The property market is being demolished !

Following on from a thread "How long does the purchase take to compete? "    Before asking that question,  prospective buyers might consider whether they should even think about buying in Spain.

This is an extract from a newsletter (written by  Lenox Napier) which I received today :  

On Monday, goons from the Junta de Andalucía once again put Almería's chances of recovery back by another decade or so, by demolishing two British-owned homes in the small inland town of Cantoria. It's slow, this demolition lark.

With 13,000 homes in Almería declared 'ilegal' by the Junta and its zealous ecologists in far-off Seville, almost all British owned, they are only managing to knock down a pathetic few every now and again in what might be described as an example of Andalucian institutional inefficiency. Why not knock down a few dwellings owned by the banks for a change? There are 2,500,000 of them across Spain. Either these bank-owned homes are all 'legal' (Oh Wondrous Surprise!), or the politicians would rather pick on the weaklings. They insist that there are 300,000 'ilegal' homes in Andalucía, presumably all in private hands (that's more than the homes in the entire City of Málaga). It is nevertheless claimed that no one noticed in this anal society as this legion of illegal homes was being planned, promoted, built and sold. Now the Junta wants to be seen to be acting to clear the coast of the concrete jungle of too many homes (Cantoria is about fifty kilometres inland, but, What the Hey!).

If Andalucía is famous for ripping off retired foreigners and forcing them to live in misery, without water and electric and with the knowledge that their homes, whether 'legal', 'alegal' or 'ilegal', are worth nothing, over in the Valencian region, the insidious institution of the 'land-grab' is evidently returning, so it's not safe there either. Our ludicrous politicians are certainly catching the news across the whole of Europe and making a firm statement to potential foreign investors and settlers: don't buy in Spain.

A Spaniard reading this might think that I hate Spain, but I don't. Like most foreigners who live here, I love this country and I wish her well.

Regarding the Valencian issue, mentioned at the end of this article, this finca is actually at the top of the street where I have a house.  I had heard about the attempted land grab many years ago and was told it had been appealed.  There is an article in this week´s Euro Weekly News about it, and it states that the owners of the finca "assumed" they had won their appeal against losing part of their garden for development, as they had heard nothing for 7 years.  I would have thought that their lawyers would have told them if they had won????  The bank who repossessed several plots of land and properties from the builder, San José, have now sold this plot on, and the new owners want to claim the full plot of land which they have bought and plan to build on.

This finca is a deightful property with lots of animals, and it would be a great pity if the law allowed this land grab from so many years ago to stand.  At that time we had a corrupt PP council who left an incredible mess in parts of this area, and the new council is working hard to sort it out now.  Apparently the owners of the finca are seeing the Mayor today, but it will clearly depend on what the outcome of that appeal was, all those years ago.  The current council is committed to stamping out corruption and protecting the environment, but it is a slow process.

As the article quoted says, there is a huge demand now in this area for new builds, and the banks are selling off lots of abandoned urban plots of land, left over from the crash.  It is such a pity that these draconian laws are still influencing the market today and my sympathies go out to the owners of the finca.  As ever, the advice is to get everything in writing, and don´t assume that you have won a court case because you haven´t heard anything for a number of years.

I don´t think this is an issue of land grab returning, however, as the article says, as it is actually the resurrection of a case which people thought was over and done with years ago.  

Here is the link to the article in the Euro Weeklly News:

http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/costa-blanca-south/item/116392-family-fights-to-save-garden-from-developers?utm_source=%22Euro+Weekly+News+Newsletter%22&utm_campaign=649ccf7d04-Euro_Weekly_News_Newsletter_04_10_201310_4_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7c6a1e9de-649ccf7d04-406165469

It's hard to imagine what more Spain can do to cripple its property market (and economy in general)....meanwhile back in Blighty, it seems the idiots in government are doing everything they can think of to create another property bubble. If only the Spanish & British politicians could get together and work out how to arrive somewhere in between the two extremes!

Page 15 of todays Daily Mail is helping Spain out no end.

There is an article in this week´s Euro Weekly News about it, and it states that the owners of the finca "assumed" they had won their appeal against losing part of their garden for development, as they had heard nothing for 7 years.  I would have thought that their lawyers would have told them if they had won???? 

Maybe not. My lawyer tells me that in Spain cases are seldom really won or lost but all the courts really do is defer decisons and refer cases to other courts until one of the parties loses interest or runs out of money and backs down. So you could assume that because the other party hasn't appealed a decison that they've accepted defeat, but if they're vindictive they may come back many many years later and start all over again. Of course when the other party is the government, anything is possible.

My personal story is a storm in a teacup in comparison. A grumpy absentee neighbour who i have never actually seen face to face (the house is inahbited by tenants) claims I have damaged his fence. He wasn't able to produce much credible evidence to back up his claim and we haven't heard anything from the courts for years but my lawyer says not to assume the case is permanenty dead so I have a little fighting fund on the side just in case.

Perhaps it's time for those abused to set up an AVAAZ campaign https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/ to bring attention to the worldwide media so as to place sufficient pressure on those in the Spanish Government (and the EU Commission for that matter), by calling for an end to ALL RETROSPECTIVE ABUSES of this nature, with timely compensation for all those who through no fault of their own have been subjected to demolition of their homes.

I'm sure there would be many thousands who would support a campaign of this nature if it is carefully worded so as to concisely identify the realities and demand effective independent regulation.

And whilst the're about it why don't those campaigners join up with campaigners such as Keith Rule to highlight the Bank Guarantee abuses, where potentially thousands of innocent offplan purchasers have had their deposited monies effectively stolen and have been denied their inalienable rights according to an existing Spanish Law.

It beggars belief what has been happening in Spain during this last decade.

There must be many thousands of Spanish residents who must be equally abhorred by the impact that this is having on their economy.

I merely ask the question, might this be the time for all those campaigning for justice in Spain on such significant issues as this to come together with their respected voices and campaign collectively and effectively on a much wider scale and bring with them their demands for credible solutions to hasten an end to this unregulated property and Banking industry in Spain? 

The other option is to wait for decades for reform and/or justice. But history to date suggests that this will remain a legal lottery with inconsistent judicial rulings, that in-fighting at local and regional levels will continue to place consumers at great risk, that increasing court delays will significantly compromise the due process of law, that developers, Banks, lawyers will remain unregulated and unaccountable for their actions.........

I wonder just how bad this will become before well respected voices will have to join forces to stop this mayhem?