Investment approach
Land plus house: how the economics of such a project work
A land plus house project is five cost blocks and two places where the timeline breaks: the planning status of the land and the licence. The only real reference on the land side is the Sitges project.
The economics of a land plus house project are five blocks: land with conveyancing, design and visado, licence and municipal charges, construction works, and the exit with its selling costs. Time in such a project costs no less than the budget, because the capital is tied up from the land purchase to the escritura (the notarial deed) with the buyer of the house. The only completed DNPI project with land where the figures can be checked is Sitges, and it ended with the sale of a plot with a licence rather than of a finished house.
Which blocks make up the project economics
| Block | What is counted in it | What sets the timing |
|---|---|---|
| Land with conveyancing | Price, transaction taxes, notary, registry, geology | Checking the land status and the bargaining |
| Design and visado | Projecte bàsic and executiu, visado at the colegio | The architect's work and the approvals |
| Licence and charges | Llicència urbanística, municipal charges, ICIO | The municipality, not you |
| Works | Budget by chapters, supervision, insurance, connections | Builder, weather, finds on the plot |
| Exit | Commissions, document preparation, seller's taxes | The buyer and the buyer's bank |
The land status is checked before any deposit. The plans are public: they are consulted at the ayuntamiento and in the Registre urbanístic de Catalunya, and the certificate on a plot's regime is issued within a month of the request (art. 103 Llei d'urbanisme). A new building requires a prior licence, llicència urbanística (art. 187).
If the land is not yet a solar, urbanización is added: the works that turn land into a building plot, that is road, water supply, sewerage, electricity, lighting and a pedestrian zone (art. 27 and 29 Llei d'urbanisme). In sòl urbà no consolidat a 10% transfer of aprofitamiento and a share of the whole sector's costs are added to that. Land classes are covered in the article on urbanizable and consolidado, and the owner's obligations in the article on urbanización.
What the Sitges project shows
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Land purchase | 509,250 € |
| Permits and licences | 20,000 € |
| Sale with the licence in place | 760,000 € |
| Difference before other costs | 230,750 € |
| Project term | 2 years |
The difference equals the sale price minus the purchase and the costs listed. Taxes, financing, conveyancing and other costs are not part of it: this is not net profit and not the investor's return. Past results do not guarantee future ones. Details on the project page and in the case study.
What these figures show above all: the permits were a small share of the budget, and the result came from the change in the plot's status. No house was built, so the proportion cannot be carried over to a project with construction. Sitges has a POUM in force, published and effective from 24 May 2006 (Ajuntament de Sitges), and part of the municipality's territory falls within a natural park together with Sant Pere de Ribes (Diputació de Barcelona). That explains why the value of a plot with and without a licence differs: the comparison is covered separately.
Where the timeline breaks in such a project
Two places. First, the land status: if the plot is not a solar, urbanización with its own procedures is added to the schedule. Second, the licence: it is issued by the municipality, and the applicant can do almost nothing about the calendar. After that the construction and the exit hold the timing. How a buffer for the permits is built in is described in the article on the risk of delay.
If the project uses credit, the price of money is added: the 12-month Euribor in September 2026 was 3.247% (Banco de España, published 1 October 2026). Your rate will be different.
How to calculate the economics in advance
Worked example, not a forecast. The round numbers are taken for the arithmetic and are not a market reference.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Land | 600,000 € |
| Purchase taxes and conveyancing | 72,000 € |
| Design, visado, supervision | 70,000 € |
| Licence and municipal charges | 40,000 € |
| Construction works per the budget | 700,000 € |
| Holding and contingency over the project term | 90,000 € |
| Selling costs | 80,000 € |
| Total costs | 1.652 M€ |
| Sale of the house | 1.9 M€ |
| Balance before profit tax | 248,000 € |
Assumptions: purchase taxes and conveyancing at 12% of the land price, selling costs around 4% of the house price. ITP (transfer tax on second-hand property) in Catalonia runs on a progressive scale of 10–13%, and for a buyer with gran tenedor status (a large-scale property holder) the rate is 20% (ATC); in a transaction with IVA (Spanish value added tax) the calculation is different, and there AJD (stamp duty on notarial documents) at 1.5% on a first transfer and 3.5% where the IVA exemption is waived is added (ATC guide). If the exit price turns out to be 1.75 M€, the balance shrinks to roughly 104,000 €: a 150,000 € fall in price eats more than half the result.
For the works budget there is no single public price per metre. The nearest official figure is the Mòdul Bàsic, which Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya set at 677 € for 2026, up 4.73% and in force from 1 January 2026 (COAC). This is a base for reference budgets with coefficients by building type, not a price per square metre of construction.
Who such a project does not suit
Anyone who wants a fixed payment and a clear repayment date: the result appears only at the exit, and the term depends on the municipality and on the buyer. Anyone with no reserve above the budget: in a project with land there are usually more finds than in a flat refurbishment. And anyone counting on a small cheque: DNPI projects with land start from 1 M€, whole buildings from 10 M€.
Your own scenario can be worked out line by line in the investor calculator, and the approach to land projects is described on the land strategy page.
Questions and answers
Which is better: selling the plot with a licence or finishing the house?
These are two different projects in term, budget and buyer pool. In Sitges the exit was made on the sale of a plot with a licence at 760,000 € against a purchase at 509,250 € and 20,000 € on permits; that is the difference before other costs, not the investor's profit.
What do permits and a house licence cost?
There is no single figure: charges and ICIO are set by the municipality's ordenanza fiscal, and the design cost depends on the asset. In the Sitges project permits and licences cost 20,000 €, and that is the figure for one plot, not a norm.
How do you find out whether you can build on a plot?
Request the planning regime certificate from the ayuntamiento: under art. 103 Llei d'urbanisme it is issued within a month. The plans are also available in the Registre urbanístic de Catalunya. Conclusions on your plot are drawn by an abogado together with an architect.
What are the terms of participation for a DNPI investor?
DNPI's fee is 50% of project profit; the other half stays with the investor. If the investor's return over the whole project after the split is below the contractual 10%, DNPI pays compensation out of its own fee. This is a return for the project, not an annual rate; the terms, the calculation base and the limits are set by the contract of the specific project; this is not a guarantee that capital will be preserved.
