Photovoltaic: registering a lease without georeferencing

Key data

Photovoltaic energy developers who lease agricultural land to install solar panels have one fewer obstacle in the registration process. The Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública has upheld the appeal filed against the refusal by the Registro de la Propiedad de Mula to register a lease right over part of a property intended for a photovoltaic plant, following the acceptance and adjudication of an inheritance.

The registrar required the georeferencing of the leased portion as a precondition for registration. The DGRN has expressly rejected that criterion in the Resolución de 17 de diciembre de 2025, published in the BOE on 24 March 2026.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution clearly defines the limits of the georeferencing obligation at the Land Registry. The rule is as follows:

A lease over part of a property for a photovoltaic plant falls into the last category: it is a personal right created over a portion of a property that is already registered. It does not involve division or segregation. Therefore, the requirement for prior georeferencing has no legal basis and the registrar cannot impose it as a condition for registration.

The resolution has direct practical relevance because this type of transaction is common in the renewable energy sector: the owner of an agricultural property leases part of it to a solar developer, without the property being formally divided.

Economic and operational impact

The georeferencing requirement imposed by the Registro de Mula was not a minor formality. It involves commissioning specialist topographic work to delimit with georeferenced coordinates the exact portion of the property subject to the lease. This type of assignment has a variable cost depending on the size and complexity of the land, but in practice it represents an additional expense and a delay in registering the contract.

With the DGRN resolution, that cost disappears as a prerequisite for land registration. The operational effects are:

• Elimination of the cost of georeferencing topographic work as a mandatory step before registering the lease.
• Reduction of the time to registration of the photovoltaic lease agreement.
• Lower risk of project blockage due to negative qualifications by the registrar based on this criterion.
• Legal certainty for developers and landowners: the contract can be registered and produce effects against third parties without needing to segregate the property.

Who is affected?

• Photovoltaic plant developers who lease agricultural or rural land to install solar panels over part of a property.
• Rural property owners who lease part of their land for solar energy projects without wishing to segregate the property.
• Lessees of portions of property intended for renewable energy installations who need to register their right at the Land Registry.
• Notaries and legal advisors who formalise and process this type of lease agreement linked to photovoltaic projects.
• Land registrars, who are bound by the DGRN's criterion: they cannot require georeferencing in these cases.

Practical example

The owner of a 50-hectare rural property in the Region of Murcia inherits the estate and accepts the inheritance. Before registering the adjudication, they sign a lease agreement with a photovoltaic developer for 10 hectares of that property to install a solar plant. They go to the Registro de la Propiedad de Mula to register both the inheritance adjudication and the lease.

The registrar refuses to register the lease because the developer has not provided the georeferencing of the 10 leased hectares. The developer files an appeal with the DGRN.

The DGRN upholds the appeal: the property is already registered, the lease does not involve segregation, and the georeferencing of the leased portion is not a legal requirement for registering that personal right. The Registry must register the lease without requiring prior topographic work. This is exactly the situation resolved by the Resolución de 17 de diciembre de 2025 (BOE-A-2026-6835).

What should companies do now?

1. Review photovoltaic lease agreements pending registration: if the Registry has refused registration due to lack of georeferencing of the leased portion, the DGRN resolution supports registration without that requirement.
2. File an appeal if the registrar maintains the requirement: the route is an appeal to the Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública, which has already upheld this type of appeal in the Mula case.
3. Inform the legal and notarial team: ensure that the advisors handling these contracts are aware of the DGRN's criterion to avoid unnecessary delays in future projects.
4. Do not commission georeferencing work as a mandatory prior step: unless the project involves a formal division or segregation of the property, that expense cannot be required for lease registration.
5. Document the registration file: retain resolution BOE-A-2026-6835 as support against potential negative qualifications in other registries applying the same incorrect criterion.

Official source

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, please consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-6835