One of Spain´s largest property groups, Sacresa, said Monday it has filed for protection from its creditors faced with debts of 1.8 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars).

Spanish media said it was the third largest such filing in the real estate sector, which collapsed in 2008 after a decade-long boom, following those of Martinsa and Habitat.

Sacresa, based in the northeastern region of Catalonia, said it took the action after its 15 creditor banks rejected a debt restructuring plan put forward by the group.

The bursting of the property bubble plunged the Spanish economy, Europe´s fifth-largest, into its worst recession in decades and has sent the unemployment rate soaring to more than 20 percent.

via Major Spanish realtor files for protection from creditors < Spanish news | Expatica Spain.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have launched a new addition to their property service for those looking to buy a home in Spain.

The banks have joined with Caja Mediterraneo (CAM Bank) to offer UK buyers the opportunity to rent a property in Spain before buying it, with the added benefit that rent can be discounted from the purchase price.

With around 1 million ex-pats already in Spain, a further 50,000 heading there each year and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office suggesting that 4 out of 10 over 55s want to emigrate, the sun, sea and sangria are obviously a considerable lure to many Brits. However, the reality is not so idyllic for many with an estimated 1 in 6, who emigrate, returning within the first two years.

Buy with confidence

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ have added a new option to their Spanish property service that allows potential buyers to rent before they buy on certain properties. This means they can experience having their own place in the sun, without committing to buy. Rental contracts can be flexible and vary between 12 months and seven years. Subject to terms and conditions, if they choose to buy within the first two years, all the rent paid will be taken off the purchase price.

Stress-free buying

The cost of Spanish property has fallen considerably in the last few years and discounts of up to 50% on previous asking prices or current valuation are now available. Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, with CAM Bank, are able to help customers with more than just the mortgage; providing support for buyers throughout the process – removing many of the barriers they can face when purchasing abroad.

The service provides all the benefits of dealing with a UK High Street bank with the added flexibility and experience of a Spanish partner and UK-based lawyers specialising in the Spanish market.

The Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Spanish property service includes:

Find your dream home in Spain – search hundreds of Spanish properties online

View properties in Spain – let us know when you’re visiting Spain and English speaking contacts will arrange viewings during your stay

A choice of mortgages – choose either a sterling mortgage from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks or a euro mortgage from Caja Mediterraneo (CAM Bank)

Legal services – provided by a UK based solicitor with experience in Spanish property

A Spanish bank account – with online banking in English

Home insurance – buildings and contents cover for your property in Spain through CAM Bank

English speaking contacts – to help you through the viewing and buying process

Help moving in – Mediterranean will take care of all the organisation and administration on moving day (such as picking up keys). They also provide an excellent after-care service to help you settle in.

Steve Reid, retail director, Clydesdale Bank said: “With prices in Spain coming down so much there are potential bargains to be had for those looking to buy. However, many are intimidated by the idea of dealing with a foreign house buying process where different rules and language barriers can add to the stress and may want to see how Spanish property prices fare.

“Our new package of services gives buyers the opportunity to take advantage of low prices in Spain by taking the stress out of the process and removing some of the risk with the opportunity to rent first.”

Connery is one of nearly 30 people indicted in the case involving urban planning in the holiday resort of Marbella.

The judicial sources did not reveal details about the case, but the daily El Mundo said it was related to a villa the actor owned in Marbella, and sold for a high profit.

A four-storey building was then built on that land in 2004 and 2005 on what investigators suspect was an illegal building permit issued under Marbella´s notoriously corrupt mayor, the late Jesus Gil y Gil.

Police searched the offices of several lawyers in the operation Goldfinger, named after the movie in which Connery played James Bond in 1964.

The actor and his wife were summoned to appear in court on May 27.

Copyright DPA

via Earth Times News.

A group of 10 British property owners is taking legal action against the developer of a golf and country club in Spain over breach of contract.

They are demanding the money back from their investment in the Corvera Golf and Country Club in Murcia as luxury facilities are not being delivered on time. They also claim that developer Calidona is facing financial problems and fear they could lose their life savings.

British solicitors Irwin Mitchell who have offices in Spain, are representing the investors who have paid deposits and staged payments of up to €200,000 on properties worth up to €550,000.

They are acting now amid fears that the developer of the upmarket resort could go bust like hundreds of other Spanish developers in recent months. Another Murcia developer Polaris World only narrowly avoided bankruptcy last week.

Irwin Mitchell believes that more than 100 British clients could be affected by Calidona’s alleged financial troubles and failure to deliver. Lawyers argue that the developer is in breach of contract for not having built luxury facilities that were promised at the time of sale. This includes a five star hotel, indoor swimming pool, spa, medical centre, equestrian centre, leisure facilities and tennis courts, as well as a commercial centre with bars, restaurant and shops.

‘The group claim that none of the five star leisure facilities have been built and that they are now being chased for final payment and face the threat of being sued under Spanish law by the developers Corvera Golf and Country Club, SL, despite being informed that building licences are not even in place for some facilities,’ said Irwin Mitchell in a statement.

