’s habitability rules and, sometimes, by the municipal plan.
Minimum usable area of a new dwelling, checked in the regulations: Cataluña 36 m² (D 141/2012), País Vasco 35 m² (D 80/2022), Comunitat Valenciana 30 m² (Orden DC-09), Illes Balears about 30 m² (D 145/1997), Extremadura 25 m² (D 113/2009) and the city of Madrid 40 m² (General Plan).
Minimum ceiling height: 2.50 m in Cataluña, Comunitat Valenciana, Illes Balears, Galicia and Extremadura.
For the other communities we could not confirm the minimum in the regulations. Ask your ayuntamiento before you choose a plan.