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.

Rented student flats in Spain

‘Mini flats’ for students available from 2009

María Antonia Trujillo, Spain's Housing Minister, has announced that under the Government’s housing programme, up to 10,000 student ‘mini flats’ will be built on university campus’s all over Spain.

The Vice president, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, recognised that 80% of rented housing was rented out to young people. It is estimated that there are approximately 1.2 million University students in Spain out of which between 20 and 30% live away from home, mostly in shared student flats or residences.

The government-subsidised student flats will measure between 30 and 45 square metres and consist of one or two bedrooms with a communal living area. They will cost between 75 to 200 euros per month depending on the city and type of flat and the government intends to invest 300 million euros in the construction of up to 10,000 flats under on land owned by universities.

According to the Spanish housing minister, the programme, which forms part of the Spanish Government Housing Programme, is designed to help the mobility of students and encourage more equality of opportunity.

The mini-flats will be available to rent for up to five years in rotation and will be managed by each university. Madrid's Carlos III University will be one of the first to have mini flats available to rent - at present it is awaiting approval to start constructing its first mini flats.

Valencia Land Law debated in the European Parliament

This week the European Parliament debated and voted on the recommendations of the Fourtou Report on the controversial Ley Reguladora de la Actividad Urbanistica (LRAU).

The law, known by those who protest against its consequences as the Valencia land grab law was originally designed to make sure that areas under development had sufficient infrastructure (roads, street lighting, green belt areas etc.). That was the the theory. However in practice the law has meant that property developers are able to apply to build on land already belonging to other owners where building is not permitted. When their application is approved (as it often is), the land is reclassified by the authorities, and the developers are then allowed to pay exisiting owners prices far below the real market value and build a road, a path or even part of a golf course, sometimes right through the middle of the former owner's back garden.

Most of the people affected by this law are Europeans who have seen their dreams of a perfect Spanish home in the sun shattered by ruthless developers. More than 15,000 people have made a formal protest asking the European Parliament to intervene, and the protest group set up to fight the LRAU, Abusos Urbanísticos No, has been active in attracting national, international, political and media attention to a growing problem and demanding a solution. And recently British law firm Irwin Mitchell decided to register land law victims with the European Human Rights Court .

Valencia's regional government promised in 2003 to revise and reform the LRAU, but seems in no rush to do so. A pre-project was presented to the Valencian parliament in June this year, but nothing has yet come of it. While the government insists that its intention is to change the law and protect the interests, and land, of property owners, opposition and protest groups allege that it is prevented from doing so from the interest of many of its members in the property development underway in the region.

Ever since local and foreign property owners started their active protest, the Government has come under increased pressure to do something. In the Summer a delegation of Euro-MPs visited the Costa Blanca and met with foreign residents, local politicians and property developers to discuss the problem. In November the European Parliament advised the Valencian authorities to modify urban development legislation in the region. And finally this week on 12th December the European Parliament discussed the Fourtou Report and endorsed its contents in a vote on the 13th by a massive majority of 550 in favour, 45 against and 25 abstentions. The Report calls on the European Parliament to urge a moratorium on the approval of new property developments on land where development is not permitted.

Any body considering buying property with land in the Valencian Region is advised to seek legal advice from a lawyer who can help with the necessary investigation to ensure that the land attached to the property is not in danger of being subject to eventual seizure by property developers.


Related:
EU homeowners and ambassadors challenge Valencian land laws
European Parliament delegation visit Valencia to challenge Land Laws
Valencian landlaws "unconstitutional"
Advice from the British Embassy to people purchasing land in Valencia

New state property rental agency ready for business in Spain

The Spanish Housing Minister, Maria Antonia Trujillo, yesterday announced that Spain's new public property rental agency is ready for business with 1,500 properties to rent which will be available for rental as from October.

1,200 properties have been registered with the agency by private owners, and the rest are flats and apartments in state-owned buildings.

Trujillo said that several Spanish ministries owned buildings which would be converted into flats and registered for private rental with the state agency. The minister said the agency would use this month to make any last-minute improvements and reforms to the properties on the new register, and to negotiate the rent with owners. She said the rent fixed by the agency would be just below market rates. In October a campaign will get underway to promote the properties and attract tenants.

When the government announced the creation of this new property rental agency in Spain a few months ago, its objective was to rent 1,000 properties during the first year, and 25,000 by the end of the legislature in an attempt to encourage and professionalise the property rental market in Spain.

Related:
The right of tenants to purchase rented property in Spain