Wed 8pm ITV2 Repeat of Last Night's New Homes from Hell 2009: Buying Abroad

PasturesNew

New Homes from Hell 2009: Buying Abroad

1] Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. George is an Estate agent who sells to Brits. He sells 29/month. Buyers bought off-plan. Promised on-site restuarant, maid service, landscaped gardens.

Couple bought a 2-bed apartment for £37k. Builders were on site and appeared to be on schedule. Told 3 months to 1 year to be finished. After 3 years it hasn't happened. It's almost derelict. Lots of the structures are the exterior walls only. None of the services have been started.

23 of the 78 apartments are now occupied. They are trying to get the builder and his wife who manages it to sort out the facilities.

Water tank isn't big enough for the number of people. Electrics aren't strong enough - the wires are on the surface. They have fires that break out when people come home and put the air-con on. Children can't play outside because it's dangerous.

£400/year service charge is for: security guards, looking after the grounds, collecting rubbish. Not getting any of that.

Water/electricity bills are paid directly to the wife of the builder, who is managing the properties. The utility companies cut them off as the bills weren't being paid. The residents were paying the managers, but the managers weren't paying the utilities. Now they're paying for utilities direct.

August 2007 they rented it to their friend Colin Anthony. Stairs are dangerously open plan. No handrails, no bannisters. There was a serious accident. Colin got up the 2nd flight and tripped and fell from the 2nd floor - got stitches in his head, cracked ribs, dislocated his shoulder.

March 2008, developer disappeared. his wife has been left in charge of the development, but she wasn't responding to the programme makers.

The couple in the programme got together with 4 others and are trying to sue.

PasturesNew

2] Mercia, Spain. Margaret Steadman, Liz and Rose - 3 firends, in 2002. All lived on the same street in Harrogate and thought it'd be great to have.

6 years on it's still not finished.

Developer, DeSanville Properties. 2-bed villa, 7 acres of land. Nothing can be built without a license but the builder said all they had to do was apply to the local council. They gave him 37k up front, 75% of the total cost, but a change in the law held up their application for 4 years. The builder then wanted more money to do the build. Contract didn't mention him being able to increase the price as he felt - so he said he wouldn't build it.

They paid him another 50k and the frame of the house was built - builder ran out of money and told them he couldn't finish it.

It cost 12k to get another builder to finish the outside and make it secure and waterproof. They've paid out double and it's still not finished. Builder has disappeared.

So that's 37k, 50k, 12k

Today margaret and Liz are going to visit it for the first time. It should have a pergola and verandah, looks tiny and isolated though.

I'm guessing 30'x15'

The interior isn't completed. Just first firx and a bit of 2nd fix looking at it.

But, they aren't the only buyers unhappy with the builder.

Nancy and her husband Dennis started one in 2002. Should be a villa with a pool. 100k it sounded like a good deal. They gave him 80,400 in total. The money's not gone. Under current laws that plot can't have a building permission. They asked for their money back and it never happened.

In 2006 his company were ordered to pay this couple 155,000 euros but they've never seen it.

Dennis and Nancy face bankruptcy and nobody can find the builder.

Ken Gamble, an international investigator, was hired by the programme to track down the builder.

Ken met Liz and Margaret first. The builder still owns four properties in the area - all seized by the court, total value is 700,000 euros. They go with Ken to meet a local EA who gives him a new lead. His name wasn't what they knew him as. His actual real name, allegedly, is Henry Timothy Deacon.

Ken's gone to St Pauls, near Bristol City Centre, from information in his leads.

Ken watched a flat rented to somebody calling themselves Henry DeSanville.

Found his birth certiicate, his real name is Henry Timothy Dakin

He watched him again - followed him riding a bicycle; the investigator lost him as he went where cars can't go. Ken hired a bike and the next day followed him and found where he works. Now Ken needs a positive ID from the surveillance footage. Nancy and Dennis confirmed that's him. Liz/Margaret/Rose said it is him.

Ken goes back to Bristol to apprehend him. He's off to work on his bike if Ken's fast enough. Henry/Tim cycled off, so they'll get him at work next. "No comment" to all the questions they asked him.

They now need to get the judgement from Spain recognised in the UK and get it applied to his UK salary. But the judgement is against his company DeSanville Properties, not him.

Builder doesn't accept the order, he said the 80k was spent on their land, pre-fab house kit and admin costs. He said he offered a bank guarantee in case he went bankrupt but they failed to take it.

PasturesNew

3] South of Paris, Chateau Territo (sp?)
It's a big white imposing chateau place

Kevin and Amanda Taylor bought it. When they viewed the 5-bed house it was decorated in a classical style. They sold their home in Essex and moved in with their two daughters Francesca and India. They have a big garden and woods. It had everything.

The house is set in 20 acres of woodland. A river runs along one boundary and a road on another. They noticed an industrial building nearby on the road, the agent said it is an armory - they repair guns and sell riding equipment. They found shards of orange clay all over the garden. Then he was building a fence with his daughter, he was on a quad bike and from nowhere he got hit in the back of the neck. He fell to the floor, he got his daughter, jumped on the quad bike and immediately came back to the house.

The armory is actually a shooting club that is open 5 days/week. And the shooting carries across his land.

