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British government intervenes to help expats caught in Spanish property scams
The UK government is currently dealing with more than a dozen different action groups made up of disenchanted expats who have lost hundreds of millions in property scams throughout Spain.
The situation is so severe that the government recently appointed a special overseas property advisor to help deal with it and to better understand the problems of those involved.
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Thats good news for all the people who were involved in property scams. And it will help build confidence in people looking to purchase in the future if they know they get uk backup or help at least. Saying that, all the corruption and land grab issues will be left in the past as I am sure Spain have learnt their lesson and will keep on top of these issues in future.
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Sensible Comment to the Telegraph article:
“Yes there were and are scams but too many foriegners, especially unfortunately British, leave their brains or at least their commom sense at the UK airport of departure. Many of the pitfalls can be easily avoided when buying here in Spain by ensuring that you first do your homework, read the books on buying in Spain, then read them again. Always find yourself an independant bi-lingual lawyer in Spain before commiting to any property deal or parting with any money. As in the UK beware of estate agents and developers’ claims. These problems have been around for ages, yet people still fall for offers by developers to use their lawyers to save money. No-one would do this in the UK. Always have older properties surveyed and have your lawyer check the documents out for the deeds (Escritura) , make sure that there are no debts attached to the house (unpaid debts from a previous owner can be charged against the house) etc. etc. just as you would in the UK. Plans here have to be approved not only by the local authority but the Regional one as well. Plans have to have been inspected by the College of Architects. Look after your own interests, don’t let a developer or his estate agent do it for you. Life here is good, taking care on your property purchace will make it very good.”
All prospective buyers should be aware of this, unless they want to throw money down the drain.
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@flosmichael wrote:
Sensible Comment to the Telegraph article:
“Yes there were and are scams but too many foriegners, especially unfortunately British, leave their brains or at least their commom sense at the UK airport of departure. Many of the pitfalls can be easily avoided when buying here in Spain by ensuring that you first do your homework, read the books on buying in Spain, then read them again. Always find yourself an independant bi-lingual lawyer in Spain before commiting to any property deal or parting with any money. As in the UK beware of estate agents and developers’ claims. These problems have been around for ages, yet people still fall for offers by developers to use their lawyers to save money. No-one would do this in the UK. Always have older properties surveyed and have your lawyer check the documents out for the deeds (Escritura) , make sure that there are no debts attached to the house (unpaid debts from a previous owner can be charged against the house) etc. etc. just as you would in the UK. Plans here have to be approved not only by the local authority but the Regional one as well. Plans have to have been inspected by the College of Architects. Look after your own interests, don’t let a developer or his estate agent do it for you. Life here is good, taking care on your property purchace will make it very good.”
All prospective buyers should be aware of this, unless they want to throw money down the drain.
Great advice. We know this won’t help people in the past who have had problems, but this is certainly good advice for anyone looking to purchase in Spain in the future. I have bought and sold in the past in Spain and never had problems, and so have many thousands of others, so if things are done right, this should avoid any problems from ocurring.
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