Do you want to purchase a plot of land within an urban area through a bank loan or cash, but you haven't received the Urban Planning Certificate from the seller? Find out that this is a defining document when it comes to land valuation.

What would it be like to buy a plot of land within a city to build a house, but find out that you cannot carry out the construction work because there is a gas pipeline under the land? Yes, it is an unpleasant situation, but one that can be avoided. How? By requesting the seller's Urban Planning Certificate.

The urban planning certificate is an information document, through which the local or county administrative authorities, as the case may be, require the builder to provide details regarding the legal, economic and technical regime of the land and existing constructions at the date of the request.

To better understand, imagine that you have started a new job, and like in any team, there are rules that you must know and respect. Well, the Urban Planning Certificate is the equivalent of the colleague who tells you about those rules, what you can and cannot do, to achieve your goals.

We will detail below what an Urban Planning Certificate includes and what its role is in the evaluation process.

Issued at the request of the builder, seller or future owner, the urban planning certificate contains the following information:

– the position of the construction to be executed;

– the height regime of the future construction;

– maximum values ​​for land use coefficient and land occupancy percentage.

In the evaluation process, the Urban Planning Certificate is of defining importance, especially when it comes to bank guarantees. Most banking institutions do not accept as collateral land for which urban planning certificates have not been issued. On the date of the evaluation, the applicant for the evaluation report must present to the evaluator, in addition to the basic documents – the Land Registry Extract, the Site and Boundary Plan, the property deed, other specific documents, depending on the type of property being evaluated (approvals, authorizations, etc.) – the valid Urban Planning Certificate.

The urban planning certificate may contain construction prohibitions/restrictions or other limitations, generated by a Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ), Land Use Percentage (POT), Land Use Coefficient (CUT), the existence of green space, etc.

And since the value of a land is influenced by its development potential, the Urban Planning Certificate becomes an indispensable tool from which data regarding the legal, technical and economic regime of the land can be retrieved.

      In other words, the information provided in the Urban Planning Certificate issued for a land represents the basis for the analysis of the best use within an appraisal report, defined as the probable, reasonable and legal use of a vacant land or a built property, which is physically possible, adequately substantiated, financially feasible and which determines the highest value.

     Our recommendation is that before purchasing a plot of land, you should ask the seller for a valid Urban Planning Certificate. For you, omitting this aspect may mean wasted time and money.