Charlie Smith
THE roller coaster ride that is Andalucia’s illegal homes saga has seen another twist as a new law comes into force.
Decree 3/2019 allows some 327,000 illegally built properties in the region to be environmentally and territorially adapted.
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Under the legislation, homes older than six years and not built on protected or flood risk land are able to gain assimilado al regimen de fuera de ordenacion (AFO) status.
Effectively this allows homeowners to access services legally and register their property at the Land Registry.
The development will allow some of the many expats, who were duped into buying what they thought was a normal home, connection to water or electricity.
Maura Hillen, president of the homeowners campaign group Abusos Urbanisticos Andalucia (AUAN) welcomed the decree, while recognising it does have its limits.
She said: “It has been a long and difficult road for homeowners and I am glad that the recent change in the government of Andalucia has brought new impetus and new eyes to this issue.
“The decree is not a magic wand solution but it is a practical and workable one, which gives the majority of our members a way out of a situation that was not of their making.”
Meanwhile right wing party Vox has slammed the legislation, which has been brought in by the PP and Ciudadanos-controlled Junta, which it supports.
Vox parliamentary spokesperson Alejandro Hernandez said: “It does not create substantial progress, despite the euphoria that is intended from the Junta.”
Left wing environmental party Ecologistas en Accion has also condemned the move, arguing that it will ‘open the field to illegal construction.’
A spokesperson for the left wing group said: “We are totally against the regularisation of illegal housing, because in the end it will just encourage more.”
