The below article was written prior to the elections last Sunday, but is still of interest as it looks at many of the urban projects that are still pending and will be beneficial to the Costa del Sol property.
THE issue of illegally built homes is one that affects many thousands of expatriates living in Spain, and in particular areas like the Costa del Sol and Almeria.
The General Plan for Urban Development (PGOU) for Marbella, in Malaga Province, was recently approved and its aims are to restore judicial safety to the town, as well as attempting to solve problems from the past relating to the more than 16,500 illegally built homes.
The population of Malaga province is continuing to increase; however, this growth is mainly due to the presence of foreigners and it must also be said that the increase during the past year has been minimal and the population has grown by only 13,254 inhabitants. The economic crisis has led to a change in migration and the number of foreign residents in Spain has dropped by approximately 100,000.
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At least according to an article on OPP. Leading up to May, Rightmove (leading British property portal) claims that of the 10 searches that have increased the most 50% were for Spanish property locations. Key interest was in Minorca up 9.06%, Marbella up 6.68%, Galicia up 5.96%, Northern Spain up 5.22%, and the Balearic Islands up +3.65%.
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Work on the major infrastructure projects under way in the province of Malaga is soon to feel the effects of the government cutbacks. If during the first couple of years of the downturn public works helped keep the province’s economy afloat, the situation looks set to change. On Wednesday the Minister of Development José Blanco announced where he would make his cutbacks, which amount to savings of some 3,200 million euros on a national level
After all the recent ‘positive-ness’ about property in Spain, potential green shoots, etc… I thought this article by Mark Stucklin was quite interesting. Marbella it looks like has done quite well in this first quarter. Actually more than that, this has been the best first quarter in the last five years. Like Mr Stucklin I am also quite dubious about this information, and I will give the town hall the benefit of doubt as they have been trying to clean up Marbella and its image. Personally I think the statistics are as positive as they are due to postponed completions (due to irregularities, etc…) and probably a slight surge in property in Spain. Anyway here is the article:
Political battle lines are being drawn in Mijas over the 700 properties in the Calahonda Royale development. Home owners in the urbanisation, which is located near the Mijas Costa/Marbella border, just north of the N340, have been waiting for over a decade to be granted the first occupancy licence, ‘licencia de primera ocupacíon.’
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For good news, the new PGOU Urban Plan for Marbella was approved on Friday the 29th of January 2010 by COTUA, the Andalucía Territorial Planning Commission. A vast majority of the properties that had previously been left out of the local town plan have not been fully legalised and many owners after years of stress and worry can now breath a sigh of relieve. Congratulations to the owners of the staggering 18,000 properties that have been affected by this whole mess.
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With the success of the Andalucía Technology Park (Parque Tecnologico de Andalucía) in Malaga, the Junta de Andalucía has declared the establishment of a new Technology Park Marbella.
The head of Innovation, Science and Business for the Junta has said that the new site will cover 197 hectares on land that is currently made up of 300 privately owned estates and is designated as an “area of opportunity” for the Costa del Sol in the POT plan. The idea would be to reach a public-private agreement with the participation of Marbella Town Hall and the landowners along with the regional authority for the development of the project.
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‘This development, being built by one of the largest and most distinguished development companies on the Costa del Sol, is just a three-minute walk from Marbella town centre. The apartments in Banana Beach consist of one, two, three and four bedrooms, fitted to the very highest standards possible.”
Sounds great doesn’t it? You’d never guess from this glowing description that the Banana Beach development was built illegally and has been condemned to demolition. Despite this, the properties are being advertised on websites targeting UK buyers.
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At long last there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Marbella. The long anticipated Marbella PGOU (urban plan) might finally be approved in October. The latest version for Marbella plan, unlike previously announced by the Marbella town hall, was been approved without including illegal properties. It appears that the mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, decided on this course of action after the Junta de Andalucia confirmed that they would no accept any of the proposed modifications to include all existing illegal properties in Marbella within the new plan.
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As many of you undoubtedly know, there are a few illegally built properties in Spain. If any of you saw that show recently “Spain, Paradise lost” you will know that some owners face demolition orders and are hoping and/or fighting that there property will be safe.
According to the Spanish press, Aifos a developer known for such projects as Terrazas de Torreblanca and Las Caballerizas, has been forced into receivership by one of its creditors!
I thought it would be worth writing an article on bank guarantees (aval bancaria) as many people bought off-plan properties during the recent boom in construction here in Spain. So first of all, what is it?
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According to the Junta de Andalucia, of the currently 45.000 unsold properties in the province of Malaga, approximately 20.000 properties are suitable to be converted into VPOs (subsidised housing) and are anxious to do so. To date only around 700 properties have been converted.
