Spain has always been a popular spot for UK holidaymakers and likewise has also enticed many people hoping to invest in property and enjoy the beginning of a brand new life in the sun. Once known for its widespread property bargains, Spain like much of Europe has also come under pressure from the changing economic climate and an unstable market created by the debt crisis.

Once your new home has been completed you need to start thinking about the interior design. With kit homes you might also have to complete the interior, as some homes are built only to lock up stage. Kit homes in Victoria and other states are often built to lock up stage and then owners must put up plaster, do the interior painting, install the kitchens and bathrooms and then think about the interior design.

Spain has enticed the British for years with the promise of a more relaxed way of life in the sun. With over 50 million tourists visiting Spain every year the countries short term and holiday rental market is defying the property market downturn and continuing to grow.

The ownership side of the property market has cooled down since the worldwide recession after an impressive 10 year boom. However, it`s a different story with holiday and short term rental showing a healthy and strong market.

The disgraced ex-Alcaucin mayor and a British developer have been charged over land abuses.

‘Flamenco’ mayor Jose Manuel Martin Alba is accused of handing out illegal licenses for four houses to be built on protected land in El Espino.

Seprona – the environmental protection arm of the Guardia Civil – also charged a British developer with fraud after selling three illegal homes in the area.

Sales of houses in Spain fell 25.5 percent for the month of June from last year, a slowdown in the rate of decline from May, when they dropped 32.2 percent, official data showed Wednesday.

Sales of houses plunged 34.9 percent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2008, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said.

INE did not issue the total number of transactions for the first six months, but listed June’s tally as 35,372.

The drop in housing prices in Spain, where a property bubble burst last year, picked up speed during the second quarter of 2009, falling 8.4 percent over the level at the same time last year, the housing ministry said on Wednesday.

By comparison, housing prices fell at a 6.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter and a 3.2-percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008 as builders struggled to unload inventories accumulated during a decade-long property boom.

The Mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, says she will protect those who purchased in good faith

The P.P. Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, gave a press conference on Thursday in which she made it clear her intention to legalise most of the illegally built property in the municipality, including that constructed during the years of the GIL administration.

Northern Cyprus is famous for its rugged coastline and 38 species of orchid but something much more prosaic has put it in the headlines – its property title deeds.

After Turkish forces arrived in the north in 1974, some 168,000 Greek Cypriots were resettled in the south and their land and houses were sold by the Turkish authorities. Many were bought by Britons, including Linda and David Orams from Sussex .

Estate agents gave the strongest indication yet that the housing market slump is over, reporting that the number of people looking to buy a home is at the highest level in a decade.

The research also indicated that house prices rose in May for the third successive month.

New buyer enquiries have risen every months since November and are currently climbing at the fastest pace since August 1999, according to the latest property market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Housing prices in Spain will fall nearly 30 percent between 2008 and 2011 before they start to recover from the collapse of a property boom, Spain’s second-largest bank BBVA said Tuesday.

In its last forecast for the sector six months ago, the bank had predicted housing prices would drop by 25 percent over the same period.

On Tuesday it forecast housing prices would fall by 10 percent this year and 12 percent in 2010.

House prices have fallen, the supply of mortgages has reduced substantially, and those that are available require a hefty deposit. You will also need an excellent credit rating, and an income that will enable you to borrow enough to buy the house you want.

Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at Moneysupermarket.com, said: “House prices have fallen by an average of 17.5 per cent over the last year according to Halifax’s latest figures.

Armed with a large dictionary, and using a lot of hand gestures, a couple were able to do up the house they had fallen in love with in southern Spain

We bought our cortijo (“farmhouse”) almost 10 years ago. After many years coming out to Spain, spending our holiday time travelling around looking for a place to buy. We found our house through an estate agent, who we stumbled on because we took a few wrong turns looking for somewhere to eat.

The number of foreclosure auctions of homes and businesses more than doubled last year in Spain, official data showed Monday, as people struggled to make mortgage payments amid the country’s worst recession in a generation.

A total of 58,686 foreclosure auctions took place last year compared to 25,943 in 2007, according to the body that oversees Spain’s judiciary, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).

Many investment trusts are domiciled in the Channel Islands because of lower corporation tax and more flexible regulations than in the UK. Their shares are quoted on the London and Channel Island stock exchanges, so investors worldwide can dabble in them easily.

By far the biggest sector among these trusts is commercial property. Channel Islands-based investment trusts own billions of pounds worth of offices, shopping centres and factories worldwide.

The European Parliament has voted in favour of a report criticising Spanish property laws.

The report says Spanish legislation allowing developers to acquire private land below market rates breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.

MEPs were acting on complaints from Britons and other homeowners who feared their homes might be bulldozed.

MEPs say they hope the vote will increase pressure on the Spanish government to change its laws.

‘Extensive urbanisation’

The Ley de Costas has come to Mojacar. The Direccion General de Costas has published a list of some 60 individuals and companies who own property along Mojacar Playa -from Rio Aguas to Cueva del Lobo and Rambla Alfaix- who will be affected by the expropiation of the coastline (100m from high tide, I remind you).

Here’s the list of people who haven’t been officially informed of the process: BOE 10/03/09. Apart from this list there are other people who have been served the documents.

Houses with gardens in central Barcelona are as rare as happy fund managers these days, but Mark Ellis has bucked the trend on both counts. He commutes between his London-based investment fund and his designer Barcelona haven, Calle Septimania 39, a house that stands out not just for its unexpected outdoor space – which includes a swimming pool and pool house – but its lavishly-restored modernist interiors inspired by the creations of Anton Gaudi.

Born into extreme poverty, Francisco Hernando rose from Madrid sewer-cleaner to property tycoon, surfing the wave of Spain’s economic miracle. So why has his dream of building a city in the desert ground to a halt? Alfonso Daniels uncovers a story of ambition, red tape and a whiff of dubious practices.

According to Spain’s largest property valuer, Tinsa, 2009 will end with a further 20% fall in Spanish property prices. The combined effects of the worst recession for fifty years and the excess supply of new homes will result in property prices dropping back to 2005 levels. Tinsa has estimated that unsold new homes will reach 1.5 million by the end of the year. Even during these turbulent times the pace at which houses are being completed is double that at which they are being sold. (Via Xpat)

The European Parliament’s campaigning Petitions Committee approved a damning new report slamming planning loopholes which leave homeowners defenceless against developers seizing part or all of their property.

Thousands of properties in Spain have been demolished without compensation for their owners – many of whom are British expatriates. In some cases, the authorities have even charged the property owners for the installation of local services, even after they have lost their property.