Purchase Problems
It is well known that the Spanish system for the sale or purchase of a property is one of the most secure in the world. Nevertheless there are a number of possible problems that can occur.

• Wrong apportionment of community expenses
  
• Fraud by the vendor, where the seller is not the real owner.
  
• Absence of consent to the sale by the vendor’s spouse
  
• Boundaries disputes and absence of, or confusion over, boundary lines
  
• If the vendor purports to sell through a cancelled Power of Attorney
  
• Pre-existing encumbrances against the property, not revealed from the Title registers nor any other public record, nor by the Notario.
  
• If the property is subject to charges or community expenses not disclosed by the Seller or Notario.
  
• Absence of, or anomaly in, or breach of conditions attaching to construction, alterations, extension permits or building consents.
  
• Undocumented right of access to, or egress from, the property, its garage or car parking space.
  
• Existence of an easement of light or right of way not disclosed at completion.
  
• Unknown title defects undisclosed in the title deed which are not physically present nor reasonably discoverable by the insured.
  
• Purchase transaction being declared null retroactively due to previous owner’s bankruptcy. 
  
• The vendor has no legal authority to sell the property.

Similar problems do of course occur in the UK, but at least that is 'familiar territory' for UK buyers, who may naively think all is safe in Spain. It very often is, but these kinds of problems highlight - again - the need for good trustworthy advice and a good trustworthy lawyer.

Illegal Building
It has been the case that some land owners, some builders and some developers have seen the need to obtain proper planning consent for their buildings as being a somewhat 'technical' regulation, capable of being ignored or circumvented. It has even been the case that local authorities granted themselves permission for developments that were patently against the requirements of their own legally endorsed plans, or that of the regional government. And of course, the same local councils have tended to 'grant' permission retrospectively for buildings constructed without permission in the first place. For a small fee . . .

That is in the past. Things are changing radically as the regional government (the Junta de Andalucia) gets tougher and local councils realise that it is in their own best interest - financial and environmental - to police development operations properly. New laws, like the Andalucia Land Law, are stopping building development where once it would be just a matter of course.

The end result of this tougher attitude can be seen on the ground and in the newspapers. Up and down the coast there are some quite large concrete frames and half-completed buildings - without permission - where work stopped many months ago. The newspapers have reports of development schemes where properties have been sold 'off plan' to unsuspecting purchasers (foreign and Spanish) and where the 'expected' permission to build has never been granted, leaving the buyers fighting to get their deposit money back in a reasonable time-span. Meanwhile, the purchasing power of their frozen money declines by the month.

And now rural councils - Cártama's is the most well known - are taking action against hundreds (thousands) of illegal country fincas. Demolition orders have been given - and executed - on houses built on the basis of an unwritten rule that any plot of a certain size would get permission and hence 'legality' for a house built of a certain percentage size, after a wait of a couple of years and the payment of a modest 'fine'. Or built on the basis that 'timber houses in the countryside do not need permission' (they do).

The Junta de Andalucia is even talking action against the notorious Marbella council, famed for massive corruption over development permissions, and threatening to demolish large apartment blocks built contrary to the council's own development plan.

Far from being a 'problem', this is actually all excellent news for Andalucian property buyers and investors, from a number of points of view. Firstly, it means that development along the Costa del Sol, whilst astoundingly vigorous, is not beyond control or out of control. This means that supply should not - out of control - exceed demand (which is itself very high), prompting a 'crash'. Secondly, it also means that proper checks and balances are coming into place that protect the natural environment from inappropriate and poor quality buildings, which helps to protect any investment in a quality property in a quality location.

Once again, it does however highlight the need to be careful - to choose the agent (property advisor), the developer, the development or property, and the lawyer carefully. All along the Costa del Sol there is the dangerously disreputable minority, the mundane majority, and the exceptionally good minority. Make sure you go for the latter - it's not that difficult - and the result will be both peace of mind and success.