Buying A Lote: Ph?

[Patagone]

Hi all,

I am still wondering about contruction our own house in Patagonia. Here in San Martin de Los Andes, there are few 'lotes' left as the town is naturally (mountains and lake) and politically (limits on construction) protected against limitless growth.

It would be possible to share a lote and construct together with somebody else, but I still do not understand the 'PH' concept, does anybody here have experience with that?

1. What are the PH rules and regulations?
   
2. When buying a lote, can you (re)divide it later, or must you make a precise division right away?
   
3. Are there any numerical limits to the PH? I.e.: can a 1000m2 lote be divided in 200 + 800 or must it be 500 + 500etc.?
   
4. What are the benefits/traps of the PH system?
   
5. Can you construct on your PH without permission from the others?

Thanks for any pointers you can give!
Cheers

ps: I have read about PH's in teh sense of apartment buildings with shared entrances etc. I am think about construction a few houses on one lote and dividing it.

 

[Davidglen77]

These questions and their respective answers vary greatly from province to province, municipality to municipality and even by neighborhood and block. You need to get in touch with an "Agrimensor" (land surveyor) who can provide those answers once you select a specific piece of land. That person will have to consult the "Catastro" (land registry) where the land is located and calculate the FOS (Factor Ocupación del Suelo) and the FOT (Factor Ocupación Total) of the specific lot you have selected to build on. FOS will determine what percentage of your lot can be constructed and what percentage has to be left as open space, and FOT determines the total number of sq. meters that can be constructed on a particular lot. A local architect and escribano that is located in the area you are building in can answer all of these questions for you.

 

[Patagone]

Thanks David, much appreciated. In this case I am eyeing a lote that is about 1000m2, with the following characteristics:
- No FOT (this is due to the fact that half of the lote is on a slope. They assume that nothing will be built there (though it would be interesting!) and have scrapped the FOT.
- FOS 50 %, so over 500m2 in total.
- retiro lateral: 3 mts.
- altura máxima es 9,50 mts (this is standard in San Martin, and one of the main reasons it fortunately has not turned into Bariloche).

So open space is no issue, though as I am not planning a series of cabanas (which would be possible), I am focused on having a garden. A 2nd (or 3rd) house/cabana to rent out would be an option, but here the PH questions come into play: how does that work in practice, when there are 2 or 3 separate units?

Thanks!

 

[Davidglen77]

You're welcome, I wish I could answer your specific questions, however I am not an expert by any means, much less in your part of Argentina.

I was involved in a construction project a few years ago and dealt with a situation where there was 1 small single family house constructed on a large lot, we wanted to subdivide the lot and build 3 duplexes, however due to the limitiations of the sewer lines (this was in La Plata) we could not build any more than 1 larger house on the lot, so we just sold the old house and the lot to another person, who later built a much larger single family house on that one lot. The Agrimensor answered all of our questions for us and did all of the calculations. We accompanied him to Catastro several times to see how things were done. Very complicated and obviously highly specialized work. Sounds like a great project you have planned hope it works out well for you. Best of luck.

 

[RichardP]

Best of luck with your project, Patagone. Keep us posted on the progress as I too am interested in living in San Martin.