‘And to add to their concerns, they also fear that the failure to build the facilities on this and on a previous site, Roda Golf, is a sign that the developers have run out of money and may go bust, taking the group’s hard earned money with them,’ they added.

Solicitor Alex Radford, from Irwin Mitchell Abogados in Malaga, said the issue was of increasing concern to a growing number of people who had committed hard earned money in Corvera.

‘This is obviously a very worrying time for all of these people. Buying a property in Spain is a big decision. These people have worked hard to earn the money to buy these homes and saved for a very long time. To pay out this money was a decision they would not have taken lightly,’ he explained.

‘Having done that, quite rightly, they expect to receive what they have paid for. They have been promised five star facilities to go with their homes, and they have been very badly let down indeed. Clearly they have been misled by the developers, and we want to get justice for them,’ Radford said.

‘These people want their money back or all the facilities they were promised to be built, it really is as simple as that. We believe the developers are in a breach of contract because of the lack of facilities that they said they would build when they first sold homes to our clients and a large number of other people who have also invested hard-earned money in a deal the developers haven’t honoured,’ he added.

The Ministry said that 196,989 youngsters received the Basic Emancipation Rent (RBE) in 2009, twice as many as in 2008.

The RBE is a monthly grant of 210 Euros per month to help young people set up their own homes. It began to function in January 2008, and 490.9 million euros have since been paid out.

A total of 350,170 people have applied for the RBE since its establishment with different regions of Spain showing different tendencies.

Catalonia and Andaluca are the two Autonomous Communities that have the most beneficiaries, while over 30,000 receive the aid in the Spanish capital Madrid.

There also appears to be a tendency for young women to be more willing to move away from their parents´ house before their brothers. Fifty-six percent of recipients are women as opposed to males.

The Ministry of Housing study shows that the average annual income of those who receive the RBE is not high. Thirty-five percent of them earn between 10,000 to 15,000 euros, 24 percent of them earn less that 10,000 euros and 31.4percent between 15,000 and 22,000 euros.

Twenty-nine percent of them pay a monthly rent below 400 euros, 42.9 percent between 400 and 600 euros and less than 30 percent over 600 euroes.

Source: Xinhua

via More youngsters leaving family home to live alone in Spain – People’s Daily Online.

In the year as a whole, however, home prices in Britain, France and Spain fell more than 7 percent and those in Germany were down 1.8 percent, the newspaper said.

The 16-nation eurozone as a whole saw a 4.6 percent decline, the FT said.

The biggest drops were in countries hit hardest by the financial crisis, such as Ireland, down 12.4 percent, Iceland, down 9.7 percent and Slovakia, down 11.1 percent, the newspaper added.

via European Home Prices Began to Rise Again Late Last Year, FT Says – Bloomberg.com.

Spanish MEPs have joined counterparts in criticising the treatment of expats who face having homes in Spain bulldozed under coastal protection law.

Rules introduced in 1988 left coastal properties liable to demolition and thousands of British and other European owners stripped of property rights.

MEPs say homeowners have been given no legal redress or compensation. They have asked for the law to be clarified.
Spain insists owners of legally built homes are being “fairly compensated”.

The law was designed to protect the coast and set limits on building, allowing municipal leisure developments but not private homes.

Since its introduction, thousands of people who live or have holiday homes in Spain have discovered that properties bought legitimately through the Spanish legal system had, in fact, been built in breach of the regulations.

Meanwhile, in Andalucia, regional authorities have applied the law retrospectively to declare legitimately built properties illegal.

Since the law came into force, courts have rejected 96% of owners’ appeals against expropriation, the European Parliament’s petitions committee was told.

“The Spanish government must recognise that those affected must be fully compensated,” said Spanish centre-right MEP Gabriel Mato.

“We are talking about people who have lived in their homes for many years and who lost their property rights without an explanation.”

Despite this, the committee heard that “unfair demarcation” had left owners of some large hotels and private developments “untouched”.

Mr Mato’s colleague Carlos Iturgáiz asked: “How can the demarcation line be applied in a zigzag.”
British MEP Michael Cashman told the committee thousands of Britons with property in regions like Andalucia, Valencia and Murcia were affected.

Mr Cashman claimed that dubious application of the law had “taken away confidence in Spain generally” and called for EU funding for Spain to be withheld until the issue was addressed.
Another British MEP, Roger Helmer, said afterwards that he had received dozens of complaints from people in his East Midlands constituency.

“Some have seen their dreams, their homes, and their life savings literally reduced to rubble before their eyes,” he said.
More than 15,000 people have petitioned the committee abo
ut the issue.
Spain’s general director for coast and sea sustainability, Alicia Paz Antolín, said owners who lost rights to legally built properties were being “fairly compensated”.
This took the form of being given the right to stay in the property for up to 60 years, she said.
The committee is to write to the Spanish government asking for further clarifications on the application of the law and to the European Commission with a request to clarify the legal basis of the cases.

