Planning Amnesty For Illegal Homes In Málaga
August 21st, 2008
Politicians and local governments throughout Spain are still struggling to decide what should be done about the number of illegal properties which have been built in the country over the last few decades.
According to the website Spanish Property Insight, reports from the Spanish press have revealed that the Popular Party (Partido Popular) has proposed an amnesty for the 50,000 illegally built homes in the Málaga province.
However, the socialist PSOE party, which controls Andalucia’s regional government in Seville, opposes any mass legalisation, favouring case by case solutions instead.
Meanwhile, the Grupo Cóndor, an environmental group based in Almería, has called for strict compliance of the law and has urged the Andalucian government to demolish the thousands of illegal properties in the province.
A spokesman for the group said that politicians should be forced to compensate home owners “out of their own pockets” and that “the world should know Spain has acted in a filthy way”.
But the problem with demolitions as a solution is that the Government of Andalucia probably can’t afford it. Demolitions can cost between €30,000 to €36,000 per property, which many home owners would never pay, leaving the government to pick up the bill. Furthermore, although home owners are obliged to pay the costs of demolition if their homes are illegal, retired expats on a UK pension below the Spanish minimum wage of €600 a month, who make up a large number of the affected owners, would be exempt from paying the costs.
The Popular Party has suggest legalising all the properties to put an end to the matter, at least until the new Urban Plans are approved in each municipality.
Full story from www.homesworldwide.co.uk
