Land Grab rears its ugly head again

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    • #55790
      petej
      Participant
    • #100476
      Anonymous
      Participant

      In a nut shell the best way to avoid this sort of thing is to buy a property built on an urban plot of land. “Suelo urbano”. The urban land should also be qualified for residential purposes and not industrial use.There have been cases where properties have been built on industrial land.

      With the guidence of a solicitor none of the issues relating to land grab should occur. For UK property buyers there is an added advantage. Many UK law firms have a spanish department with solicitors regulated by the UK law society and advice provided in your language.

      The situation of land grab has been blown out of proportion due to misinformed buyers purchasing properties on land qualified for agricultural use and in the majority of cases, without the aid of a lawyer in order to save some money.

      It is true that the local authorities of many municipalities were not prepared for the influx of expats into the inland areas and have watched a “sqaure peg in a round hole” construction method happen around them. Instead of.laying down the law to prevent problems many town halls allowed the construction and sale of homes on rustic land to go on in order to receive the benefits of being paid for new building licences and council tax.

      This does not however make them guilty of stealing land of owners when in most cases the “plan urbanistica” or local building and growth plans are published and made for all to see and can be checked out by lawyers and other parties in the know. This means that anyone wishing to buy properties on rustic land should really make sure first and foremost of what they are actually getting into.

      There have also been cases in the UK of developers building homes on flood plains……

      As a foreign buyer the advice is to inform yourself well and always use a lawyer.

    • #100507
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Does buying urbano land guarantee that you wont get land grabbed? I have friends who are loosing some land to a new road, and I’m pretty sure that the land is urbano.

      I agree that looking at the development plan is a good thing though, we spend a few hours with the local planning department to discuss a rustico purchase, it was a very helpful & enlightening experience.

    • #100509
      Anonymous
      Participant

      The reason that land grab occurs is because the Rustic or agricultural Land is being re qualified for a other purposes i.e indstrial use, residential use. If you already own a house on an urban plot then it is highly unlikely and if it was to occur, the likelyhood of your land being “grabbed” without a reasonable compensation from the local authorities is practically impossible.

      The trick with rustic land so that town hall can recieve urban council tax for a property is to allow the actual property to be declared as “urbano” however this does not mean that the plot is urban as well. The fact that townhalls have allowed this to occur has been down to the demand for villas in inland areas which are in most cases UK and foreign buyers.

      Unfortuantely some have bought properties in inland areas without doing their homework and when it all hits the fan, have gone running to the press to seek a solution…… What I am trying to point out is that it is not only the fault of the local Valencian authorities. I have seen too many buyers come to me with horror stories of how they were ripped off but do not know what to answer when I ask them whether they used a lawyer, whether they asked for bank guarantees or whether they investigated the pit falls of buying a property in Spain.

      Stupity is what has allowed property villains to get away with some extortionate acts. Local authorities and governments also need to get their act together to assure that badly operating firms do not get away with badly planned works and also not allow the construction of properties on land that is not declared for residential use. Unfortunately a fine and a sly payment to the right person has taken away those problems and is what has created some living nightmares for the less wary.

      Spain is a great place to buy a property but it has to be done right. I am glad to see that you are doing your homework. You are on the right road. Don´t let the UK press in Spain put you off either. Their arguments normally only tell one side of the story.

      I have lived in Spain now for over 10 years and have sold over 500 properties all of which the owners I am in contact with. Despite not being able to please them all (very hard to achieve even for the best of us) they can never say they were misled or ripped off. There are many more like me in Spain but our profession has had bad press as a result of others that do not care for any more than just their commission. Make them Earn it!

    • #100532
      katy
      Blocked

      I get fed-up of people who are in the business of selling trying to blame everyone who has been scammed/conned by the land grab issue as being stupid. who are you trying to fool, most of us are well informed on the issues as are foreign Governments. Most used Lawyers too. The only ones who are stupid are the ones who listen to your drivel.

    • #100533
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I think if you actually read my so called “drivel” that you will see that I have tried to present facts from both side of the story and also provided a detailed and impartial point of view. The agents are as much to blame and are developers, local authorities. I am not defending anyone. Just providing factual information. Sorry if that has offended you.

    • #100554
      petej
      Participant

      The first thing our lawyer said when we were in the process of buying was “First we must make sure the house is on urban land” and the second thing was ” i would recommend you only buy on urbanized land”

      Icarus
      Reading your posts I fine them well written and balanced

    • #100575
      petej
      Participant
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