Hi. Does anyone have any recent experience of renovating a typical old village townhouse? For example do you need architects plans if you are not planning to knock any walls down or change any windows? We need to replaster, rewire and fit a new kitchen and bathroom. We need to replace the whole roof but plan to keep the roof line the same, would like to put some sky lights in though. Presumably We will definately need planning permission for this, but do we need an architect?
Basically we want to do a basic modernisation and re-roofing and then plan to rent the house out on a long term let to get a small income, as it won't be our main home we don't want to go overboard. I imagine it would also be a good idea to get someone to check over the property before we start to ensure the floor etc. are sound.
Ant advice much appreciated.

If you are replacing a roof you will definitely need plans from an architect or a technical architect (aparejador), whose plans will be substantially cheaper.

Building work is classified into two types: 'obras mayores' (major works) that affect the structure of the building, and 'obras menores' (minor works) which do not. Both require planning permission, and if in doubt your first step should always be to ask at the Ajuntament (town hall).

Each town hall will have a municipal architect and a municipal 'aparejador'. The latter is usually known as the 'técnico', and typically visits (in theory) once a week and is always devilish hard to get hold of...

When we had our townhouse renovated we had the municipal aparejador come along to check the structure before we put in an offer.

If you're buying a property, it's a good idea to have an aparejador carry out a structural survey before you put down a deposit. It comes in the form of a short report, stamped by the relevant professional organisation, and usually costs around 400-500 euros. Can save a lot of headaches later...

Hope this helps, and good luck with your renovation project.