The Junta is working on the decree which will enable houses to become legal and hopes it will be ready by the end of this year.

Sur in English | Noticia

“We're just waiting and we're afraid. All the owners are extremely worried, because this could ruin them. We just want the houses made legal once and for all and with no more delays”.

With these words the president of the Provincial Association of Illegal Properties, María del Mar Vázquez, describes the situation faced by owners of illegal houses as they wait for news about the decree which will set out what they will have to do to make their properties legal.

Members of the Save Our Homes Association in La Axarquía region are in the same situation. Most of its 400 members are foreigners. “We don't know what we'll do if the decree doesn't work in our favour. We have presented our recommendations and we just have to wait and see what happens. At the moment everything is up in the air”, says the president of the association, Phillip Smalley.

The decree about the legalisation of illegal properties in Andalucía should have been through within six months of its announcement in March but it is still not ready and the provincial delegate for Public Works and Housing, Enrique Benitez, says it will take until November or December at least.

Processes

This means that the 50,000 owners of illegal houses, of which more than 11,000 are in the Axarquía, will still have to wait several months for the new regulations to come into force so they can begin the process of making their properties legal.

Enrique Benítez says the Junta de Andalucía's legal department has just begun to study the recommendations which were presented by the various authorities in July. “Their suggestions have to be taken into account and the decree must not contravene any existing regulations. Once the legal department has studied it, the Junta's Government Committee will have to approve it”, he explains.

Pessimism

María del Mar Vázquez feels quite pessimistic. “We have been waiting for months to see the general director of Town Planning Inspection, Rosa Urioste. The same with the president of the Partido Popular in Andalucía, Javier Arenas, and the president of the provincial government, Elías Bendodo. Nobody is interested. We have the impression that nobody is doing anything.”

On the other hand, the secretary of the Salvemos Nuestras Casas (Let's Save Our Houses) in the Axarquía, Mario Blancke, says it would not make sense for the Junta to leave the decree until the next legislature. “The Junta will need to have the decree ready before December, because otherwise it will have to leave it for the next regional government after the elections in March. We don't believe they will want to abandon all the work they have done up until now”, he says.

Meanwhile the owners have no choice but to wait, although many fear that the decree will not help them, especially those whose properties had no authorisation whatsoever and cannot be included in the planning regulations. Some may be included in a special classification for this type of property, but that will only be possible if they comply with safety and habitation conditions and have existed long enough for the period when legal action can be taken against them to have expired.

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