British expats ordered to demolish their homes

(Agencies) It has not been a good start to the new year for eight British owners of 'illegal' properties in Albox, Almería. Their Council has notified them of an order to demolish their homes built on non-urbanizable land in this municipality of Almanzora, where there are some 5,000 such illegal construction. The s plan to come out in a demonstration today, as they have done before (photo). The Mayor of Albox, José García (PSOE), says demolition would be 'stupid'. García, who inherited the problem from his predecessor, Francisco Granero (PP), made the decision to notify the orders over the holidays, which has left the proprietors in a state of shock, according to the Abusos Urbanísticos Almanzora No association (Auan) of over 400 British expats affected by the town planning debacle in the area. "One of the couples knew nothing at all about it. Nothing," said its president, Maura Hillen.>

They don't appear to have much room for manouvre to save their homes, as earlier last year the Superior Court of Justice of Andalucía rejected their appeals against the execution of the order even when they had Town all building permits from the very beginning, ten years ago in some cases. However, the present mayor has declined to give a date on which the order might be executed. Neverthelesss, it is almost two years ago that Len and Helen Prior’s home was bulldozed in the same province.

According to The Olive Press, the Junta has been waging an unbalanced campaign against former officials accused of allowing over-development of various coastal regions. Meanwhile, the owners have insisted they had no idea their houses had been declared illegal.

Former builder John Burns, 82, who suffers from a heart condition, said: “We got handed the demolition order just before Christmas. It is so completely unjust. My wife is very stressed out. Everything we have accumulated in our lives has been invested in this project.”

“The first I knew of any problems was when a police officer knocked at the door and gave me the demolition notice,” continued Burns, a pensioner, who emigrated to Spain in 2001 with wife Muriel after suffering a heart attack which forced him to sell his building firm. “It’s a beautiful three-bed detached house surrounded by olive groves. It’s our life’s dream. The expiry date on the notice is April 9. My wife’s been crying from the day we received it. Our Christmas was ruined.”

Christine Payne, a former employee at Legal and General took early retirement to emigrate to Spain in 2000 with her husband Noel, said: “We had our house built in 2002 and moved in the following year. The first I knew of our home being under threat was two days before Christmas when our builder rang to say the police wanted us to go to the local station.

“We haven’t been served with our demolition order yet but we know we’re on the list, continued Payne. “I feel so angry because we’ve got all our paperwork in order. We’re only finding out now that the building licences issued by the town hall were challenged by the regional government and nullified. No-one ever told us or our builder. If the bulldozers turn up we’re going to get as many people inside the house as we can to try to stop them.

“We’re going to get a solicitor but they charge a fortune and all our money’s in our house. I don’t know what we’re going to do if we end up losing it. We’ve only got our state pensions and very small private pensions to survive on.”

Auan is sponsoring an appeal on the grounds of human rights. Maura Hillen said: “We’ll fight these demolition orders on the basis these people’s human rights were infringed because they weren’t informed of the legal proceedings against their homes. Hillen, who also has a home that has been deemed to have irregular paperwork, continued: “The situation is very serious and our lawyer shares our opinion. We’re trying not to terrify people but it’s a frightening prospect. The way these orders were served on people, just before Christmas and without any warning, was very callous.”

She added: “Building licences for all these houses were issued by Albox town hall. The regional Andalucian government impugned them because of a perceived risk of ‘urban nucleus’. At the same time they have given planning permission for 400 more homes just near the town, which been the subject of court action for the last six years but no-one seems to have informed the homeowners. It’s appalling.”

The Priors, whose home was demolished two years ago, are still living in a converted garage in Vera, close to Albox. Auan is co-hosting a candelit vigil on Jan 9 at the site where their home once stood to mark the two-year anniversary of its demolition. The Priors are yet to receive any compensation for the loss of their home.