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Patio houses: two hundred and fifty square metres of lot and up to two families

Last reviewed: September 6, 2026 — VerifiedJunta de Planificación

In short

Rule 8.1.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 sets the parameters of patio houses in districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A. The figure that separates it from the terraced house is the lot: no less than two hundred and fifty square metres, against the terrace’s one hundred and fifty. The density also differs: one or two families on each lot, regardless of its size, while the terrace admits only one unit. The maximum occupation area is sixty-five per cent and the maximum gross floor area one hundred and thirty per cent, with the general condition that the floor area of any storey above the first may in no case exceed the maximum permitted occupation percentage. The yards are simple and all of the same measure: where the patio house provides vehicle parking spaces inside the lot or where a common parking area is provided, a front yard with a depth no less than three metres is required; a side yard with a width no less than three metres is required; and a rear yard with a depth no less than three metres. In the tourist districts the front yard shall additionally have a minimum of fifty per cent of its area planted. Projections may extend up to one metre into the required front and rear yards, provided they observe a separation of no less than one and a half metres from any side or rear boundary line. And the urbanisation works corresponding to the proposed project shall be carried out.

External link

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What is it?

It is Rule 8.1.3 of Chapter 8.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the chapter grouping terraced houses, patio houses, apartment houses and tiny houses. The rule applies in districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A and consists of four short sections: the general provision saying who considers the projects, the design parameter table, the projections rule and a section on other aspects. It is the shortest of the chapter’s four rules.

Who can do it?

The rule applies to patio-house projects in qualification districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A. The projects will be considered by OGPe, the Authorised Professional, the Junta Adjudicativa or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III. The requirement of a front yard of no less than three metres is stated in the regulation for the case where the patio house provides vehicle parking spaces inside the lot or where a common parking area is provided. And the fifty per cent of the front yard planted applies in what the table calls the R-T districts.

Requirements

Documents you need

Information pending verification.

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Where it applies and who evaluates it

    Rule 8.1.3 covers patio houses in districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A. Its general provision is one line: OGPe, the Authorised Professional, the Junta Adjudicativa or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III will consider projects for the constructions the rule indicates. And the parameters section adds a reference: every new construction must observe the table’s parameters and conform to Rule 8.1.1 of the same chapter, which in turn refers to Section 6.1.1.11 unless particular parameters are provided.

  2. Step 2: The two-hundred-and-fifty-metre lot

    The lot size shall be no less than two hundred and fifty square metres. It is the most visible difference from the terraced house, whose minimum is one hundred and fifty square metres. On width, the table asks on interior lots for a minimum lot width or frontage, for each unit, of no less than six metres. A note on the source: that same row adds that for dwelling units constituting the ends of terraced houses a minimum lot width or frontage of no less than eight and a half metres is required; the text reproduces there, word for word, the terraced-house table’s row, and the regulation does not explain what the ends of a terrace are doing in the patio house’s parameters. We publish the row as printed.

  3. Step 3: One or two families per lot

    The patio house’s population density is one or two families on each lot, regardless of its size. It is an important practical difference from the terraced house, whose density is one dwelling unit per lot. And as in the terrace, the lot’s size does not change the count: a thousand-square-metre lot still admits one or two families, no more.

  4. Step 4: Occupation and gross floor area

    The maximum occupation area is sixty-five per cent, five points more than the terraced house. The maximum gross floor area is one hundred and thirty per cent, twenty points less than the terrace. And the chapter’s general condition applies: the floor area of any storey above the first may in no case exceed the maximum permitted occupation percentage. In practice, the patio house allows covering more ground but building fewer total metres than the terrace.

  5. Step 5: The three three-metre yards

    The table resolves the yards with a single repeated figure. Where the patio house provides vehicle parking spaces inside the lot or where a common parking area is provided, a front yard with a depth no less than three metres is required. A side yard with a width no less than three metres is required. And a rear yard with a depth no less than three metres is required. A note on the source: unlike Rule 8.1.2, which does set six metres of front yard where there is no parking on the lot nor a common area, the patio-house table publishes no figure at all for that case; we publish none.

