Troubled times for those who bought their homes in good faith.
One year has passed since the Andalusian Parliament approved welcome changes in the planning laws, regarding homes on non-urbanisable land which had been split into “parcels”, and had no escape from their illegal status.
It made it possible to become “Assimilado Fuero de Ordinacion” or AFO, a status which has no English equivalent, but might roughly translate as “Accepted Outside Planning Regulations”. This status allows the owners to be listed in the Register de Propriedad, and to connect the basic services of electricity and water, (which some have lacked so far, while others, owing to the apparent legality of all their documents, have long since been connected).
Nevertheless, the bureaucratic process has been very slow, and buyers in good faith are still waiting for their ayuntamientos to approve their applications for AFO status, explained Mario Blancke, spokesman for SOHA.ES.
There are between 25,000 and 30,000 houses in this irregular situation in Andalucia.
The change to the LOUA (Andalusia’s planning law), bringing in urgently needed changes regarding homes on non-urbanisable land which had been split into “parcels”, was approved by 88 votes for, with 19 abstentions from IU and Podemos on 20th July 2016.
The import of the change to the law is that owners of homes on parcellised non-urbanisable land can now avoid demolition of their homes, providing that they were built at least 6 years ago. Previously they were unable to open any judicial process, which meant that they were vulnerable to demolition at any time, causing great anxiety and mental stress. The changes to the law gave the Junta de Andalucia 6 months to prepare the documentation and arrange the procedures, and gave the ayuntamientos 2 years to regularise the planning status of these homes.
It is a year since the expiry of the date set by the Junta de Andalucia for the ayuntamientos to submit their Avance del Decreto 2/2012. This document refers to the status of these homes, which may be granted the status AFO, which the changes to the law now allow owners to apply for.
Nevertheless, there is no clarity about what will happen to ayuntamiento which have not done their homework, and to home owners who have not taken advantage of the new law to protect their homes.
Philip Smalley, President of SOHA.ES said, “The next step in our efforts will be to work for the complete legalisation of homes built under the building licences issued by the ayuntamientos”
He detailed the following steps in pursuit of this aim;
Requesting the reduction from 20yrs to 10yrs of the arbitrary time limit set by the Consejo Consultivo Andaluz for taking action against planning violations.
Changes in the AFO status regarding; the right to usufruct, the right to a mortgage (which has already been requested at the national Commission of Justice), and the right to access the basic supplies of water, electricity, electricity and telephone.
Mario Blancke wound up with this important thought; But who is guilty? The politicians, the owners, the lawyers….. or is it better not to look for the blame?
There was no control, or determination to stop this development frenzy. It was a time when a lot of cash was splashed, which benefitted a lot of people, and which resolved an unemployment problem in the countryside. What is unjust is to blame and punish the home owners for the resulting mess.
If you find yourself in this plight, join SOHA.ES. (Click here to join)
You need our help; we need yours.
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“Una vida bajo la incertidumbre para los compradores de buena fe.
A punto de cumplirse un año desde que el pasado mes de julio se aprobara en el Parlamento Andaluz el Proyecto de Ley por el que se modifica la Ley 2/2002 de 17 de Diciembre que establece medidas urgentes en relación a estas viviendas afectadas por parcelaciones urbanísticas en suelo no urbanizable, a las que se le ofrecía como salida la posibilidad de ser declaradas como asimilado fuera de ordenación (AFO).
Se trata de una figura que permitirá a sus dueños poder registrar las casas en el Registro de la Propiedad y además acceder a los servicios básicos (agua y luz), algo a lo que hasta ahora no podía aspirar, mientras que otros, bajo la apariencia total de legalidad de sus documentos ya disfrutaban de todos estos servicios.
Sin embargo, el proceso administrativo es lento, y los compradores de buena fe seguirán luchando por legalización de las viviendas construidas bajo la autoridad de los permisos expedidos por el ayuntamiento local.
En Andalucía existen casi 30.000 viviendas en esta situación irregular.
Si estás en esta situación, únete a SOHA.ES aqui.
Necesitamos tu ayuda”.
