Junta reminds councils that they cannot legalise homes

ANDALUCÍA (Source: El País/ Photo: illustration only) The Junta's Department of Public Works and Housing has had to remind local authorities that they do not have the authority to legalise housing even if the infraction -building on non-buildable land (suelo no urbanizable) has prescribed after the four years set by law. The reminder comes after the department has noticed that many councils have approved a growing number of municipal ordinances regarding the assimilation of housing that exceeds the ordinances as established in the Ley de Ordenación Urbanística de Andalucía (LOUA) and the Reglamento de Disciplina Urbanística de Andalucía (RDUA) because that means an indiscriminate legalisation of housing built on non-buildable land.>
The law in Andalucía stipulates that housing on non-buildable land, not subject to disciplinary procedures, after four years remain in a limbo called fuera de ordenación (out of ordination) and cannot be assimilated or integrated into town planning ordination.

"Assimilation does not constitute a procedure of legalization in the strict sense, but rather a regime of tolerance," says the Junta's reminder. Only those houses or buildings that meet the requirements of the LOUA may obtain 'first occupation licenses' (licencias de primera ocupación) and are connected to farming or forestry concerns.

"We do not want false expectations to arise among property owners who think their homes will become totally legalised, nor should they pay for permits or licenses that have absolutely no legal basis, and which could later result in legal problems," says the Director General for Town Planning, Daniel Fernández.

Given the enormous proliferation of building on suelo no urbanizable in Andalucía, which some organizations have estimated to be about half a million, the Junta is preparing a decree aimed at 'normalizing' these homes. The decree will establish the possibility that the homes can obtain a permiso de pervivencia ('survival permit'the effect of which is similar to that of the first occupational license, as long as they meet a series of requirements and have essential infrastructure (electricity, water, etc.) supplied by the proprietors without impacting on public money.

Apparently there has been much confusion about these homes, which are not being legalised in the strictest sense, but which is the sense that has been publicized by most of the councils involved.