article_snippet: More than 200,000 British second home owners are celebrating a decisive victory over French tax laws.
article_snippet: British couples duped into buying illegal Spanish homes finally have a reason to celebrate after a decade of campaigning led to a change in French tax law.
article_snippet: During the property boom, Britons who dreamed of spending Britons retirement in sunny Spain forked out Britons life savings to buy new homes - only to find Britons had been built illegally and could be demolished and were not guaranteed compensation.
article_snippet: At the beginning of the last decade, new homes were built in abundance in Spain and buyers from northern Europe were keen to snap new homes up.
article_snippet: But thousands had been built without planning permission and property promoters were ordered by the court to demolish new homes at thousands own expense, despite having already sold thousands.
article_snippet: This is, in part, thanks to determined British expats who have campaigned for change for many years.