June 2012

Hello again. First of all thanks to everyone who passed their compliments about the column on to me. They are much appreciated.

Last month I spoke about our attempts to contact the new Director of Planning and Housing, Rosa Aguilar. Unsurprisingly, she has failed to respond to us. On the other hand, we have been invited to meet with Rosa Urioste Azcorra the replacement for Ana Moñiz as Director General of Inspection of Land Management, Urban Planning and Housing. We hope that this meeting is fruitful. Particularly as the goal posts seem to be on the move. Clearly, with the Junta’s declared strategy of “return to dust” the imminent threat of demolition seems to be receding. This in turn means that SOHA.ES’s strategy must evolve to pursue the legalisation of our member’s homes. We are hopeful that any new dialogue will lead us along a path towards full legalisation. If not we may be forced to demonstrate once again, but this time outside the parliament offices in Sevilla.

One interesting development is in the town of Chiclana near Cadiz where the Ayuntamiento is in the process of legalising 15,000 homes that have no licences. Admittedly there is a cost involved but the principle is demonstrated that homes can be legalised. This is one avenue we will want to explore further with the Junta.

A new law was passed by the Junta de Andalucia on April 7th this year which aims at clarifying how to interpret and apply the LOUA (the law that regulates everything surrounding building and development). At first sight it seems a reasonable attempt at finally getting the planning and construction processes under control. It will be a while before we at SOHA.ES have got completely to grips with its meaning (its long, difficult and in bureaucratic Spanish) but one thing we have discerned is that the new law effectively puts a stop to the 4 year rule. In order to register a property it will have to have a “certificate” from the Ayuntamiento. We don’t know how one would go about obtaining one yet but we will keep our members posted.

If you have any concerns regarding the legality of your home then you should be a member of SOHA.ES. Its very easy to do and very good value as well at 20€. Contact Steve at [email protected]