Post by fabs on Aug 10, 2004 9:30:09 GMT 1
Interesting story
You have probably read the articles in the UK press about the compulsory enforcement of the 1994 Valencian (Spain)community urbanization law. This effectively means that some or all of your land is at risk of being built on by a developer, and that you will have to pay a substantial part of the costs involved!
If the land your property sits on is not properly registered with the Land Registry office, or if you have a building on land that is registered as agricultural, green-belt or marked for any use other than for the building of residential property, you can face the developers building on your land (or your property being pulled down, in the case of green-belt), a hefty bill for them for doing so, and no recourse whatsoever with the Spanish authorities.
This situation has arisen primarily because builders and owners have, in the past (over the last 25 years or so), been very lax in registering land for residential use. Spain has always had very strict zoning laws which have virtually been ignored up until a few years ago. Developers (and the Valencian Government, one supposes) have seen this as an opportunity to make some money, since property values have increased so much in the last 5 years. It makes sense to them to get as many houses up as possible. The more property, the more cash generated.
The law tends to hit people who have bought older properties. Spanish law is very strict with regards to agricultural and farm land. Change of use has to be approved before building or renovation takes place. It is not always approved.
This is nothing new, the law has always been there, it's just that they (Valencia) are now enforcing it because there is money to be made and the developers do all the paper work.
The only advice we can give you is to make sure a full search is done on the property or land before you buy.[glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow][glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow]
You have probably read the articles in the UK press about the compulsory enforcement of the 1994 Valencian (Spain)community urbanization law. This effectively means that some or all of your land is at risk of being built on by a developer, and that you will have to pay a substantial part of the costs involved!
If the land your property sits on is not properly registered with the Land Registry office, or if you have a building on land that is registered as agricultural, green-belt or marked for any use other than for the building of residential property, you can face the developers building on your land (or your property being pulled down, in the case of green-belt), a hefty bill for them for doing so, and no recourse whatsoever with the Spanish authorities.
This situation has arisen primarily because builders and owners have, in the past (over the last 25 years or so), been very lax in registering land for residential use. Spain has always had very strict zoning laws which have virtually been ignored up until a few years ago. Developers (and the Valencian Government, one supposes) have seen this as an opportunity to make some money, since property values have increased so much in the last 5 years. It makes sense to them to get as many houses up as possible. The more property, the more cash generated.
The law tends to hit people who have bought older properties. Spanish law is very strict with regards to agricultural and farm land. Change of use has to be approved before building or renovation takes place. It is not always approved.
This is nothing new, the law has always been there, it's just that they (Valencia) are now enforcing it because there is money to be made and the developers do all the paper work.
The only advice we can give you is to make sure a full search is done on the property or land before you buy.[glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow][glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow]
