ANDORRA Law and Practice Contributed by: Elena Redondo, Albert Hinojosa and Marc Ambrós, Cases & Lacambra
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law No information has been provided in this juris - diction. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals As a preliminary consideration, Andorra has nei - ther a civil code nor any regulation based on civil law, to the extent that there was no codi - fication process as in other neighbouring civil law countries that are members of the European Union. Consequently, generic provisions in real estate are based on the applicable Roman Law or Digest, as are guarantee rights. Notwithstanding this, the pace of change in the Andorran society has led to the need to develop specific regulations governing land and urban planning ( Llei General d’Ordenació del Territori i Urbanisme ), real estate building, condominiums, urban leasing and emphyteutic census. Additionally, the following normative provisions are relevant in the housing sector: planning instruments, guidelines and specific regula - tions on urban planning and real estate build - ing, as well as projects of national interest and sectorial plans ( Projectes d’interès nacionals i plans sectorials ) and the Plan and the Master Plan of Urban Planning and Development ( Pla d’Ordenació i Urbanisme Parroquial – POUP) issued by the respective town halls ( Comuns ). Over the last few months, the real estate mar- ket in Andorra has been very active, although focused on smaller operations than those observed in previous years. On July 2022, the town hall ( Comú ) of Ordino definitively passed the amendment of the Ordi - nations on subsidiary regulations and building
rehabilitation of the Plan and the Master Plan of Urban Planning and Development by means of the Decree of 22 July 2022. The amendments were introduced in order to reduce the occupa - tion of the plots and the maximum size of build - ings. Likewise, Act 32/2022, 14 September, for the pro - motion of the sustainability of urban development and tourism, and of amendment of the General Act on Land Planning and Urban Planning, of 29 December 2000, and Act 16/2017, 13 July, of Touristic Lodgings has been passed to ensure the sustainable growth of urban development. By virtue of this Act, on the one hand, the Andorran government was mandated to amend the Regu - lations containing the planning guidelines and, once these amendments came into force, the town halls must draw up maximum load capac - ity studies within a maximum period of one year and adapt the Master Plan of Urban Planning and Development to the content of these stud - ies. Thus, during this period, the Act introduces a new requirement for obtaining the approval of any building permit for new construction, partial plan or urban development project, consisting of obtaining a favourable report issued by the com - petent ministries in matters of urban planning and the environment, whereby it will be evaluated whether the infrastructures and facilities of each town hall ( Comú ) can adequately cover the needs resulting from the urban development at stake. On the other hand, this Act also introduced the express suspension of the granting of new authorisations for tourist lodgings in flats and studios for a period of two years as from the entry into force of the Act. However, the Act also provides for an exception to this suspension, in so far as it allows the processing and granting of authorisations that affect lodgings for which it is
17
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook