Spanish residency permits with home purchase plan damaged by demolitions

The endless confusion and heartbreak being caused by Spain’s answer to corruption within the construction industry is likely to rebound on those who purchase expensive homes to obtain residency permits.

The government’s hamfisted attempts to deal with the expat property scandal by enforcing regional interference in legally built homes is expected to result in a million demolitions. 100,000 homes, many of which received local planning permission, are set for demolition at the present time as regional governments have reversed the given permission.

At the same time, the government is encouraging wealthy non-EU citizens to purchase expensive properties in order to be given permission to reside in Spain.The government is also aggressively marketing the country’s estimated three million empty homes at bargain prices designed to appeal to expat retirees.

Bargains there may be, but the much-publicised list of ‘clean’ homes for sale includes a number which should never have been built, or which have already had their planning permission reversed. The Daily Mail’s Money Mail recently ran a survey of the list, set up on the Spanish government’s website, and proved that some had already been served demolition orders.

To make matters worse, estate agents in popular emigration regions are selling bargain-basement homes which have been either illegally built or are subject to regional government demolition orders. Reporters conducted the estate agents concerned, none of whom mentioned any problems with the legality of the properties discussed.

Another ploy used in the government’s marketing push is to quote local land registries, but the reality is that many demolished properties are still shown on the lists as are many awaiting demolition. In many cases, illegally obtained planning permission details are still linked to properties for sale.

Real estate lawyers are recommending that potential expats check everything twice. Given the complexity of the scandal, a better idea might be to buy in another country.