Spanish dream Costa Jim £40k

Aug 10 2008 Additional Reporting By Jane Barrie

IT was a dream come true for Monica and Jimmy Whelan when they bought their very own place in the sun.

They splashed out on a £92,000 villa at a country club on Spain's Costa de Almeria and were told it would be ready in 18 months.

But four years later their house has still not been built and the firmwho brokered the deal, Parador Properties Ltd, has just gone into administration.

It is estimated around 1000 other buyers are in the same plight - nothing to show for their investment and no end in sight.

Devastated Monica, 40, said: "We've handed over nearly £40,000 and there's not one brick laid.

"When we phone Spain to find out what's happening it's always a case of manana, manana."

Monica and Jimmy, of Blantyre, Lanarkshire, paid a £2321 deposit on the property in the exclusive Almanzora Country Club in September 2004. Parador, who had a head office in Redhill, Surrey, and premises in Paisley, flew them to Spain to seal the deal.

Monica said: "We liked what we saw and put down a deposit there and then."

The Whelans - who have two sons, Cal, four, and three-year-old Eamonn - chose a semi-detached property with two bedrooms and private patio costing £92,450.

They paid £23,169 in October 2004, £13,862 in the December and were to pay a final £53,098 in April 2006.

Housewife Monica said: "We signed a contract with the builder which said we had to hand over £53,098 when we took over the property. That should have been on April 27, 2006."

Monica and builder Jimmy, 41, soon discovered a planning dispute was to blame for the delay.

She said: "The builder had only provisional permission from the local mayor. The regional government was given five months to consider plans to urbanise the area but it's still in dispute."

Luckily the couple had bank guarantees to cover the money they had paid.

So they demanded a refund and instructed a Spanish lawyer to act on their behalf.

Monica said: "Once Parador had our commission, they gave us a wide berth.

They were a waste of space.

"I signed over power of attorney to the law firm so they could deal with getting us a refund. But that was six months ago and we are no further forward.

"They keep saying they will get back to me but it may take time because everyone is on holiday."

Parador, run by businessman Simon Lambert, went into administration last month blaming a downturn in the overseas property market in the UK.

A Parador spokesman said: "The administration does not affect the Parador Properties offices overseas, which are open for business as usual.

"It also does not affect property purchases by any of its clients.

"All contracts were made between the individual and the overseas builders or vendors. Parador Properties acted only as an introductory agent."

I tried to contact the Whelans' builder Huma Mediterraneo in Spain but was told they were closed until next month.

The family have been offered an upgraded property elsewhere but they just want their money back.

I'll be on the case until they get it sorted.