"I purchased a property from a developer as as a special offer. The house included a parking place in the basement of the flat. Before buying it, they showed me the plans of the house many times including the fantastic parking place I was about to buy. I signed the title deed and everything was fine.

However, when the building was completely finished and they gave me the keys, I went down to the basement and was astonished to find that my parking space was barely wide enough to park a bicycle.

Desperate, I remembered I had contracted title insurance with my purchase and I gave them a call. From the outset, they dealt with everything with the ultimate guarantee of a compensation payment if they couldn't find a solution within 6 months."

F. A. - Manilva (Málaga)

Many choose to purchase property off-plan in Spain. It is not uncommon for the original building plans to be modified slightly during the course of construction.

Parking spaces, storage and box rooms are often valued in the region of 10,000 to 20,000 Euros and are added to the cost of an apartment.

Sometimes, planning law changes or the process of construction can lead to unforeseen technical challenges that can result in minor changes to the anticipated layout and distribution of the project.

This case demonstrates this possibility very well and is a good example of what can happen when you sign for a property prior to its absolute completion. To improve cashflow, many builders will apply pressure to sign when your apartment is finished but other infrastructure is still pending.

It is also something that even the best lawyers are likely to miss particularly if you have signed a power of attorney so that they sign in your absence.

If this scenario happened to you, you could easily have paid for the cost of parking and storage when later you find they are not fit for purpose or worse, do not exist at all.

How easy do you think it would be to successfully claim the money from your builder?