Relief for owners of irregular homes in Andalucia

OWNERS of irregular homes across Andalucia breathed sighs of relief on Wednesday (July 20), as the Andalucian parliament approved modifications to the LOUA (Andalucian Land Planning Law) which will save between 20,000 and 25,000 homes from demolition.

The changes, SOHA (Save Our Homes Axarquia) association representative and Mayor of Alcaucin, Mario Blancke, explained, will allow the owners of these homes, mostly expats who bought property located in the Axarquia (Malaga) and Almanzora Valley (Almeria) areas in good faith and later discovered they were illegal, peace of mind after years of nightmares.

However, Blancke stressed, the modifications to three articles of the LOUA in no way aim to atone those who have purposely committed planning offences, and will only affect homes built more than six years ago which are not in flood or special protection areas.