Court overrules the Junta on illegal houses

AUAN reports that a recent judicial decision appears to provide a glimmer of hope for the owners of illegal houses. An Almeria judge rejected the Junta’s reasons to nullify a licence of first occupation granted by Albox Town council, thus allowing the homeowners to contract water and electricity.

According to the ruling the house was constructed several years ago on non urban land without a building permit and any administrative action against it was proscribed as out of time. After satisfying several requirements, Albox Town council granted a license of first occupation to this property under a special regulation which was created specifically to deal with this type of housing classified as ‘fuera de ordenacion’; that is to say constructed without a building permit  but untouchable by the administration.

The Junta challenged the license of first occupation on the grounds that there was no building permit for the property and that these houses should be regulated by an urban plan. The judge indicated that the administration “cannot in any way ignore reality” and that it “cannot prevent houses that are fuera de ordenacion from obtaining services which grant them the normal conditions of habitability”.

He also said that if the repair and maintenance of such houses is permitted, common sense dictates that they should also have services, especially when the license of occupation was granted under the strict terms of a special regulation that was not challenged by the Junta when it was created.