Finally some fantastic news for those who own an “Illegal house” in Andalucía.
The regional government of Andalucía has just passed a new law that is finally going to permit the legalisation of tens of thousands of “illegal properties.
Contrary to the previous attempts this law permits not only the legalisation of isolated properties but also of houses built within an illegal urbanisation .
This has taken a long time but finally we can see the light and we have been given the instruments with this law to legalise most of the properties.
I remember back in 2006 of us could clearly see that that a lot of properties where being sold in the Almanzora Valley (in Almería ) and other inland locations and in other provinces to British purchases withoght all the correct paperwork. Other solicitors and myself told hundreds of purchasers that came are way not to purchase but thousands more received bad advice or the wrong advice and ended up purchasing.
The situation got so bad that eventually the Spanish Consulate and Embassy got involved and in 2006 the British Ambassador to Spain at the time Sir Stephen Wright requested an appointment to see the president of the regional government of Andalucía to try and fina a solution. At that time not only where they’re already thousands of properties that could not be sold or inherited . There were may demolition orders of which some had actually taken place and with many more in the pipeline.
The British ambassador requested that we prepare the brief for this meeting with Mr. Chaves .
We where asked to explain in plain English what the problem consisted of , the varios times of illegal properties , why there were so many British people affected , who was to blame and why. We where also asked to suggest ways forward and what exactly could be done with the laws existing at that moment tin time.
In the days running up to that meeting the El Pais newspapers had informed on the 30th of October of 2006 that there where over 100000 illegal properties in Spain , that the Guardia civil had so far taken action against 12832 properties .
If you would like to see a full copy of the report I sent the Ambassador back in 2006 please click. Please note that my view now on the subject is not exactly the same as back then.
Also the Pais Newspaper also run an interview with the Special prosecutor for Illegal houses Mr. Antonio Vercher Noguera who gave a terrifying ( for the owners) opinion on the subject:
I translated in my report for Sir. Stephen Wright the words of the prosecutor :
he is in favour of more demolitions via a more strict aplication of article 319.3 of the Spanish criminal code . He also states that this will not always be the case , but tha the tendency should be for the property to be demolished and the purchasers should take legal action agains the builders that sold them the property. He also indicates his doubs about the lack of blame of the purchasers . He considers that in most cases the buyers are not taking the minimum precautions before purchasing (searches etc), and that in some cases he believes they may even know that what they are purchasing is not 100% correct , as these properties are often sold for lower prices….
Sir Stephen Wright explained that the meeting had gone well and that Mr. Manuel Chaves had said that a solution would be found and that they would not end up demolishing hundreds of houses etc.
That meeting was in 2006.
A lot effort was put in by many people for the government to do something about this ( the association AUAN, Arquitects , the solicitor Gerardo Vazquez who has been lobbying the politicians for a solution and basically all of the local solicitors and members of the affected town halls who all felt that this situation was unbearable and required an urgent solution). They have not been very quick but in fairness the new conservative government has only been power for a year so taking into account the previous government after over 15 years had done almost nothing……
Enough of the the history lesson. What can we do with this: The legalisation of the properties:
Finally after 13 years the new conservative government of the regional government of Andalucía has come up with a law that provides us with the necessary instruments to legalise most of these properties.
We have set up a team with our local notary and a firm of Arquitects to enable us to follow the procedure set out in the new law as quickly and as efficiently as possible and do ir for an all included price.
If you would like us to take a look at your paperwork to see if we can add your house to your deeds please contact us today for a free initial appointment where we can take a look at your paperwork , discuss if your house can be legalised or not and if yes how much it will cost.
