Spanish constructors want more land to build on

In a congress organized by APD Spain’s main construction companies have said that the price of property could rise sharply within two years if more land is not made available for new buildings.

Fernando Martín, the president of Fadesa, complained that the procedures for making land available to build on could take up to six years in Spain when in other countries such as Morocco or Mexico it had been reduced to just one and a half years.

He also claimed that the price of new flats in Spain would not go down and interest rates would not rise any further in contrast with the predictions made by many experts.

Martin pointed out that since the local elections earlier this year no land had been processed for new construction. He said that the way that the law was being applied was prejudicing the construction industry in Spain.

Furthermore, the group of Spain’s main construction companies known as the G14 said that more land needed to be made available for new buildings because they only built the flats that people wanted to buy and insisted that the demand for new flats wouldn’t drop from between 450,000 and 500,000 per year.

Martín warned that employment levels could be affected if the disincentive to build new demand for new properties continued and that according to his figures the promotion of new property could drop by up to 60% as it did over the last six months.

Spanish building development continues despite no water license

Yesterday it was reported that a Spanish building promotor in Avila had begun demolishing forests and clearing land to carry out a massive building project without even having obtained a water license. This means that the construction company will be unable to guarentee water supply to possible property buyers.

Not only have an estimated 6700 trees been cut down in an ecologically sensitive area near Villanueva de Gómez (Ávila) in order to clear land for the construction work but the construction company in charge has no way of supplying the 7,500 homes it is planning to build with water because it has been denied a water license.

According to the article published in El País yesterday, despite the lack of license, the regional government of Castilla y León, run by the PP (Spain’s main opposition party), has given authorisation to the construction company to go ahead with building 3 golf courses (at a cost of a further 10,000 trees) ignoring technical reports that said the plans were absurd and without justification.

The local water authorities has revoked the water license on the grounds of the water table in this area being contaminated by arsenic. The present population of Villanueva de Gómez which number only 156 inhabitants is currently supplied with water by lorries and its inhabitants drink only bottled water. In June 2005, the construction company was awarded the rights to 771,363 cubic metres of water per year which was in addition to the 180,000 cubic metres that it already had which meant that the company had enough water to start work. However, it falls well short of the 2.5 million cubic metres of water required per year to supply the 22,000 inhabitants which could be living in ‘La Favera’ within a few years with water.

Furthermore, the area in question is important ecologically because it provides a habitat for a lot of wildlife including imperial eagles which are an endangered species in Spain. Because a building permit was granted to the previous owners of the land over 25 years ago ,the permission to build homes there was given without the need for an environmental survey although ecological groups such as SEO/Birdlife together with Comisiones Obreras insist that it is necessary. Large parts of the area have already been prepared for construction work with many zones already under tarmac and, according to environmental groups up to 10,000 trees have already been felled.

According to the article, the construction company intends to go ahead with its plans to build the homes and golf courses despite the lack of water and despite the looming housing market crisis in Spain.

New land law for Spain

Zapatero promises new land law will fight corruption

This week the Spanish president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, assured congress that the new land law will fight against corruption and speculation. He said that town halls and local government had a pivotal part to play in its application.

During the final debate in congress Zapatero said that the conditions under which urban development had taken place would change although he added that would be difficult to put right mistakes made in the past.

He said that the law was aimed at stopping property prices, which in recent years have grown disproportionately despite the fact that the housing market has begun to slow down.

The President highlighted the support for the new land law in parliament and said that the period in which the number of state subsidised housing had decreased would be corrected, the landscape and the environment would be protected and corruption would be confronted.

During this speech in congress Zapatero spoke a great deal about measures against speculation and corruption included in the land law. He underlined the need for transparency and control over urban development and guaranteed to stamp out any corruption in the public sector.

Zapatero said that the new law would show who benefited from decisions taken in town halls and gave more power to public meetings.

He also assured that the law would promote sustainable urban development and put a stop to the idea that any area could be urbanised. He also spoke of a new system of evaluation the value of land. He said the law protected individuals and spoke of citizens not property owners.

