“The appeal that the Chamber makes is that before people acquire these houses, or land to build wooden houses, they do not do so without informing themselves with the municipal services that are available to provide all the necessary information so that people are not be deceived”, stated Vítor Aleixo.

For the mayor, contact with municipal services will “avoid unnecessary problems and expenses”. According to Vítor Aleixo, 691 illegally located houses have already been identified in the municipality.

On January 17, the Council began procedures to demolish 25 houses and there are another 116 in the pipeline to follow the same type of process, with 200,000 euros budgeted for the current year to follow up on these cases.

According to Vítor Aleixo, the city government will move forward to “take administrative possession” of the houses, unless people leave the houses voluntarily and have them demolished.

The mayor estimates that those who do not comply with the decision will have one to two months to abandon their illegally built homes.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in illegal construction in the municipality of Loulé, especially through the installation of wooden or modular structures on rustic land.

In most cases, according to the City Hall, these constructions are intended for precarious housing that does not meet legal requirements.

The buildings in question are in many cases located in areas subject to administrative easements or public utility restrictions, as stipulated in the Municipal Master Plan (PDM) in force, namely in areas classified as National Agricultural Reserve (RAN) and National Ecological Reserve (REN).

According to Loulé City Council, the recent change to the Urbanization and Building Legal Regime (RJUE), in force since January 8, establishes the application of this regime to modular constructions.

These are defined as “structures that use modular construction systems, produced partially or entirely in a factory, and which can be fixed or transportable”.

These constructions are considered urban operations that require a prior favourable opinion from the City Council, without prejudice to the need for opinions from other entities, as stipulated in the RJUE or in specific legislation.

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