Spanish Building regulations (or building code as it’s known in the US) had seen their most significant update in 2006, however, as they only applied to development that was granted planning permission after the new regulations came into force, and the market had already begun to slow we saw little sign of the new building regime until the market started to recover. But when the market did recover, this new legal framework, along with various changes that help protect a buyer’s investment changed the Spanish property market more than any factor that had come before. 

Buildings now required heat and sound insulation in walls, floors and roofs. We no longer see electric or gas boilers, instead new properties come with heat pumps, providing cheap, environmentally friendly hot water. Europeans will be familiar with Energy Performance Certificates and simply put, where older properties are mostly rated D or E,  today’s newbuilds are all rated A or B. In bigger buildings greater allowances are now made for disabled access and fire safety. 

But with the market being more competitive than it was during the last two generations, builders also have had to find other ways to compete. In the past most builders would leave plots untouched and often full of dirt and rubble,  We now see landscaping of gardens, patio areas, and a far greater emphasis on finishing quality. Underfloor heating, alarms, vented aircon installation and smart features are all commonplace. On top of the advances forced by legislation, technology has also advanced. Whereas older properties had smaller windows to keep out the hot sun and security grills over the windows to keep out thieves, modern, secure double glazed windows with UV and IR protection keep out heat and allow for bigger windows and much more natural light.

There were also other significant changes that occurred between the second and third generation of property in order to protect the buyer from fraud or failed development. All deposits and stage payments must now be protected by an insurance or guaranteed bank deposit, in fact this had been the case since 1968 but many builders ignored it. The new law provides better safeguards and bigger penalties for developers who failed to comply. The laws regarding construction guarantees were also strengthened requiring the builder to take out an insurance policy to protect the 10 year structural guarantee.

The significance of this is two fold. Not only is the buyer protected if the structural integrity of the building is insufficient, but we all know that insurers love taking our money but don’t like paying out. This means that the insurers have a vested interest in making sure that the building meets all required standards and will inspect the building at key points in its construction.  

I will discuss this in more detail later when we look at the process of buying a new build property in more detail. Finally, this third generation of property is aesthetically very different to those that came before. While the boom that came before was largely driven by British and Irish buyers, we now see large numbers of buyers coming from Scandinavia, Holland and Belgium. This is reflected in much more modern, minimalist designs that target buyers from those markets.