Build a house in Marrakech

A step by step approach to building a house in Marrakech.

Marrakech is popular with tourists the world over, who come for a few weeks a year or permanently settle here to live the good life under the sun.

Building a house in Marrakech is no smooth sailing. Many administrative tasks are to be performed before the "open sesame" is delivered that will allow you to realize your dreams and to finally have the home you’ve been waiting for. We take stock here of some of the steps and important points to consider when carrying out your project!

First things first!

To build your house in Marrakech, you need more than the idea of one morning presenting yourself to contractors or seeing a few masons at noon for your project to be delivered that evening. Building your house in Marrakech takes time and compliance with local regulations must be carefully navigated to obtain official approval and guarantee your investment against ever-stricter enforcement.

Having chosen and bought the plot, you must request the Floor Area Ratio (Coefficient d’Occupation des Sols or COS) from the land registry office (Cadastre) to identify the type of construction you have the right to build and collect all information vital to the successful completion of your project.

Before you break ground

When embarking on the great adventure of building a home in Marrakech, Morocco or worldwide, it is wise to put the horse before the cart.

Explore Marrakech and the surrounding area. Take the time to know each other, to figure out the terms of your commitment to a new life here and confirm you could see yourself living here. Morocco is a welcoming country, very open and less than three hours by plane from all major European capitals, a sunny, close yet exotic destination. Holidaying here for a few weeks a year is one thing, settling down with spouse & children is another. Meet the vibrant expat community to find out more about what it’s like living her

• General features of everyday life
• Cost of living, which has risen over the last ten years
• Price and quality of education, as international schools are quite expensive
• The job market.

Uless hired before they enter the country, foreigners in Morocco struggle to find employment contracts, and many prefer to obtain residency as an investor by creating their own Limited Liability Company (SARL in French).

Remember to make realistic projections of the actual cost of your project. Root out hidden costs that may bloat the final bill. Ensure your starting budget can handle it. One of the most important things is to ensure you, or a trusted representative, are on site regularly, at least once a week, to monitor or report on the works’ progress. Large, established contractors can help you with all sorts of paper work and save you valuable time. Handling procedures yourselves will take a few months. Some tourism projects have been delayed by more than eighteen months (18 months).

Get the right help to safely build the house of your dreams in Marrakech.