REGISTRATION OF «PRESCRIBED CONSTRUCTION» ESTABLISHED BY ARTICLE 20.4 OF THE LAND ACT NO. 2/2008. TWO CONTRADICTED REFORMS: 2011 AND 2013.

Abstract

The Royal Decree-Law No. 8/2011 introduced a new Para. 4 in Article 20 of the Land Act No. 2/2008 giving statutory status to the procedure of registration record for the declaration of the situation commonly known as «prescribed construction», previously referred in Article 52 of the Royal Decree No. 1093/1997, and including notable innovations. The main innovation is the requirement of prior certification by the municipalities of the declaration of being the construction «out of planning». The new provision established the content that such a declaration must have in order to be recorded in the registration entry. Two years later, after strong criticism from several sectors, the change of the Central Government and the corrective interpretation done by the DGRN, the Act No. 8/2013 amended Article 20 (-4) of the Royal Decree-Law No. 8/2011 radically, and this certifications is no longer needed under Central State legislation and the legislation of the Autonomous Regions whose exclusive competences concur in subject-matters of interest for the supervision of land use and building activity.