What A Place In The Sun DOESN’T tell you about buying abroad and the tough lessons we learned moving to our dream home in Spain

A couple who bought their dream home in Spain told fans of Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun about the lessons they learned along the way.

The duo, who run their own YouTube channel called Among the Lakes with Mike and Yvonne, explained all the hidden costs behind buying property online.

The Channel 4 programme, which airs weekdays at 6pm, sees presenters focusing on sunny destinations such as Spain, Portugal and France helping house hunters find their dream property abroad.

In each episode, house hunters discover three to five properties that fit their list of needs, often within a certain budget.

During the show, viewers are often given the latest information on the property market and detailed information about some of the challenges of buying abroad.

While house prices were listed for those watching at home, a couple buying a property revealed all was not as it seemed.

The duo, who run their own YouTube channel with Mike and Yvonne called Among the Lakes, explained all the hidden costs behind buying a property.

Husband and wife Mike and Yvonne told viewers on YouTube about the lessons they learned when they bought a property on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

Yvonne admitted A Place In The Sun: ‘We really love this show and enjoy watching every episode and reruns.’

But the couple were soon to reveal there were plenty of extra hidden costs for potential buyers that were not mentioned in the Channel 4 programme.

“In previous episodes they were talking about common fees that apply to many complexes, organizations, and apartments, and these can be very significant,” Mike began.

He revealed the couple were paying €15 (£13) a month to their Spanish property for the maintenance of the shared pool, street lighting and street cleaning.

And he noted that these fees could start to increase, as in the gated community next to their complex, where the payment for ‘maintenance of the electric gate’ is higher.

‘If you buy a flat and it has a lift, a rooftop pool or a garden, they need to be looked after and paid for, and that comes in the form of a shared fee,’ Mike continued.

‘It always makes us smile when Laura Hamilton or one of the other presenters says somewhere there are six pools, a tennis court, a sauna, a Turkish bath and a Santa Claus in the complex… what does this mean? More rice! So think about it.’

The Channel 4 show, which airs weekdays at 6pm, sees presenters focusing on sunny destinations such as Spain, Portugal and France helping house hunters find their dream property abroad (pictured: APITS presenter Jasmine Harman)

The couple also explained that there is a 10 percent property tax, which is not always mentioned on the show. Mike added: ‘I hope they put this on top of budget leeway plus shared costs.’

Mike and Yvonne detailed how they spent €59,000 (£51,000) on their Spanish property, but ended up paying 12-15 per cent more for other fees after purchasing the property.

These included property tax of €5,900 (£5,100), notary fees of €800 (£690), land registry fees of €400 (£346), non-resident bank fees of €160 (£138), solicitors’ fees of €1,500 (£1,300) and house insurance of €200 (£173).

This meant that although the couple initially spent €59,000, they ended up paying €8,960 (£7,762) more in other fees.

It comes after a couple who starred in A Place In The Sun described their ‘nightmare’ experience that left them ‘homeless’.

Greg and Reda Paul signed up to appear on the Channel 4 show to search for their dream property abroad, but more than four years later, they don’t have a base near the Costa Blanca nor do they have a home anywhere.

The middle-aged married couple sold their Peterborough bungalow to finance the move but were soon caught up in Spain’s Kafkaesque house-buying bureaucracy.

Buying a home and a new life abroad has been postponed repeatedly due to a series of setbacks, and they are still effectively homeless, unlikely to finally move into their new place for another year.

Meanwhile, they are living separately because they both moved in with their parents.

During the show, viewers saw them fall in love and agree on an £83,750 price tag for a rural three-bedroom villa in Ontinyent, about 40 miles inland from Benidorm on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

But when the cameras turned off, their dreams turned into nightmares.

‘It was a disaster,’ Greg told the Daily Mail last October. ‘Shortly afterwards things took a turn for the worse.

‘Our lawyer had a half-built pool on the property checked to see if it was legal and we were told the entire house was built on industrial land where it shouldn’t be.

‘This meant the council could build a path through our living room if they wanted to.

The series is broadcast on Channel 4 during the day.

When Greg (pictured right) and Reda Paul (pictured left) signed up to appear on TV’s A Place In The Sun, they believed they would soon be enjoying cocktails poolside at their own Spanish finca.

‘You may have heard these horror stories about houses in Spain being built illegally. ‘We asked one of the programme’s producers what we should do if our house was built illegally and they told us that you would often get a one-off fine and that had been done, but we didn’t want to take the risk.’

Instead, the upset couple gave up on selling and returned to England to start their search from scratch.

They initially decided to move to Spain to enjoy the year-round outdoor lifestyle.

They qualify to live in Spain because Reda is originally from Lithuania, a member of the EU, and they, along with dog Bernard and cat Poirot, are looking for a rural house with three beds on one floor where they can grow old.

After two more visits, they went out for the third time in January 2022 to see a property they had seen online in the village of Biar, 20 minutes southeast of Alicante.

They agreed a fee of £112,000 with the seller; They paid almost £80,000 as a deposit while meeting the legal requirements to allow them to move.

Greg said: ‘The photos looked beautiful so we went to see it and fell in love. But nearly four years later we are still in the process of purchasing it because it is located on rural protected land.

‘We can’t believe this is happening again. Everyone is disappointed, the real estate agent and lawyer have not been paid yet.

Laura Hamilton presents popular show

‘We’re trying to get the pool and annex legal as it was built after the main house and we can’t move in until that’s done.

‘We sent all our belongings, but there is no electricity because it is not connected to the grid. We need to install solar panels, but we cannot do it because it is not legal.’

‘Then we found out the rules had changed and a septic tank had to be installed.

‘The bureaucracy is incredible; Everything takes too long and we can’t do anything.

‘Out of frustration we considered pulling out completely and buying a place in the UK but our dream is to live in Spain, the lifestyle seems so relaxed. ‘I had to learn to be patient.’

Greg, a therapist and mover Reda, 43, stressed that they do not blame the producers for their current situation but lift the lid on their chaotic shooting schedule.

Although the episode aired in January 2023, it was filmed 18 months ago in July 2021. After applying, they conducted three interviews with the producers before being selected.

He explained that at least one house they were to visit had been sold in the two weeks between investigators’ inspections, and the footage had to be hastily replaced with another house, even though it did not meet their needs.

He said: ‘Filming was intense. One day we were picked up at 7am and didn’t return until 10.30pm.

‘We flew to Spain on Sunday morning, met the presenter and crew in the afternoon, then started filming on the beach with the presenter on Monday morning – seeing one property in the afternoon, then two on Tuesday and the last two on Wednesday.

‘On the Thursday morning we had the chance to inspect a property we liked the most and we did that, then on the Thursday afternoon we’d meet them and make an offer and then fly home on the Friday – it’s pretty full.

‘At least one of the properties needed to be replaced, so you see us saying we don’t want stairs and then looking around for a house with stairs.

‘They have to do each scene five times before they can choose their favorite, and after saying the same thing five times, I got bored too.

‘They were great at the time and had some follow-ups.

‘I still watch the show and the presenters say you have to ask a lot of questions – so why would they show us a property on industrial land? ‘I just don’t think they’ll look into it that deeply.’

A spokesperson for A Place in the Sun said: ‘Buying a property abroad can be difficult, so we advise all house hunters to follow all necessary legal advice and our advisors use reputable local estate agents to find properties.

‘We are truly sorry to hear that Greg and Reda had issues with their subsequent purchase, as this was a property they found themselves after filming; We recommend that they seek independent legal advice.’