Ronda Town Hall first in Andalusia to implement Home Regularisation
After years of legal uncertainty, tireless campaigning seems finally to have paid off for expat home owners who became victims of Andalusia's land grab scandals and planning permission shambles. At a time when the Spanish housing market is finally seeing improvements, the construction sector is projected to grow by 3% and record numbers of tourists surge to the Costas, Ronda Town Hall has taken the initiative and made use of a decree recently issued by the Junta de Andalucía.
Ronda, a beautiful historic hill town about an hour's drive from Marbella, will be the first town in Andalusia to put into effect urban planning changes that will eventually permit thousands of expat-owned homes to be regularised.
When Spain's construction boom was at its peak, before the property market collapsed in 2008, many developers illegally used rural land to build new houses. Many of these properties were purchased unwittingly by expats naively believing their solicitors had checked all planning permissions were in order. However, widespread corruption in planning departments and town halls meant that when the crash came, illegally constructed homes all over the country were under threat from demolition.
A recently issued decree by the Junta de Andalucía will permit expat homeowners to obtain a Licence of First Occupation, the first step towards regularisation of their properties. The licence is available for properties more than six years old.
Instilling Confidence into Andalusia's Residential Home Sector
The decree couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Earlier in August 2015, property experts kyero.com reported that Spain's construction sector is predicted to grow by 3% this year, following seven consecutive years of declines. This projection comes from the Risk Management and Credit Service Society Cesce, who carried out the research.
Cesce's report suggests that the greatest growth will not come from new builds, but from restoration and maintenance (+3.9%), followed by non-residential construction (+3.2%). Residential construction is forecast to grow by a more modest 2.8%, with construction of an initial 45,000 new homes to begin this year.
Last year the number of applications for construction licenses amounted to 58,776, a small 0.06% increase compared to 2013. It was, however, the first growth registered after 7 years of slumping figures in the sector.
By contrast, in 2006, when the residential housing sector was booming, the construction industry applied for 911,000 licenses. The following year, the sector recorded 641,419 completed new homes - while last year the construction sector only managed to complete a total of 46,795, representing a 93% fall over that period.
However, 2014 showed improvements with regard to house sales, according to property portal kyero.com. The sale of homes rose by 21.6% compared to 2013, which 365,594 homes being sold across the country. These figures indicate, it's high time to purchase that Marbella dream home, for prices won't stay this low for much longer!