Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)A TOTAL of 225 illegal homes built in Marbella under the GIL party have been legalised.
And Marbella Town Hall expects a further 1000 homes to be regularized before the end of the year under the new General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).
The announcement, made yesterday, revealed the first urbanisations concerned are Santa María Green Hills, in Las Chapas, and El Palmeral in Nueva Andalucía.
And in return for their new legal status the promoters of the developments must pay 1.3 million euros in compensation.
In the first case, the developer, Vista Golf Marbella SL, must pay more than half a million euros and carry out improvements to the road which runs in front of the urbanisation.
And the developer of El Palmeral, Vasand Investment, must cede 3,000 square meters of land to be used for social housing and another area of over 3,500 square meters to be transformed into a park, in addition to monetary compensation.
According to the Town Planning Officer, Pablo Moro (PP), this is “a key milestone in the standardization process.”
He added: “It opens a long-awaited new scenario that will benefit both those who bought in good faith and the general public.”
Are the developers likely to still be in profit? If so they may still be tempted to do it again.
Anthony, the developers knew this would happen all along. They will most certainly do it again unless better enforcement is implemented, and that is unlikely given the way “Spanish law” is goverened i.e. like the Wild West.
It is quite disgusting that one municipality can legalise such properties, and another cannot. This leaves the people with retrospectively “illegal” houses in total limbo. There should be a nationwide solution to this issue.
Marbella has a lot of foerigner property owners with money/clout – I wonder if this has anything to do with it.
LFO now granted-the Developers have WON! They were fined and are getting off VERY lightly! What about the poor Brits who contracted to buy SEVEN years ago? More than FIVE years have past since their contract completion date. They have had NO used or enjoyment of their deposit money (a third) for 7 years, the balance (two thirds) is now worth a THIRD less due to currrent poor exchange rates! The worry of all this has affected our health-but we are now expected to PAY UP! Remember, WE did nothing wrong. The Marbella planning officials were jailed for CORRUPTION! If the Spanish had any INTEGRITY they would return all deposit money, tear up the contracts and start afresh! But we are Foreigner and therefor not worthy of any respect. The Spanish should hang their heads in SHAME – its a NATIONAL DISGRACE!!!
If anyone reading this has bought a property on Green Hills in Elviria, please respond to this thread. I have been pursuing a court case (we won the first hearing but it is waiting appeal) for about five years. Would like to share experiences in the interest of deciding what to do next!
Greg,
I am in the same position although we have also won the appeal back end of last year. The court has awarded our deposit back plus interest but I have yet to see anything returned. My understanding is the developer can now appeal the appeal! It’s all crazy. Our whole life has been turned upside down because of this. Legally I am now due my money back and this has been claimed by my lawyers. I am speaking to my lawyers next week for an update. Really do not know what to do next but happy to share experiences with others.
Hi Greg, Jeff
I too purchased a property on Santa Maria Green Hills in Elivria in 2002 and paid a 30% deposit. The Spanish courts (district and appeal) have ruled in favour of the developer, which is outrageous! Our solicitor has advised that we have no further legal recourse. Please can you contact me so that we can share our experiences.
Geog, Jeff
Have you had positive outcomes on your legal actions? Our group of 100 British families have not succeded in getting any money back from the developers
Hi – I’d almost forgotten about this site! I’m still pretty much in the dark as to what is going on. Our lawyers have been silent since the last appeal was lodged by the developer against our further ‘victory’ in the courts(the appeal that we were originally told was not possible for the developer to lodge).
I’ve just got so sick and tired of anything to do with Spain – I thought Russia was probably the most corrupt place on the planet until I dealt with Spain…
However I’d be happy discuss this with anyone who wishes.
Greg
Jaz
If you are still around, let me know – efforts to provide a way to contact me directly on here are deleted by the moderator. So we’ll have to do it this way for now.
Greg