Spanish Land Grab Law Under Fire

The European Commission has threatened Spain with court action unless it changes its so-called land-grab laws by the end of this year. The laws have left thousands of homeowners, particularly in the Valencia area, facing the loss of their property and huge bills says Homeowners Overseas magazine

The 1994 law was passed to ensure community development was not blocked by individual landowners. In practice, the law has often been used by unscrupulous developers to reclassify land and claim it under a compulsory purchase order.

Some 20,000 such orders have been made since the law was introduced and many overseas owners have lost their homes or have been presented with crippling bills for the installation of roads and drainage on grabbed land for which they - quite unbelievably - are liable. The law was amended in December 2005 but the Commission, having been collectively petitioned by some 15,000 aggrieved property owners, says that it still breaches EU procurement regulations and that citizens’ property rights are still not protected.

An EU report on the issue of land grab is due to reach the European Parliament in June. The report says that in a large number of documented cases town councils had concocted urban development plans less because of their real requirements related to population growth and tourism and more because of what often appears as greed.

A statement from the commission says: “Spain now has just two months to provide a satisfactory response to the Commission’s justifiable concerns. If no such response is forthcoming, the Commission, supported by the European Parliament, can take Spain to the European Court of Justice in order that citizens’ fundamental rights to their homes are respected.”

Mark Stucklin, who runs the Spanish Property Insight consultancy, told The Independent that he believes house prices in many parts of Spain will stagnate this year, and stagnate or fall next year. “I think attractive properties in good areas and on the best developments will hold their value in the short-term, and deliver solid returns in the long-term. But when it comes to mediocre property in over-developed areas, all I can say is there is far too much of it around, and I am not optimistic about it,” he said.