Marbella Sidelined in Illegal Homes Scandal
By Kevin Barnett, 01 Dec 2005
The Costa del Sol capital, Marbella is to lose its powers to approve residencial building as Andalucia's regional government officially takes over property decisions from 12 December in a bid to stamp out the flood of illegal developments that have blighted parts of the city.
Andalucia Junta President, Manuel Chaves said it did not want to "put the brakes on construction in Marbella but was only seeking to halt illegal building". The decision was announced today after a new Marbella municipal plan revealed that a third of the houses bought in the city, many by British families, are not legal and that up to 5,000 holiday flats and are threatened with being bulldozed.
The Guardian newspaper reported that Marbella town hall approved a thousand building licences in recent years and that, out of 80,000 homes in the resort, only 50,000 have been declared properly legal.
Town hall councillors were accused of failing to review the majority of licences given since 1998 and continuing to give "illegal licences". Most of these were awarded in the 1990s when Marbella was run by the populist mayor and property developer Jesús Gil, who was later imprisoned when one of the hotels he built collapsed killing 58 insurance agents.
Malaga's Association of Builders and Estate Agents criticised the decision of the Andalucia government, saying "things were now working well.”
The move was welcomed by leading specialists, PropertyInSpain.Net, who have pioneered an independent Legal Surety for offplan property throughout Spain. A spokesman said: “Sales in Marbella have been blighted during the time it has taken to sort out the illegal developments. As everywhere else in Spain, we will offer fully legal and licensed new property and ensure the independent Spanish solicitors, who provide our Legal Sureties, work closely with the Andalucia planners on the 8-point safeguards.
“This is working well in Murcia and Valencia provinces where our buyers can see the Legal Surety hallmark on listed properties as they evaluate where to buy.”
Spanish Property News