These VPOs (government-subsidised housing) belong to a company that went bust when the housing crunch came in. However a new company has reached a deal with the owners (a bank) and has purchased them so that they can be completed.

The housing consists of 16 terraced houses and 30 flats, almost all of them with four bedrooms. The urbanización also has a public area in the form of a small square.

Work began in 2008 but then ground to a halt as the housing bubble burst and since then it has laid dormant. Over the years vandals have stripped out fittings etc and squatters have also come and gone until they were all finally ejected by the police after causing problems with the locals.

Several development companies had shown interest over the years but it has been this last one, Oliva Premium, that has reached a deal with the bank. However, a deal must also be struck with Salobreña Town Hall, which could be tricky.

As mentioned above, the housing projects was for VPOs and for that reason the Town Hall made financial concessions but as these houses and flats will no longer be VPOs, the Town Hall wants compensation; i.e., if not economic then concerning some other benefit for the municipality.

Another point is that Oliva Premium hasn’t taken on the whole of the urbanización but rather 97% of it because some of it (garages) went to Sareb and other companies. This will cause an administrative headache, which will have to be sorted out before they are sold to prospective homeowners. This will not, however, stop the building company from completing the building work.

The actual construction work that will be used by Oliva Premium is a local one called Goyco Building

Finally, there has been no mention of the young couple who put their savings down as a deposit all those years ago. Will Olivia Premium return their money, or has the bank already done so, for that matter?

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)