The authorisation of illegal housing will be cost free for the government, but not for the owners

The Minister of Public Works and Housing, Josefina Cruz Villalón, has indicated that the illegal houses across Spain will soon be eligible to be recognised in a process “that cannot carry costs for the government”. She has also pointed out that basic services to such housing will made under “conditions of self-sufficiency”, meaning all costs of these utilities and developments shall be borne by the tenants, as decided in the decree being finalised.

In Parliament, the Minister has indicated that the board is finalising the decree in order to recognise those establishments existing in undeveloped land, and though it is still in development they hope that the changes can be made immediately. However, she has pointed out that the buildings constructed on undeveloped land are a complex phenomenon with a variety of cases too different to be resolved in the short term, as they will require the individual cooperation and compromise of the town halls.

She stressed that the process of authorisation where these houses will be incorporated into urban planning should be done by local councils whom will be given the support of the board, but are warned not to cut corners on the process.

“We have to respond to these situations, and aim to provide the tenants legal certainty, removing this administrative limbo”, added the Minister, who has made clear that “this is not a law or indiscrimination, but part of the Law on Urban Planning in Andalusia (LOUA) that though will not make these dwellings legal, but tolerated, recognised and usable”.

In her speech, the Minister has explained the circumstances of this phenomenon, born under a series of conditions including low costs, second-homes and social permission seeing this problem as a development opportunity. She added that “the volume of illegal properties accumulated has very negative effects on land use and social and economic development, forming nuclei of primary residences where there is the messy over-consumption of resources resulting in damage”.

The Minister has explained that the decree will define the different situations depending upon their location, physical characteristics, legal situation and conformity with the urban law. She added that there is a chance that the isolated buildings who confirm to planning laws “with or without authorisation” may be licensed if they reach the conditions of minimal occupancy and safety, and in turn should be able to register at Land Register. On the other hand, she has stated that scattered settlements which do not conform legally may still be able to register due to the restrictions on their demolition.

For those buildings which cannot be legalised nor destroyed the Minister affirms that they “cannot remain in limbo”, therefore, according to the decree being prepared, these properties will be given “recognition” and in turn their use be tolerated if they are able to be self sufficient. Crus Villalón has made it clear that in these cases “the process of authorisation cannot carry any costs for the government” and reiterated that access to basic services of self sufficiency should avoid damage to the landscape or environment. She explained that through this new decree, each building will get a document “attesting to their status and regime” which will put an end to this limbo.

The Minister added that in some cases the buildings cannot be categorised by either situation, and so cannot be authorised due to the special levels of protection on the area where they are built. In these cases the houses are considered “illegal” as they have been created on areas of natural hazards such as floodplains, meaning extra jurisdiction will be required to find a solution for the tenants.

Meanwhile the deputy of the PP Alicia Martínez doubts that the decree can be authorised for so many houses and believes that much time has been lost since 2008 making the situation more complex. In her view, “there has been no connection between what society wants and what has been done”. In this sense, she has criticized the “normative chaos” over the past years in the Andalusia since it has made development and planning very uncertain, as well as the plans of the municipals.

She has also warned that the board “may incur legal fraud” as she says that “analysing the LOUA we doubt that the Andalusian Land laws can be changed with a decree for all, as the two types of land (urban/undeveloped) will require different standards, making the task rather impossible”.

Martinez has asked the board “to be more ambitious, when this Andalusian decree has failed utterly, and has demanded that the Andalusian government processed this grave problem with its highest level of speed possible.