Reconstruct or Demolish? Rebuilding an Old Villa on the Costa Blanca

We are working on this question right now on more than one site: in 2026 we have 770 m² in reconstruction, including two villas and a restaurant. The choice always comes down to the same three things — what the planning rules allow today, what the existing structure can carry, and what the owner wants the finished building to be.

Two routes, two sets of paperwork

	Reconstruct	Demolish and rebuild
Permit route	Structural reform: declaración responsable with a certificate from an accredited body or professional college (TRLOTUP art. 233.2.a)	Demolition: declaración responsable with a certificate (art. 233.2.b), then a full licence for the new building (art. 232.b)
Planning rules applied	The existing building stays; the reform must comply with the plan	The new building must comply in full with the current plan
Floor area and height	Existing volume is kept	Limited to what the plan allows today
Foundations and frame	Kept, reinforced where needed	Removed and built again
Construction tax (ICIO)	4% of the cost of the works in Torrevieja and Orihuela, on either route

The volume trap

This is the point most owners do not know until an architect tells them. Many villas on this coast were built under older plans, or before today's rules on setbacks, height and buildable area. A house that no longer fits the current plan is described as fuera de ordenación (outside the plan). As a general rule, such a building can be kept and maintained, but once it is demolished its volume goes with it: the replacement has to follow the plan as it stands now.

In practice that can mean a replacement house with less floor area, one storey fewer, or pushed further from the boundary than the one it replaces — on a plot you bought precisely for what stood on it. Before anything is decided, ask the architect to compare the existing building with what the current plan would allow on that plot. That comparison alone often settles the question.

What the structural survey has to answer

Reconstruction is only an option if the frame is worth keeping. A proper survey answers:

• What the structure is — concrete frame, load-bearing walls, beam-and-block slabs — and in what condition: corrosion in reinforcement, cracking, damp, previous alterations.
• What the new design asks of it. Removing load-bearing walls for open-plan living, larger openings for full-height glazing, a new roof terrace or a pool on a slab all add load or remove support.
• How it will be reinforced — typically new steel beams and columns where walls come out, and new or strengthened slabs where loads increase.
• The foundations, especially on made ground or near the coast.

The survey is also what the certificate for the declaración responsable rests on, so it is not an optional extra — it is the first step of the permit.

What a reconstruction looks like on site

The order is almost always the same: strip the building back to its frame and slabs; prop it; cut in and weld the new steel where walls are removed; form new slabs and new brickwork; then build the house inside the reinforced shell — services, openings, insulation, finishes. Our villa reconstruction project page publishes the site photographs in that sequence, including the stages that are normally never shown.

Cost: what you save and what you do not

A new villa on the Costa Blanca in 2026 costs €1,800–2,600 per m² of built area depending on specification, before the plot, fees and licence; the full breakdown is in our villa construction cost guide. Reconstruction avoids the demolition itself, the removal of the rubble, and building new foundations and a new frame. It does not save the part of the budget owners usually care about most — glazing, kitchens, bathrooms, services and finishes cost the same whether the walls behind them are new or old.

We do not publish a single price per m² for reconstruction, because it depends almost entirely on what the survey finds: two villas of the same size can differ by a wide margin once the reinforcement is designed. A realistic figure comes after the survey, not before it.

When demolition is the right answer

• the survey shows the frame cannot be economically repaired or cannot carry the new design;
• the current plan allows as much or more than what stands now, so nothing is lost;
• the new layout is so different that very little of the existing frame would survive anyway.

Questions we get asked

Is it cheaper to renovate or demolish an old villa in Spain?

If the structure is sound, reconstruction is usually cheaper, because it avoids demolition, rubble removal, new foundations and a new frame. Finishes, glazing, kitchens and services cost the same either way. The decision depends on a structural survey and on what the current planning rules allow on the plot.

Do I need a licence to demolish a house in the Valencian Community?

Demolition goes by declaración responsable accompanied by a certificate from an accredited certification body or a professional college (TRLOTUP art. 233.2.b). Building the new house then needs a full building licence (art. 232.b) — two procedures, not one.

Can I rebuild the same size house after demolishing?

Only if the current plan allows that size. A building that no longer complies with today's plan — fuera de ordenación — can generally be kept, but a replacement must follow the plan as it stands, which can mean less floor area or height. Ask an architect to compare the two before deciding.

What does a villa reconstruction involve?

A structural survey, then stripping the building back to its frame, reinforcing it — usually with new steel beams and slabs where walls are removed or loads increase — and rebuilding the house inside the reinforced structure. Work on the structure goes by a certified declaración responsable.

Where to start

Send us the address, the cadastral reference if you have it, and photos of the property. The first answer — whether reconstruction is worth investigating at all — usually takes a site visit and a look at the plan. Our design and permissions service covers the survey, the comparison with the current plan and the certificate.

Permit routes: Decreto Legislativo 1/2021 (TRLOTUP), arts. 232 and 233, as amended by Ley 5/2026. ICIO: fiscal ordinances of Torrevieja and Orihuela. The rules on buildings outside the plan are applied by each municipality's planning instruments; this guide explains the general principle and is not advice on a specific plot.