To begin by knowing the habitability conditions of a dwelling, we should know what this concept refers to. When we talk about the habitability conditions of a dwelling, we refer to the technical characteristics, quality, application and sense that a building, dwelling, etc., should have.
This is a fundamental aspect when choosing a home and is legally obligatory and required for a property to have residential status.
What are the habitability conditions of a dwelling?
The habitability considerations dictated by each Autonomous Community must be taken into account, as each of these will have different variations. Let us look at the main habitability conditions that a dwelling must meet:
- Energy saving and sustainability: In order to be habitable, a house must comply with energy efficiency regulations. To this end, all owners must have an energy efficiency certificate, which you can obtain with the help of our architects in Gandía.
- Occupancy and habitability: For a private dwelling to be habitable, it must have an area of at least 36m2. This 36 metres includes the living-dining room, kitchen and bathroom.
- The façade: A dwelling is habitable when its façade is open to the outside, allowing light and ventilation.
- Compartmentalisation: The compartmentalisation of the house is relatively free, because we will have to take into account that the bathrooms must be independent and that the rooms can also be made independent. There are requirements such as that no bathroom can have access to other rooms and that no space in the house can serve as access to a room.
Other conditions of habitability that must always be taken into account
- Height: A habitable dwelling must have a minimum height between floor and ceiling of 2.50 metres. For bathrooms, kitchens and circulation spaces the distance between the ceiling and the floor must be at least 2.20 metres.
- Room size: The room may not measure less than 6m2
- Accessibility: Doors with access to internal areas must be at least 0.70 metres wide and 2 metres high. If there are two storeys in the dwelling, stairs should be 0.90 metres wide with a 0.90 metre high handrail.
- Storage spaces: Storage spaces in rooms should be 0.60 metres deep, 1 metre long and 2.20 metres high.
- Lighting and ventilation: Common spaces and rooms must have direct, natural lighting and ventilation from the outside. Windows must have a minimum surface area of ⅛ of their useful surface area. Bathrooms: A minimum of one toilet must be provided in dwellings with 3 rooms, as well as a shower tray or bathtub and a washbasin. If there are 4 or more rooms, there must be at least 2 WCs, two washbasins and a shower tray or bathtub.
- Clothesline: This aspect must also be taken into account among the habitability conditions of a dwelling and, with the exception of the impossibility set out in municipal ordinances, a dwelling must have a ventilated space for hanging out clothes, and this space must not be visible from public spaces.
- Supplies: The dwelling to be considered habitable, must have hot and cold water service, with electricity and water drainage. It must also have bathrooms, a kitchen with drainage, smoke extraction and cooking equipment. A laundry room is also a requirement, as well as an electronic system that allows the opening of the building’s door and access to telecommunications services.
In order to have the certificate of habitability, all these conditions of habitability must be fulfilled, as these are the minimum conditions that all housing should have for use and decent housing.