Buying a house on rural land

Be aware of the infamous Valencia Land Grab Law (LRAU) of 1994. Introduced to prevent rural landowners standing in the way of necessary expansion, the law in Valencia was badly drafted and has been used to compel householders to either surrender part of their land or contribute towards local infrastructure. Your lawyer should ensure your planned property is not affected by the LRAU, but one method of avoiding problems is to buy in an urbanised area, either in a town or village or on a purpose built urbanisation. The LRAU only comes into effect when there is a need or wish to reclassify rural or coastal land as urban for development, usually due to lack of other available land. Homes built on land originally classified as urban are unaffected.