08 | INDUSTRY News
INDUSTRY By Geoff Hadwick
SPANISH ex-pat pressure group AUAN believes that the Ministry of Public Works there is “preparing a new regulation to defi ne a uniform set of regularisation criteria which will be applied to the tens of thousands of illegal homes in Andalucia.” Speaking to OPP, group leader
John Hillen said that while AUAN understands that “there are no plans to change the existing planning laws (the LOUA) … this latest development seeks to clarify how the law should be applied in a uniform manner.” Hillen reports that The Ministry of
Public Works is preparing a specifi c regulation which will cover “tens of thousands” of houses constructed on undeveloped land (‘suelo no urbanizable’) in rural areas, where the owners have found themselves in legal limbo and exposed to a varied, and sometimes contradictory, range of administrative and legal responses. He hopes that the document or guidelines produced will establish a
www.opp.org.uk | FEBRUARY 2011 Lifeline for illegal Spain homeowners 3. and those that can be legalised will
be legalised with all the consequences that that entails.” It seems likely that one of
the essential requirements for regularisation will be that there are no repercussions on the public purse, and that the promoters or the homeowners bear the cost for the provision of services and basic infrastructure. This is to protect the interests of other
Andalucia | is home to tens of thousands of illegal homes, which are under threat
“homogenous set of procedures and requirements to regularise these homes.” AUAN stresses however, that the move will not involve a change to the law. AUAN knows that the vast majority
of the houses concerned are not included on town plans because they are on land not zoned for development and they have been built away from consolidated urban centres. According to early reports from the
Ministry of Public Works, it is seeking to defi ne the minimum requirements
with which these houses can obtain a license of fi rst occupation and give the homeowners some judicial security. Newspaper El Pais has reported
that the outcome is “likely to be a ‘decreto’ or decree, which will have three basic assumptions: 1. houses that can never be
legalised or incorporated into any plan will be demolished; 2. those that can meet the minimum requirements will survive, although they will be ‘fuera de ordenacion’;
homeowners who purchased a home legally and therefore contribute their rates and taxes to the maintenance of public services says El Pais. AUAN understands that houses that
will be condemned for demolition will be those built on protected land or those that do not comply with specifi c regulations, such as the country’s environmental or the coastal laws. Reports in Spain indicate that the
regulation will consider a variety of criteria to evaluate the severity of the planning breaches. For more information you can email
AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No) at
info@almanzora-au.org.
French property markets in an upbeat mood
OPTIMISM was the prevailing mood amongst delegates and exhibitors at The French Property Exhibition at Earl’s Court, London, last month. It featured stands from agents, developers and other property related services, as well as a series of seminars about buying in France. The property section of the show
was organised by French Property News magazine, and OPP caught up with its deputy editor Andy Duncan
at the show. He was impressed by the attendance, and optimistic about the future of the French market. Duncan told OPP: “There are a lot of people here. It’s encouraging, and it’s looking good to bounce back in 2011.” He added: “France was never as affected by the crisis, the French banks were a lot tighter and more robust.” Developers were also optimistic,
but admitted they had experienced a diffi cult time during the fi nancial crisis. William Souche of South African
developer France Leasebacks told OPP it had been quite a calm year, but that he was optimistic for the coming months. France Leasebacks sell off- plan alpine holiday homes that are then leased back to a management company, providing a regular rental income. The event was targeted at consumers, and there were many in attendance showing interest in the property being offered by agents, especially in Dordogne and around Paris. There were also a number of ticketed seminars from agents,
RECORD-BREAKING YEAR
A total of 342,179 Malaysian property transactions worth RM96.77 billion (£19.8 billion) were recorded between January and November last year, implying that the country’s full-year market could reach a record-breaking RM100 billion(£20.5 billion), Knight Frank’s Malaysia managing director Eric Ooi said last month.
lawyers and others providing services for those looking to buy in France. Solicitors Ashton Graham detailed differences between agents in France and Britain during their seminar on the process of buying a French home. Speaker Matthew Cameron explained that properties are often sold through multiple agents, and so visiting the same property with different agents was not a good idea. He said: “This could leave the buyer liable to pay commission twice.”
PERTH MOST EXPENSIVE
PERTH land prices have skyrocketed to become the most expensive in Australia just as the number of lots sold there has begun to fall, new research shows. At $516 per square metre, Perth is $38 psm more than Sydney. Overall, the average lot price in September was $245,000, up 11.4% on the previous quarter and up 8.9% year-on-year.
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