Tolox, in Spain’s Malaga province, is set to cancel the building permits for four developments of approximately 1,000 homes.

This is about half the number of properties affected by a court order obtained by the Andalucían regional government confirming that the developments were on land that had not been scheduled for building.

The town mayor, Juan Vera who made the decision, looks set to face town planning charges connected with planning irregularities. He claims the remaining developments to which the regional government objected have been built according to the approved outline plan, but looks to have his work cut out to carry the argument.

This is both because the Junta has already said the court decision is not negotiable, and also the current climate of crackdown on planning irregularities, including prosecution of the leading members of the Marbella town council.

Latest of these to make a court appearance has been former mayor Julián Muñoz who has been jailed without bail pending his trial on corruption charges. His appeal for release was turned down and a sentence announced by the Málaga court last October confirmed.

The court upheld the decision that Muñoz and the six councillors had breached the law when in 1999 they issuing planning permission allowing construction of 150 homes, garages and commercial premises on land classified as a green zone.

Meanwhile local Press is reporting that an English couple, Mark and Linda Sings, are warning other house buyers to check the legal staus of properties before they purchase. The Sings lost their investment after discovering they had been sold an unregistered property, even though the estate agent and their solicitor knew that they could never legally own it.

The Sings have lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.

• Ireland’s Foreign Affairs minister Conor Lenihan has warned Irish property investors to exercise extreme caution when purchasing properties in the occupied territories of northern Cyprus Any future settlement in Cyprus will include provisions for people who claim to have been dispossessed of their property following the Turkish invasion in 1974, he said.

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