Lead shot is falling on the ground and into the river, can't use the river because you get hit by shot and it's contaminated.

She contacted teh Mayor, she felt he wasn't taking her seriously. He promised to speak to the club's owner, said he'd get him to shoot in the other direction. Many other neighbours are unhappy with the club. Locals, not Brits.

Local Frenchman said "If it wasn't for the Taylor family, nothing would have happened."

The Club has built earth mounds, but the mounds are too low and too close to stop any shot. They have reported incidents to the police but nothing's done

Gun plot doesn't comply with safety rules, but it's not been shut down

Programme wrote to the Mayor, he's not responded. They wrote to the Gun Club and he said he doesn't have to respond.

PasturesNew

4] They revisited the story of the couple who had their big house bulldozed.

The authorities revoked the building licence. But the swimming pool and garage weren't knocked down as they were under a separate licence.

Now they're living in their previous garage, they had it converted.

PasturesNew

Janet and Ian Butler

In 2007 they spent £80k on 2-bed villa
They wanted to turn it into a house they liked.

They got a building licence to extend the back. This was a £70k project.

Ian did some of the work himself. Work was first brought to a halt because next door said the house was on his land. The Butlers have the title deeds going back to 1992 when it was first built, they went to the original solicitor who did the conveyance for the house before them. Solicitor said it's no problem and it's their house/land, not the neighbours.

They told their builders to go back to work, but then a new problem - they had a call saying their neighbour was on their land digging it up with a JCB. He dug a trench up their drive. He said he was fencing off his property. The trench goes the length of what used to be their drive. Neighbour added a 6' high fence and they could no longer get to their home by car. The fence divides their plot in two, their house is on his side of the fence.

There's another route across a friendly neighbour's land they have to use to clamber to the property.

Their house has been empty since November 2007 and they are in a court battle to get their home back. They say it's their house, neighbour says it's his house.

If you buy a house in Spain it has to be recorded and have the same reference number on two records, but one is missing their plot is missing on one land registry. The villa is on land registered to the neighbour so he says it's his house and he fenced it off.

The programme went to visit the neighbour. Ildefonso Rando ...

"I fenced it off because that land belongs to me"
"It is on my plot on the land registry"
"That's their problem , they should have checked at the time"

He's playing the system.

The Butlers have a £126k mortgage on the house. They are waiting for a Spanish court to decide.

PasturesNew

I'm the only bugg4h watching this aren't I... and while I'm busy, you're all laughing on another thread about it...

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm the only bugg4h watching this aren't I... and while I'm busy, you're all laughing on another thread about it...

We'd never laugh at youPN, you're everybodies favourite

I'm not watching it. In fact, I turned on tv tonight and I seem to have bugge7ed up. Something to do with stupid freeview. I don't watch tv much, but I really want to when I can't :rolleyes:.

ETA: and I'm missing Heston's Tudor Feast. . No chance of notes on that, is there, pastures

PasturesNew

Bulgaria - there is a property boom going on and lots of property being built as property homes. A resort on the Black Sea where tourists flock to the sunny beach.

Brian and Kathleen Lowe bought an apartment there in 2005.

They didn't know about Bulgaria, but went out on a trip for would-be buyers for £99 for flight and being looked after.

They bought a 1-bed in a block £38,500, it seemed like a bargain buy. They pointed out theirs. Almost 4 years after they put down the deposit they can't move in because it's still not finished. The building's got to the stage where the kitchen's nearly been finished. The carcasses/doors are fitted. However round the back there's another problem - the main door is locked and the only person with a key is the developer, who has disappeared.

They want to get in and have some nice holidays.

This is their 2nd time they thought they'd move in. Originally they thought they had bought in another block - built by Mercury 99 Ltd - but when they were about to move in they were told there was a problem with the water supply. They turned up and the building was nowhere near ready. They went to meet Mercury. Mercury denied receiving any deposit - and said they hadn't appointed any agents to sell the apartments.

They lost their £21k deposit. The Manager of Mercury, Mr P Apostolov, said the signature on their documents was a forgery. However, he could let them have another one he was building, for another £17,500 - they paid it. They said: "I was so pleased that we got something out of it"

They have got the key to the apartment, but they can't open the main door. The developer hasn't been answering their calls for 6 months. They've now been told he's done a runner.

Mr Pascoula (?sp) was back in the area and the programme met him and persuaded him to meet Kathleen and Brian, which he did and gave them a key to the back door.

He said: "Water is in there, we made a private water supply from the road. Everything is perfect. It will be finished" he said and he gave them his phone number.

They opened the door on the programme and went in for the first time.

It still needs finishing, but it's nearly finished and they're very happy.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

ETA: and I'm missing Heston's Tudor Feast. . No chance of notes on that, is there, pastures

pfft. You're cheeky!

Actually, I wish I hadn't started the typing thing... it was quite sh1te and I wanted to stop after the first people ... but had to keep going. Obsessions, eh!, who'd have them.

mr.broderick

Thought you said you didn't make notes xx

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

pfft. You're cheeky!

Actually, I wish I hadn't started the typing thing... it was quite sh1te and I wanted to stop after the first people ... but had to keep going. Obsessions, eh!, who'd have them.

ROFL.....

We all have weird things. Its just you are better at them