New homes from hell 2009

I have just been watching the new homes from hell 2009 programme. Don't some people make a rod for their own backs?

A couple bought a plot of land in Valencia for €45,000 to build a property on. It was to be a 4 bed with terrace and pool. Things didn't go to plan for one reason and another resulting in the couple splitting. When the agent came around to value it was valued at around €300,000 in its unfinished state. The woman told the agent they only had permission for a wooden house when a brick one had been built (apparently the architect didn't submit any revised plans), therefore it was now, in effect worthless. They also knocked down some trees, were fined €6000 and told to put the land back to its original state.

It amazes me why some people still think that they can do things abroad which they wouldn't dream of doing at home in the UK and expect to get away with it. Where was the solicitor making sure licenses were in place before commencing? Do they not have building inspectors in Spain to supervise the build? Why wasn't the brick construction pulled up by the council before it got to the stage it was at?

Mark

Hi Mark,

I was in two minds when watching the piece you mentioned last night.

I felt sorry for the couple who have consequently split up and their children and for the financial mess that they now find themselves in. The house and the location looked fantastic and a world away from the concrete jungles of the coast, but and it is a very big one.....

How fantastically naive of the couple to spend such huge sums of money without checking, checking, checking.

• A Brick building that should have been made of wood.
• Trees illegally felled to improve the view.
• Non payment of fines.
• Mortgage arrears.

I fully agree with you Mark. They would not be allowed to get away with this in the UK, so what made them think that they could steamroller over planning laws here in Spain.

Ignorance is no defence as there are plenty of resources available to those who take the time to research them.

To combat such problems, our local Ayuntamiento requires planning consent on virtually all works. It may be an inconvenience but it stops any future problems.

You even need permission to convert part of your Garage into another living room or bedroom, as this changes the epsqm.

I know a LOT of people that have done this in the Urb. where we live and have wondered how many have done so legally.

It is something we are thinking of doing over the coming months am looking at getting the permission done 1st, so who knows might get it done before the decade is out!!!

So as both of you said, what makes people think they can get away with illegal builds when some Developers along the coast are going to have to pull down what they have built, and we are talking Urbs and Hotels that have been built.

I think people are either told some waffle that becuase it's inland they won't get caught or just think that they can 'pay' their way out of trouble, if you know what I mean!

TechnoApe

it could be that so many rules are broken by the rule makers in Spain when it suits them, that some find it hard to believe the 'This is Spain'  attitude only works when the corruption is handled correctly!!

......or is that just to cynical

It is true that there used to be so much corruption and bribery that in order to build something in Spain all you needed was a healthy bank balance and you could get all the permits (spelt - g i v e m e c a s h) you needed.

Things are now changing, slowly, but they are changing, and yes! Even on the Costa Del Sol.

TechNoApe

certainly is 'slowly'.  Yet another corrupt Mayor reported yesterday to have 160,000 euro's hidden under his mattress, congratulated and patted on the back by locals as he left the courtroom.

Seems lies and corruption very  much alive and well, and not even frowned upon by many in Spain. What chance for truth and justice with that attitude?. Would have been nicer to have seen rotten eggs thrown at that mayor, and more deserving of the crime.

Things must surely change as you say, but it's going to take a long long while before attitudes change by the looks of things?

Yes it will take a lot of time, as the Spanish legal system is far to slow, plus is years behind with court cases!

However when you see headlines like this:

www.surinenglish.com/20090303/news/andalucia/mayor-alcaucin-arrives-court-200903040930.html

Then at least you know things are beginning to happen!

It's a long, slow road with lots of twists and turns along the way, but at least the journey has started.

Hence why the people on 'Homes from Hell 2009' weren't able to 'buy' there way out of the hole they got into, a few years ago they could have!

Hello to all,

You talk about corruption, yes. But local curroption. Rules are not changed everyday in this country. You must understand the system in order to know what is right. There are many examples of local Authorities 'deciding' what is right and what is wrong -a few € notes helped to make the decission. However, unfortunatelly most of these cases make it up the legal route, ending up in the Courts -where the laws are clear and applicable to all- and maybe with an instruction to open an expedient to some local mayor, lawyer, register or even Notary ....as well as, of course, to the ones who thought they could get away with it and build a villa for peanuts -while thinking all the rest of us are stupid idiots.

Sorry, but there is no pitty for these people. In Spanish you 'el desconocimiento de la ley no exime de su cumplimiento' which means: 'Ignoring the law does not excuse from its compliance'.

But, having said this, I do think our laws should be more 'efficient' and 'practical'. Rather than demolition to a beatiful and stunning property, make it be auctioned with profits going to the local town hall, or be given a fixed asset value which should then be paid when selling. Something where everybody could benefit from and where the breech of law can be settled.

OMHO.