A KNOcK dOWN PRicE
DAD’S FLAT DEMOLITION NIGHTMARE Craig follows buy-to-let dream and pays £7000 for home in online auction as investment for kids.. then finds out it is condemned and being pulled down
A BArGAIN hunter thought he’d struck gold when he bought a flat in an online auction for £7000 – only to find it is due to be demolished.
Craig Gibson, 48, planned to renovate the flat and rent it out.
He saw the move as securing a future income for his sons Dean, 10 and Bradley, two.
But his dreams of becoming a buy-to-let landlord collapsed when he found out the flat is scheduled to be knocked down.
Craig made a bid for the flat in Port Glasgow even though he had only viewed it on an auction website – where photos showed it looking in good order.
Glasgow-based auction site Future Property Auctions took thousands of pounds from him after a phone call that lasted just over a minute, stating it was a “unique opportunity”.
But Craig says he couldn’t believe the state of the property when he saw it first hand.
He said: “It is a ruin. It is boarded up and adjoined to flats that have been derelict and extensively damaged by fire. I spoke to Inverclyde Council and they told me the building is subject to a demolition order.
“I complained to the firm but they are having none of it. They said the best they could do is re-market the property of my behalf, which will mean another tidy commission for them.
“But I’m not willing to do that – it will just mean someone else shelling out thousands for a worthless flat and a nice profit for Future Property Auctions.
“I saw myself renovating the property and renting it out. But it is in such bad nick, I’m not even allowed inside.” Craig, of Glenrothes, claims his offer on the flat was subject to viewing the property in person.
He said: “I made it clear that the offer was subject to my viewing the property.
“But I was asked for the remaining digits of my bank account and the cash was taken from my account just like that.”
Craig said he offered £7000 for the one-bedroom flat on Bruce Street.
Under the firm’s reservation rules, he had to immediately pay 10 per cent of the purchase price or a minimum of £3000 plus “buyers’ premium” of one per cent of the purchase price or a minimum of £2000 – a total of £5000.
Although Inverclyde Council are re-generating the Clune Park area of Port Glasgow, they say some blocks of flats there are in such bad condition that they have to be demolished.
A Future Property Auctions marketing blurb for flats in the area says: “Super investment opportunity. Unique opportunity to acquire a potentially high yielding investment property in an improving residential district of Inverclyde.”
But it advises: “We understand that this property lies within the Clune Park regeneration plan and purchasers are advised to satisfy themselves as to any ongoing progress with the plans via the Inverclyde Council.”
Craig’s lawyers McLaughlin and Co want his cash back.
They have written to the firm stating: “The image displayed on Future Property Auctions website is not a true reflection of the property being offered for purchase.
“The property is in a dilapidated and uninhabitable state.
“This was not made clear in the advert. The advert in respect of this property is in breach of section 7i of the Property Ombudsmen’s Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents for Scotland.”
The council confirmed there is an active demolition order on Craig’s block.
A council spokesman said: “The long-term regeneration of Clune Park can only be realised through the demolition of the existing properties, and that repair is likely to be too costly a solution to bring the estate back into habitable use.”
Future Property Auctions, owned by Jeremy Griffith, did not provide a response to the Record.