Buying a flat to renovate: look past the furniture

Why look at the hidden parts first?

Kitchens, bathrooms and paint are what you notice at a viewing, and they are also the easiest things to change. What decides whether a renovation is straightforward or complicated is hidden: the age and condition of the wiring and pipes, any damp, how the flat connects to the building’s services and what the community is planning. Two flats with identical-looking kitchens can need completely different amounts of work.

A useful habit is to view the flat twice: once as a buyer, imagining yourself living there, and once as a builder, ignoring the décor entirely.

What should you check on the electrical side?

• The fuse board. Photograph it. Old fuses, few circuits or no residual-current device suggest the installation needs work.
• Earth. Two-pin sockets without earth contacts are a sign of an older installation.
• Surface cables and trunking added over the years, extension leads permanently in use.
• The certificate. Ask whether there is an electrical installation certificate (CIE or boletín). The CNMC, Spain’s energy regulator, states that the seller of a second-hand home should provide it, and that it can be required for some contract changes.

Our guide to the electrical certificate explains what it contains and when a new one may be needed.

What about water, waste and damp?

• Run the taps, hot and cold. Weak flow or brown water at first draw suggests old galvanised pipes.
• Look under sinks for the pipe material and for signs of past leaks.
• Flush and drain: slow drains or smells can point to waste problems.
• Check ceilings for stains, especially in the bathroom and under the bathroom of the flat above.
• Look at the base of walls and around windows for damp, flaking paint or black mould. Ask whether it has been painted over recently.

The guide to services in older apartments explains what each symptom usually means.

Can your planned layout actually be built?

If you are buying with a new layout in mind — an open kitchen, a second bathroom, two bedrooms turned into one — check its feasibility before signing. The questions are: which walls are partitions and which are structural; where the waste stack is and whether a new bathroom or kitchen can drain to it; whether there is enough height for a new floor build-up; and whether any change would affect the façade or shared elements.

Drawings from the original building, if the seller or the community has them, help. Anything that may be structural needs an architect or building engineer. Our layout guide covers the details.

What should you ask the community of owners?

An apartment comes with a building. Before buying, ask the seller or the administrator for:

• the community rules, including any limits on working hours and lift use during works;
• minutes of recent general meetings, which show disputes and planned works;
• any agreed special levies (derramas) for façade, roof, lift or stack works;
• whether the community has rules on holiday letting, if that is part of your plan.

Under Spain’s horizontal property law, an owner can modify the elements and installations of their flat as long as this does not affect the building’s safety, structure, exterior or other owners’ rights, and must inform the community’s representative beforehand. Works on shared elements need the community’s agreement.

Which paperwork and permits should you anticipate?

Interior renovation in Andalusia often requires filing a declaración responsable with the town hall rather than obtaining a full licence. Under the regional planning law, LISTA, this route covers, among others, minor works that do not require a technical project. Works affecting structure or the exterior need more. Each town hall sets out its own forms and requirements, so exact requirements are to be verified case by case.

We explain what is usually required for the scope you have in mind, but we do not process licences or draw up projects. Legal checks on the property itself — ownership, debts, planning status — are your lawyer’s job.

How can a contractor help before you sign?

We can look at photos of each room, the fuse board, the bathroom and kitchen, and the floor area, and tell you what the renovation would probably involve and what we would need to check in person. If access can be arranged, we can visit before you sign. What we give you is a contractor’s view of the work, not a survey, a valuation or legal advice.

Once you have the keys, our resale apartment page describes how we sort and sequence the work.

What should go on your viewing checklist?

Bring a phone and take more photos than you think you need. A short list that covers most of what matters:

1. the fuse board, close up, and the meter cupboard if the agent can open it;
2. every ceiling, especially in and under bathrooms;
3. under the kitchen and bathroom sinks;
4. window frames and the wall below each window;
5. the building’s entrance, lift and stairwell, which tell you how debris and materials will travel;
6. the flat’s orientation and which rooms get sun, which affects heating and damp;
7. any wall you would like to remove, from both sides.

Send those photos with the floor area, and we can tell you what we see.

Official sources

• CNMC – El boletín eléctrico: qué es y para qué sirve
• Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal (BOE, consolidated text)
• Ley 7/2021 (LISTA), arts. 137–138, as cited in a municipal minor-works declaración responsable form