His speech was greeted by a long ovation in congress.

Dangers of buying property in the Region of Valencia

Foreign Residents Association warn against buying property in the Valencian Region

The Association of Foreign Residents called ‘Citizens of Europe’ based in Altea, Alicante sent out a press release yesterday in which they recommend against buying property in the Valencian Region so long as there is no change in the urban laws there which in their opinion are abusive.

The association has 3000 members, all of whom are foreign residents living on the Mediterranean coast as well as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. However, the majority, two thirds, live in the provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.
Their spokesperson said that in the present situation they could not recommend buying a property in the Valencian region to anyone whether they be Spanish or a foreign resident if urban laws are not radically overhauled as proposed by the European Parliament.

‘Citizens of Europe’ was founded in 1993 following the Maastricht agreement in order to provide information, encourage participation and integration of European citizens in Spain. According to this association overcrowding, illegalities and corruption have been accurately described in a report by the European Parliament Petitions Committee which recently visited the region.

Despite the report and the recommendations made by the European Parliament the Valencian Government has refused to amend urban legislation in order to protect property owners and buyers.

The European Parliament Petitions Committee last week approved the report which received the unanimous backing of all groups apart from the Partido Popular, Spain’s main opposition party. The report was compiled following a visit by the EU Petitions Committee to Almeria, Madrid and the Valencian region last month to investigate the thousands of reports about urban abuses in Spain. It describes many irregularities in urban laws in Madrid, Valencia and Andalucia.

The report recommends creating independent commissions to mediate in disputes over urban projects and that property owners who are affected by new building projects receive adequate compensation.

Last week Michael Cashman, a British member of the EU Petitions Commission, presented 15,000 reports of urban abuse in the Valencian region made by EU citizens.
The European Parliament has asked the Spanish Government and the regional Authorities to recognise the legitimate rights of property owners who acquired their properties legally and to define precisely under what circumstances the appropriation of a property is justified.

In addition it also recommended that regional organisations which defend the rights of their citizens be given the power of arbitration in special commissions which look at disputes over urban planning.

Related:
Urban development in Spain and irregularities
EU to inspect urban policy in the Costa Blanca

EU to inspect urban policies in the Costa Blanca

The Benidorm and Costa Blanca Association of Hotel Owners (Hosbec), and the Association of Property Developers and Urban Planners are meeting today to discuss the visit by a delegation from the European Parliament which will inspect urban policy in the Communidad Valenciana. This is the second visit made by EP delegates investigating the constitutionality of the controversial Valencian land laws. However Hosbec claims that the inspection forms part of a continuing campaign against tourism in the region (a claim which property owners adversly affected by the LRAU could find quite offensive). The European delegation, led by Marcin Libicki, will begin by meeting property owners affected by the LRAU land laws in Orihuela.

Tomorrow the delegation will visit Torrevieja, Rojales, Catral, Tibi, Parcent and Benissa, where it will meet more owners whose properties have been affected by the LRAU. On Friday the delegation will visit Xábia and Valencia, where it will meet Esteban González Pons, a Local Government councillor in charge of urban development and member of the ruling PP Valencian government, who has spoken out publicly against the visit.

Hosbec has accused the visit of damaging the economic and social interests of the Communidad Valenciana and diminishing tourism in the province. It also views the visit as part of a campaign by certain political groups against tourism in the Communidad Valenciana and blames the Socialist Executive.

The Association for Property Developers together with Urban planners has complained of having requested a meeting with the delegation but receiving no reply. They also question the fact that the EU has sent politicians instead of technicians if the question over LRAU was technical. The Association's legal representative has gone as far as claiming that the legislation protecting property owners in the Valencian Region actually goes too far in recognising too many rights and so affected free competition.

In the face of so much opposition from hoteliers and property developers, it will be interesting to see how the visit unfolds and if the delegates are successful in persuading the European Parliament to put further pressure on the Regional Government in Valencia to change the LRAU Law.

Related:
Valencian Land Laws unconstitutional according to the European Commission