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View Full Version : British expats fear losing homes in Goan land grab



Beorn
09-20-2009, 01:19 PM
HUNDREDS of Britons may lose their holiday homes and life savings in the Indian tropical paradise of Goa after falling foul of changes in local laws and scams by builders and lawyers.

Some claim they are victims of racism and have been told to “go home”.
Many invested tens of thousands of pounds a few years ago in legitimate transactions, only to be told the rules had changed and their properties may be confiscated.
The threatened land grab is reminiscent of the so-called “Spanish acquisition” in which hundreds of Britons lost their homes in Valencia when developers used compulsory-purchase laws to buy them.

In one of the most common scenarios in Goa, British buyers were told by local lawyers and the Reserve Bank of India that they could legally own property if they set up an Indian company and made the transaction through it.
By 2007, the rules on foreigners owning property through a business appeared to have changed, though only in Goa.

The region used to be part of the hippie trail, but has reinvented itself as a package holiday centre. It attracts 100,000 British holidaymakers a year, 60% of its foreign tourist trade.
The new interpretation of the law by the Goan authorities has left hundreds, such as Su Peplow, 57, from Bedfordshire, without property deeds and facing large financial losses.
In 2005, Peplow, a quality director for a human tissue research association, decided to retire to Goa with her husband.

They settled on a two-storey flat under construction in Cavelossim, a fishing village, and invested more than £20,000.
The couple signed a contract for a 56-month lease with a right to buy.
Like many others, they hired local lawyers to help them and were advised to set up a business to buy the flat.
Peplow’s husband died in 2006 and she decided to proceed with the purchase alone. She paid the builder for registration of the deeds, transfer of the utilities into her name, land tax and stamp duties. She also handed over £6,500 for furniture and renovation, and paid legal fees.

After she had paid the final instalment to the builder, however, he said he could not transfer the deeds as he would be “breaking Goan laws”. Her lawyer disappeared and she stands to lose her entire investment when the lease runs out.
Another Briton said that despite a letter from the Reserve Bank of India affirming that she had done everything legally, she was told by the local sub-registrar that he “couldn’t register our property as I was white and a foreigner”.
He told her they had received a circular from the Goan government stating that they were not to register property to Indian companies with foreign directors, or to foreigners at all.
Vikram Varma, a local lawyer, said more than 1,000 people could have been caught out by changes in the laws and by builders’ scams.

More than 400 foreigners, mainly Britons, are being investigated by India’s enforcement directorate for alleged violations of property laws and could have homes confiscated.
They are allowed to live in the homes but, without deeds, cannot sell the properties.
“Most who come here are as trusting in the efficiency of the system in India as they are in the UK. But here it’s entirely different,” said Varma.
The problem has reached such extremes in the past two years that many suspect an anti-British agenda, inspired in part by rising property prices.
The difficulties coincided with a popular movement opposing the purchase of large tracts of land by Indian and Russian developers as Goans fear losing their cultural identity.
In a pub last week in a southern Goan resort, dozens of Britons met to vent their frustration at corruption and red tape.

Even those who had bought property several years ago now face visa problems.
One Birmingham couple, who wanted to be known only as Jo and Sid, said they had lived in Goa for more than 10 years on extendable five-year visas, only to be denied a new one this year. They were offered a tourist visa instead.
“An official in Delhi told us we had no right to live in India because we are not Indian. He told us to go home to our own country, then threw all our papers in the bin,” said Jo.
The British deputy high commissioner is being sent to Goa to hear people’s concerns.
The Foreign Office said it recognised the “distress” caused and had raised concerns with the Indian authorities. “We have made clear that there should be no confiscation of property acquired legally by British nationals,” it said.

But many, such as Peplow, are resigned to losing everything. “I would advise anyone considering Goa to take your money and live elsewhere. Don’t even consider it for a holiday home.”

The enforcement directorate and the Goan government declined to comment.


Source (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6841248.ece)

The problems of settling in countries you're not from, hey? Well, I for one sincerely wish that government officials would turn round to our foreigners and state with certainty that the problems they face is because they were 'non-white and foreign'.

I can only dream for that day.

As for the British people stranded over in Goa with no home? I have just the right forms for you. http://uk.visapro.com/UK-Immigration-Forms.asp :thumb001: