AUAN press release, 13th September 2011

AUAN members from the Almanzora Valley affected by the illegal homes scandal hosted a visit from the British Consul for the Andalucia region, Steve Jones and Madrid Embassy official Alexandra Brown, advisor to the Foreign Office on property matters in Spain on Tusday 13th September.

The visit was part of a fact finding mission to receive an update from those directly affected regarding latest developments and to discuss actions taken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to raise its concerns with the Spanish Government.

Mr. Jones assured those present that the Foreign Office was engaging with the Spanish Government at the highest levels on this issue.

After a lengthy meeting with the homeowners, the officials went on to have introductory meetings with the new mayors of Arboleas and Vera.

“We are pleased that the Foreign Office continues to show an interest in matters concerning it citizens. The problem is not going away and we need all the help we can get” said AUAN president Maura Hillen.

More info www.almanzora-au.org

José Antonio Griñán, the President of Andalucia, announced yesterday that illegally-built homes in Andalucia will be legalised by decree, but stressed that this isn’t an amnesty, despite all evidence to the contrary.

“In some cases it will be a regularisation that answers to town halls through town plans, and in other cases it will come at the request of individual owners,” Griñán told the Andalucian parliament.

The only homes that won’t be legalised are those built on specially protected land and areas at risk of flooding.

According to the Junta, there are 300,000 homes with planning problems in Andalucia, but others like the left-wing party Izquiera Unida say the figure is more like 400,000.

There will be no more problems in future because it is now “practically impossible” to build illegally in Andalucia, claims Griñán. “We are not going to let our guard down,” he said.

Josefina Cruz Villalón, the Minister responsible for housing, recently blamed British owners in Andalucia for much of the problem with illegal building.

Judging by the comments from readers at some Andalucian news websites, the move will go down badly with many voters, who are outraged that law-breakers are being rewarded for their behaviour. In reality, an amnesty is the only solution to a problem the government should never have allowed to grow to such monstrous proportions.

When it comes to illegally built homes, you either stamp it out straight away, or the problem gets so big you end up having to resort to amnesties.

Her dignity in adversity is an example to all of us.

* 920 properties earmarked for demolition.
* The remainder likely to foot the bill for legalisation

The Minister for Housing and Planning, Josefina Cruz (pictured above), met with the Mayors of ten municipalities in the Valley of Almanzora in Almeria on Thursday to deliver the results of the Inspection of houses constructed on land not zoned for building in Albánchez, Albox, Arboleas, Cantoria, Fines, Líjar, Lubrín, Oria, Partaloa and Zurgena.

The Minister revealed that 12, 697 ‘irregular’ constructions had been identified in the Almanzora Valley alone.

Of those some 7.2% or 920 buildings have been found on specially protected land or are less than 4 years old or are incomplete. In these three cases the offence is not proscribed by law and the ministry has instructed the councils to ‘restore order’ as a priority.

As for the remaining 11,777 houses Sra. Cruz went on to state that her ministry was working on a special ‘decreto’ or decree to define a uniform set of procedures which would allow these houses to be granted an occupation license and obtain access to services in a manner described as ‘self-sufficient’ making it clear that public funds will not be used to resolve the situation.

Speaking about illegal houses in Almeria in a hearing of the planning commission of the Andalucian Parliament on Wednesday, the Minister is reported to have said “people from other countries had set up home in an illegal way” and now “residents want us to solve a problem that some of them have created”.

“12,697 illegal buildings in the Almanzora Valley and nobody noticed?” said Maura Hillen, president of Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora NO (AUAN), a homeowners association composed mainly of British residents . “Did these houses pop up like mushrooms overnight? Where was the Junta when the houses were being built? “

“And how many people will be made homeless and/or lose their life savings if 920 houses are demolished to ‘restore order’?” she continued “A conservative calculation would put the financial losses in the order of 90 million euros. Who’s going to compensate those who bought in good faith? The Junta? The town halls? “

Commenting on the Ministers announcement of a promised decree Mrs Hillen said “Without seeing the text of this decree, which of course will not be available until after the local elections, it is impossible to say anything meaningful. However, the government has had seven years to deal with this issue and now suddenly two months before an election there is a new decree? The timing is a bit fishy in our view and smacks of electioneering. “

“And what about all the civil and criminal proceedings that are currently in progress and could also result in demolition? How is the decree going to save these houses? As usual there are more questions than answers and more smoke and mirrors that any real change in the Juntas position” she said.

