An amnesty for illegal constructions?
Text: Anja Sämann-Gutschick & Armin Gutschick
In March 2014, the new Balearic building regulations were approved and published in BOIB number 043 on the 29th of that same month. This law has been ratified and put into effect by the Consell and it is now down to the municipalities in Ibiza to ratify and apply it.
These new regulations allow illegal constructions to be legalised over the next three years, as long as they fulfill certain requirements. This timeframe to get a retroactive building permit will start to count as soon as the municipalities have ratified and started to apply the new legislation.
Legalising illegal constructions, that is, being part of this sort of amnesty, is possible under the following circumstances:
• Buildings on rural land (rústico) that are outside of building regulations and which have been built without a building permit.
• Buildings that have not been denounced in the last 8 years and that do not have any unresolved disciplinary actions.
• They must not be within land that is protected by the Natural Areas Legislation or, if it is, then its construction must be prior to 1991.
It is advisable to employ the services of a reputable architect for the legalisation process. The legalisation request must be presented at the corresponding Council and discussed with their town planning department. Together with the application, the measures and quality specifications of the building in question must be presented. The Council will verify whether or not the building is apt for legalisation and will calculate a theoretical price for the construction. The costs of the legalisation procedure depend on the size of the building or of the parts of a building that want to be legalised. The municipal building permit which should have been paid when it was built will cost approximately 5% of the theoretical price of the build. Also, a fine has to be paid, the amount of which will depend on the theoretical price and on when the request is presented (in the first year, the fine will be 15% of the value of the building, 20% in the second year and 30% in the third).
Basically, the new building regulations offer owners a unique opportunity, limited to a period of three years, during which to legalize the buildings that have been built or extended without the necessary building permit. •
