A Spanish court has handed down a landmark decision by awarding compensation to four British families who were caught up in the illegal property sales scandal in Andalusia.
Thousands of British people bought properties in Spain in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many of them found out only too late that their homes would never be legal.
A court in Almeria ruled that the four families in question had purchased the properties in good faith.
It ordered the developers to pay "moral damages" of between €40,000 and €50,000 to three families for the suffering and anxiety they have faced over the last 10 years. They must also pay a fourth British family, whose property was never completed, €7,800 in damages to cover their rental costs.
Two developers received one-year prison sentences for planning offences.
The court also ruled that if the developers do not pay then the local council must. The judge decided that the council’s poor controls and performance made it seem that the properties were legal, despite knowing the land could not be built on.
The judge further rules that no demolition could be carried out on these properties, believing that there is a chance they may yet be legalised.
It took a decade for this case to be heard and it may be the first time a court has awarded moral damages to owners of illegally-built properties.
The regional government in Andalusia last month indicated laws could be changed to recognise the properties built on non-urban land.
Some 300,000 illegal homes are in Andalusia.