Speaking of the remarks attributed to the Minister by the Spanish press the AUAN president said “If the remarks are accurate, blaming foreign homeowners for the woes of the Andalucian planning system is quite insulting and clearly untrue. Comments such as these, if accurately reported, demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the realities of the scale of the planning disaster in Andalucia and are hardly designed to encourage much needed British investment in the Andalucian property market”.

“In our view the Ministry of Housing and Planning is like the orchestra on the decks of the Titanic. Fiddling away whilst the ship sinks taking homeowners and what is left of the reputation of the Andalucian property industry with it. Its all a bit of a shambles” she concluded.

AUAN Press release – 11th March 2011
Contact: info(at)almanzora-au.org
www.almanzora-au.org

The plan, which has been announced by the Junta, will give the thumbs up for
the vast majority of illegally-built homes around the Axarquia.

While described by environmentalists as ‘giving a free reign to build on
rustic land’, it comes as a major boost for homeowners, hundreds of them
expats.

Announced at a meeting of the region’s mayors, the Junta’s head of public
works, Josefina Cruz, revealed that only 1,500 of the 12,760 homes
investigated are now facing demolition.

+ Read the full article at The Olive Press

British Embassy Reaction

BRITISH EMBASSY WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF DECREE TO REGULARISE THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL PROPERTIES
8 March 2011

The British Embassy has welcomed the the announcement by the Junta de Andalucia of a forthcoming decree that would enable owners of thousands of illegal properties across Andalucia to request regularisation of their property through their town hall, and to be issued with a licence of first occupation.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman said: “This is a real step forward for owners of illegally built properties in Andalucia. The decree should enable thousands of people whose properties have been declared illegal to comply with the law and gain access to essential services. Of course, there will be some properties built on specially protected land or in dangerous locations which it will not be possible to legalise. But the announcement will bring relief and hope to many people whose lives have been blighted by property and planning irregularities. We will continue to work with the Andalucian authorities on this issue.”

Property owners and buyers can find information about precautions to take when buying a property in Spain, and on dealing with property issues, in the property section of the UKinSpain website, ukinspain.fco.gov.uk

AUAN Press release – 24th January 2011

AUAN is pleased to learn that a recent judicial decision appears to provide a glimmer of hope for the owners of illegal houses. The Magistrate of Administrative Court No. 3 in Almeria, Judge Jesus Riveria, made a ruling on the 21st of January in which he rejected the Juntas’ reasons to nullify a licence of first occupation granted by Albox Town council, thus allowing the homeowners to contract water and electricity.

According to the ruling the house was constructed several years ago on non urban land without a building permit and any administrative action against it was proscribed as out of time. After satisfying several requirements, Albox Town council granted a license of first occupation to this property under a special ‘ordenanza’ or regulation which was created specifically to deal with this type of housing classified as ‘fuera de ordenacion’; that is to say constructed without a building permit but untouchable by the administration.

The Junta challenged the license of first occupation on the grounds that there was no building permit for the property and that these houses should be regulated by an urban plan. Alfredo Najas de la Cruz, representing Albox Council and Pedro Maldonado Ruiz acting for the homeowners, argued against the Juntas’ interpretation.

Judge Riveria found that the Juntas argument was erroneous and indicated that the administration “cannot in any way ignore reality” and that it “cannot prevent houses that are fuera de ordenacion from obtaining services which grant them the normal conditions of habitability”. Judge Riveria indicated that if the repair and maintenance of such houses is permitted, common sense dictates that they should also have services, especially when the license of occupation was granted under the strict terms of a special regulation that was not challenged by the Junta when it was created.

