Andalusian government throws lifeline to Brits stuck in property limbo

The issue of illegally built homes dotted about the Andalusian countryside has been a thorn in the side of thousands of Brits for the past decade. But an announcement this week by the president of Andalucía’s Junta could finally lift the uncertainty for these British homeowners who have been living in limbo for nearly ten years…

Having innocently bought homes in southern Spain between 2004-2006, some British property owners soon discovered that their homes were never granted proper planning permission as unscrupulous developers and agents rushed through legal paperwork and handed bribes to corrupt officials.

A raft of homes were illegally built in Andalucía between the late ’90s and early 2000s, many owned by British people who simply wanted their own place in the sun. Amid legal wrangling with Spain’s highest court – and a high-profile corruption case that saw Marbella’s city council dissolved in 2006 – thousands of British property owners have endured an agonising wait to find out whether they would get to keep their homes.

Many have had to endure power cuts, intermittent water supply and threatening letters of impending demolition, but this week Susana Díaz of the Junta has offered a glimmer of hope that the issue could be resolved in the Brits’ favour very soon.

“We cannot just leave these people in legal limbo,” said the Junta president. “For that reason, my government will propose to the Andalusian parliament a change in planning law that would make it possible to regulate these properties.”

This fresh hope will be music to the ears of Brits who bought properties in Andalucía in good faith. There are numerous horror stories of families, couples and retirees who were unceremoniously informed that their dream home was, in fact, illegal – sometimes mere days after being handed the keys.

While Díaz’s pledge does not hold any immediate weight, the very fact that the issue will once again be brought front and centre among Andalusia’s politicians is being viewed as a positive development for some British homeowners. “It appears to be a positive step and we are given hope by what Susana Díaz has said,” Maura Hillen, president of AUAN (an organisation that supports owners of illegally built properties) told the Daily Telegraph.

Philip Smalley, the president of SOHA, a similar lobby group, remarked: “At last the politicians are listening to us. It appears to be a positive step. We only hope that the proposed change is appropriate and that it becomes law as soon as possible.”

The change for which Díaz is lobbying concerns planning laws, which the government admitted in 2012 are mired with problems, loopholes and contradictions. The proposed modification of this law would see illegally built houses regularised, which – while not removing their illegal status – would guarantee to owners that the homes will not be demolished. Regularisation will also compel utility companies to provide services to homes previously overlooked.

The British Embassy in Spain has lent its support for the changes, stating the proposals as a “sensible first step” that could benefit around 25,000 properties in Andalucía. Right now, the proposed amendment text is in circulation and will be put through a rigorous series of checks and counterchecks by legislators, solicitors and the various interest groups to ensure there are no further loopholes when the draft comes before lawmakers at the Andalusian Parliament. All parties will then work on “the shortest timeframe possible” to push through a satisfactory resolution.

The issue largely concerns homes bought in Spain between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Since then, the industry has enjoyed greater transparency and more stringent controls of the market.