  6. Step 6: Planting in the tourist districts

    The table adds that the front yard in the R-T Districts shall have a minimum of fifty per cent of its area planted. A note on the source: the label "R-T" appears nowhere else in the chapter, and the districts the rule itself names in its heading are RT-I and RT-A. We reproduce the label as printed and do not reinterpret it.

  7. Step 7: Projections and urbanisation works

    Section 8.1.3.3 repeats the chapter’s formula: projections such as cornices, eaves, roofs and other architectural features may extend into the required yards or separations up to one metre within the required front and rear yards, provided they observe a separation of no less than one and a half metres from any side or rear boundary line of the lot. And Section 8.1.3.4 closes with two demands: the urbanisation works corresponding to the proposed project shall be carried out, and buildings or storeys of buildings occupied or used by a single dwelling shall have their rooms functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family.

Where to do it

Patio-house projects will be considered by OGPe, an Authorised Professional, the Junta Adjudicativa or an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III, according to each one’s scope, within the construction permit or Permiso Único process. The property’s qualification — R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I or RT-A — is read on the Planning Board’s qualification maps.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

The comparison with the terraced house is what most helps in deciding. The patio house asks for a bigger lot — two hundred and fifty square metres against one hundred and fifty — but admits one or two families per lot instead of a single unit. It covers more ground, sixty-five per cent against sixty, but gives fewer total building metres: one hundred and thirty per cent of gross floor area against one hundred and fifty. The yards are simpler: three metres in the front, three in the side and three in the rear, without the five-metre scale at the ends the terrace asks for and without a table of separations between buildings. Two things are worth checking directly with the agency before filing, because the regulation does not resolve them: which front yard applies where no parking is provided inside the lot nor a common area, and which districts the "R-T" planting label refers to. And as everywhere in this part of the chapter, remember a unit may not be internally subdivided: the rooms must remain functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family.

Common mistakes

  • Using the terraced house’s minimum lot, one hundred and fifty square metres, for a patio house, which asks for two hundred and fifty.
  • Counting on more than two families on a patio-house lot because the lot is large, when the density is one or two regardless of size.
  • Applying the terraced house’s one hundred and fifty per cent gross floor area, when the patio house has one hundred and thirty.
  • Applying the terrace’s sixty per cent occupation, when the patio house allows sixty-five.
  • Designing a storey above the first with a floor area greater than the maximum permitted occupation percentage.
  • Leaving the side or rear yard under three metres.
  • Forgetting the fifty per cent of the front yard planted in the tourist districts.
  • Extending a projection more than one metre into the required front or rear yard.
  • Placing a projection closer than one and a half metres to a side or rear boundary line.
  • Internally dividing a patio house into two dwellings that are not the two families the density permits, when each dwelling’s rooms must remain functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family.
  • Omitting the urbanisation works corresponding to the proposed project.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum lot for a patio house?

No less than two hundred and fifty square metres. And on interior lots a minimum lot width or frontage, for each unit, of no less than six metres is required.

How many families can a patio house have?

One or two families on each lot, regardless of its size. It is the density difference from the terraced house, which admits one dwelling unit per lot.

How much can I occupy and build in a patio house?

The maximum occupation area is sixty-five per cent and the maximum gross floor area one hundred and thirty per cent. In no case may the floor area of a storey above the first exceed the maximum permitted occupation percentage.

What yards does a patio house need?

A front yard with a depth no less than three metres where the house provides parking spaces inside the lot or where a common parking area is provided; a side yard with a width no less than three metres; and a rear yard with a depth no less than three metres. For the case where no parking is provided on the lot nor a common area, this table publishes no front-yard figure.

How does a patio house differ from a terraced house?

In the regulation’s figures: the patio house asks for a two-hundred-and-fifty-square-metre lot and the terrace one hundred and fifty; the patio admits one or two families per lot and the terrace one unit; the patio occupies up to sixty-five per cent and the terrace up to sixty; and the patio has one hundred and thirty per cent gross floor area against the terrace’s one hundred and fifty. Besides, the terrace carries its own rules on units per building and separation between buildings that the patio house does not have.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 6, 2026

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