The President of AUAN Maura Hillen said “With all due respect, we sometimes think that the Junta lives on another planet. We understand that it was actually the Junta itself who established the special regulation to deal with houses that are “fuera de ordenacion” but then when various town councils had spent money implementing the regulation and granting licenses, they began to challenge them. And all this after people had trusted this regulation and spent lots of money complying with the requirements.” She added “Thank goodness that the court has recognised that there should be some common sense. We have tried without success to explain common sense to the Junta. I hope that the mayors of Almanzora will get through to them. Otherwise, the message will be delivered in the polling booths”.

Contact info at almanzora-au.org or call +34 638 323 706

An article today at the mailonline tells the story of a retired British couple in Torrox, on the Costa del Sol in Andalucia, who have been sentenced to 8 months in prison for flaunting Spanish planning laws and ordered to demolish their illegally-built house. Judging by the comments at the bottom of the article, they aren’t getting much sympathy back in Britain.

Constructed nine years ago but plot had permission for home just one-tenth of the size

A British couple have been sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to demolish their Spanish villa for breaching planning regulations.

David and Janet Hartshorn illegally built a large house on protected land near the Costa del Sol town of Torrox, a judge ruled.

The couple appeared before a judge at Criminal Court number eight in Malaga last October 14 for a one-day hearing, with the court’s sentencing published yesterday.

The judge is expected to suspend the prison sentence, as jail terms of two years and under are usually suspended for first time offenders in Spain.

Speaking at the property under threat of demolition, Mrs Hartshorn said she had not yet been informed of the judge’s ruling.

‘This is terrible news,’ she said. ‘I am very upset by this. We haven’t been told anything about the result of the court case. We have a meeting with our solicitor tomorrow..

‘The house was built nine years ago and people are still building houses illegally round here.

Read the full article at the mailonline

Banana Beach, Marbella, no sign of a reprieve

The Autonomous Government is drafting legislation to do something about hundreds of thousands of illegal homes in the region.

Andalusia’s regional government, or Junta, is drawing up plans to deal with hundreds of thousands of homes that fall foul of planning laws and the Ley de Costas (Coastal Law), reports the Spanish press.

It’s a problem that needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later as it turns off buyers just when the market needs them most. Nevertheless, my guess is it could be years before we see any results.

Difficult as it is to believe, the authorities in Andalucia failed to stop illegal building on a massive scale in recent decades, with around 20,000 illegal homes built in Marbella alone.

In rural areas like the Axarquia and Almanzora Valley, thousands of homes have been illegally built on rustic land, many of them bought by hapless British buyers.

The Junta is reported to be drawing up criteria for legalising homes, implying there will be no blanket amnesty.

Without a blanket amnesty, some homes will remain illegal, with demolition the only solution. That fate may await homes built on specially protected land such as nature reserves, and that fall foul of the Ley de Costas.

The new regulations are being drafted by Andalusia’s Department of Public Works and could force owners to pay the costs of legalising their homes.

There is no news as to when to expect the new rules to come into force. Stay tuned for more information.

Some banks have included expiry dates in their guarantees and used them as an excuse to avoid paying out when buyers are left with no home to show for their stage payments.

According to Spanish law, developers have to arrange for bank guarantees or insurance policies to cover all stage payments they take from off-plan buyers.

After a developer in Cantabria breached contract by failing to deliver on time, a buyer took it to court, along with the local savings bank Caja Cantabria, demanding repayment via the bank guarantee. Caja Cantabria won the first round arguing the guarantee had expired, but lost when the buyer appealed to a higher court.

The higher court ruled that bank guarantees cannot expire whilst buyers still have no home to show for their money. The court also ruled that stage-payments must be returned in full.

Given the parlous state of the Spanish legal system it is difficult to say what this means for off-plan buyers fighting to get their money back in other regions. Nevertheless, it is an encouraging precedent which one has to assume that other courts around Spain will take into account.