Spanish authorities are attempting to reclaim the country´s coastline by bulldozing some of the developments that resulted from tourism´s growth.

To cash in on lucrative immigrants, some councils allegedly granted illegal planning permission, now being revoked.

Mr Bryant will advise the thousands of Britons living in Andalucia on issues from property rights to healthcare.

He will visit the town of Albox where about a dozen British expatriate families are fighting demolition orders issued at the end of last year.

Cautionary advice

Speaking ahead of his trip on Sunday, Mr Bryant said: “I am visiting Spain to listen to the problems British citizens are facing with the properties they have bought here.”

But he added: “I would advise people to be extremely careful with property purchases overseas.

“Through our travel advice we suggest that prospective buyers seek independent legal advice and contact relevant local associations of those affected by property problems.

“We continue to work with the government of Spain and relevant local authorities on resolving the issues that the people of Albox face.”

Mr Bryant is due to show his support to expat families as well as meeting the mayor of Albox, Jose Garcia Navarro.

The regional government of Andalucia is also appointing an official to advise Britons on integrating into the area.

via BBC News – MP to see Spain demolition threat expats.

FOLLOWING on from last week’s revelations with regards to the financial issues at Polaris World, the EWN approached a Solicitor involved in the saga to try to find out what the best course of action might be for the hundreds of investors that have been affected by its downfall.

According to reports, Murcian Real Estate giant, Polaris World, has accumulated debts of over 100 million euros, for which it now has to recompense its principle creditors, Bancaja, CAM, Banco Popular, Banco de Valencia and CajaMurcia. However, what is worse than this are the consequences to the innumerable house buyers who put their faith in Polaris’ sound reputation, pledging thousands of euros in ‘off-plan’ property investments.

The group was founded in 2001, and has since developed to encompass 60 separate companies and 6 prestigious residential complexes, sprawling over 30 million square metres of residential or commercial land. After two years of declining sales and spiraling running costs, Polaris World has acknowledged that 4 of the urbanizations (El Valle Golf, Alhama Golf, Hacienda Riquelme and Hacienda Verde), and15 subsidiary companies, including two hotels (Mar Menor Golf and La Torre Polaris), Nicklaus Golf Trail, and El Oasis de Alhama commercial centre are among its assets that have fallen into a state of “insolvencia actual”.

BANKRUPTCY

The EWN spoke to Oscar Ricor of ‘Ricor Abogados’ in Torrevieja, who is representing a number of expats who are in fear of losing investments pledged against properties in Polaris World. His first words of advice were that anyone who thinks that they might be affected by the company’s financial struggle must take action immediately as once bankruptcy has been filed it can take more than 5 years to reach a solution.

He claimed that “If investors are to stand any chance of getting their money back then they should file a complaint before the company hands over to its creditors, otherwise the amount owing will be swallowed with the mass of other debts”, emphasizing that “time is of the essence”. He went on to describe the bankruptcy process whereby assets are sold and the first portion of profit is paid to the Government to allay tax and Social Security debts, then the principal financiers, with the remainder being offered to major suppliers and employees, before a thought is spared for house-buyers.

Mr Ricor introduced the question of what substitutes a “completed” property, in the eyes of the authorities, as even those that appear finished and have water and electricity supplies must be officially approved and issued with habitation certificates, which does not usually happen until an entire urbanization or phase is complete, including adequate road links and lighting. This petition must be submitted by the Constructor, who is at present in no position to fulfill this obligation.

ACTION

Mr Ricor stated that several people who have paid deposits have already began court proceedings in the hope of gaining compensation, or at least assurance that the contract will be seen through to completion, accounting for fluctuation in the market price since the contract was agreed. He said that by acting now their cases will take priority and are more likely to end in a satisfactory conclusion, and urged anyone who is in a similar position to follow suit.

It is worth noting that by approaching a Solicitor who is already dealing with Polaris cases or those of Trampolin Hills, the ground work has already been done, and you are guaranteed the support of others in the same situation. Relying on the “Strength in numbers” philosophy, Mr Ricor concluded that “The more people who file complaints against the company the stronger their case for redress”.

via Euro Weekly News | Desperate Measures at Polaris World.

Maintaining its place from last year, the country once again ranked number one for A Place in the Sun.

New appearances in the list included the Caribbean and Bulgaria which ranked ninth and tenth respectively.

Christopher Chadd, project manager from emerging market property investment company Property Frontiers, said that the high prices in the Caribbean meant it was “out of reach” for many UK buyers.

But he added that shopping around could pay off when looking for a property investment in the islands.

“For instance Grenada is rapidly becoming one of the premier Caribbean island destinations, but prices for property are probably a third of what they are elsewhere in the area,” said Mr Chadd.

However, while the established markets have such low property prices, Mr Chadd predicts that Brits will “play it safe” and look at property in the more traditional countries.

He commented: “The likes of the UK, Spain, France, Portugal and the US have experienced massive price falls and as a result there is tremendous value to be had.”

via Spain tops foreign property chart | News | HiFX News.