Today, many ground floor and commercial stores are empty. Why? Ecommerce is causing physical businesses to change to this form of online sales. This could be your chance to convert a commercial property into your next apartment in Costa Blanca.

In many businesses it is no longer so profitable to have a physical place to attract customers and display products. Especially when talking about a start up. Therefore the number of commercial properties in Spain for rent or sale are increasing.

Ground floors and commercial premises have a lower price than the housing market, in many cases up to 30% less, so it is a new trend in the real estate market to transform these into houses.

Can you convert a commercial property into an apartment in Spain?

Converting a commercial space into a home is not an easy or quick task, as long as it complies with the requirements of health and accessibility.

Before launching ourselves to buy one of these stores, we have to inform ourselves that it meets all the requirements to be able to do it, since otherwise it could be an investment that could end up not being the type of real estate investment you really wanted.

How to convert a commercial property into a home in Spain:

First, consult the Local Urban Planning of the place and check in the Spanish Land Registry that the land is urban And check with the Local Council if there is a limitation of houses per hectare and make sure it is not exceeded.

Another important part are the habitability and health standards that are different in each Autonomous Community. This requires the facilities, proportions, dimensions that a home must have together with the minimum number of windows per square meter.

In some cases, it must adapt to the Technical Building Code in terms of accessibility and sanitation, making it possible for disabled people to enter through ramps or elevators and widening doors.

The final step to verify you could convert the commercial groundfloor into a house: think about your future neighbours. The building where it is placed has a community, check with them that the number of houses in the block is not limited and there is a consent of the community of neighbors, so you know they will accept your project before you star the whole investment. .

This aspects are fundamental when we talk about groundfloors since most of them are elongated and with little façade, so in this step the project can be complicated. But do not give up, this could be an opportunity and some people know that if you keep looking and you are patient, the right commercial properties which allows you to transform it into a home can appear in your favorite area. Leaving you with the extra cash to customised the groundfloor apartment to meet your needs.

When you then go for it and you buy the commercial property, legally you will then have to change the land use. This has to be done by a technical architect. Not in all parts of Spain is the same, for example here in Guardamar del Segura, the Valencian Community requests this certification.

With the municipal licenses and registering it as housing, we finish the process.

The expenses of this conversion without including the modifications and reforms that are needed and want to do, range between 300€ and 1500€.

Perhaps after reading this article about the requirements that you have to take into account when legally converting a commercial premises into an apartment, it seems a tedious task. Lean on us, we are Naranja Spain, real estate agency. We want to help you transform the house of your dreams into a reality.

The team of Naranja Spain, specialises in the sale and rental of homes and commercial properties in Guardamar del Segura, Torrevieja, La Mata, Ciudad Quesada and surroundings. In addition of having years of experience to be able give you real estate advice, we too count with a great team of architects and workers who will reform and qualify your home legally as if it were ours.

If you want, contact Naranja Spain by email or phone. And if you are near Guardamar, stop by our office, which is located in Guardamar centro, on Calle Lepanto, number 1