12 May 2007 6:03 PM:

This is to give hope to anyone in block 3 waiting for their money. My solicitor not only collected my cheque for a refund of my deposit plus compensation the other week, I had the fantastic news that the cheque cleared yesterday! My solicitor managed to get the cheque early  (instead of August 15th.)  She said it wasn't difficult to persuade Arenal to give me an early cheque so I would advise you all to get your solicitors to at least try for you.

What a relief. I have had many sleepless nights over this fiasco and I am delighted that I have now got out of this mess.

 A bit of advice to anyone who is based in the UK like me , try and get the money sent electronically via Moneycorp or someone like that to your UK bank account. I realised too late ( when my cheque was ready) ,that putting a euro cheque into a UK bank account can take up to 8 weeks to clear. I also didn't like the idea of posting the cheque. Alternatively, do as I did and open a current account  in Spain ( I used the Bank of Halifax and they were excellent and then it's free to transfer to a Halifax account in the UK). The whole thing  took about 5 days to set up as I had to get a passport photocopy and a utility bill verified over hear and posted out.  All in all it took just 2 weeks from cheque collection  and setting up the account to the cheque clearing.

Give it a try anyone still waiting and good luck.

 Good luck also to those who still have appartments, I'm sure that it will pay off in the end, Jimena is such a lovely place and I was quoted an estimated resale price (before my flat was taken away!) of about 30.000euros more than the off plan price at the beginning of this year.

Community thread: jimena latest

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14 Apr 2007 11:52 AM:

I have now had notice direct from Arenal and from my solicitors of a full refund plus compensation. Unfortunately , my date is still in August (15th) and not June and  I shall only be celebrating  once I've got that money back in my bank account. I'd be interested to know any dates other buyers have been offered for their refunds.

If any of  you in blocks 1 and 2 are going to be renting out their appartments, send me a message, as despite this buying disaster of ours, we may still be considering a holiday in Jimena next year! (we need 3 bedrooms and have 3 children). However, this year we will be going to France!

 

Community thread: Can anyone recommend an agent for selling in El Algar

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15 Feb 2007 12:08 PM:

I have called Arenal direct today and yes, all of block 3 is to be for social housing. The refund does include the reservation fee, but I believe we should be able to claim expenses (solicitor) and even compensation plus what about the interest we would have been getting on that money if it were still in our banks? Also, I have seen these flats back on the market at a higher value, so we are also potentially loosing profit on an investment. 

Community thread: jimena latest

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14 Feb 2007 1:26 PM:

I don't know about ALL flats in block 3, as we have bought a flat in block 3, so I would be interested to know if anyone else has. In Spain, who would get allocated social housing?  I really don't like the sound of it!

Community thread: jimena latest

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29 Oct 2006 9:51 PM:

We also went to Manchester. No appointment required (though they were closed most of July for NIE numbers). No wait to be seen, very helpful staff. We went August 15th and our NIE numbers arrived this Thursday October 26th. (They said it could take up to 3 months.) There was no problem having the numbers sent to our UK address (I think somewhere on the form it sounded as if this were not possible). It was certainly cheaper (about £25 for 2) than flying out to Spain and from what I've heard a lot less hassle. If you are going to Spain I was advised not to get the NIE in Marbella/Malaga as they have the worst queues! The consulate site tells you whether you need to go to London or Manchester to get your number.
Forum thread: What's this NIE all about?

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