Exclusive: British expat’s horror after discovering the kitchen of his newly purchased home in Spain is communal – with locals walking in and out

A BRITISH expat got a shock after realising the house he bought had a kitchen shared with his neighbours.

From the moment Steven Najda received an evocative postcard of emblematic Arcos de la Frontera, he was enamoured. 

A friend had invited him to visit the stunning inland town for a holiday in 2019.

It was during the five-day break that he stumbled across the very same historic home – the Casa del Conde del Aguila – on which the postcard featured.

To his surprise, there was a sale sign on the door and thinking it was fate, the Yorkshireman jumped at the opportunity to snap up half of the ground floor of the listed 19th century property.

Seemingly a bargain at €135,000, he quickly began to turn it into his dream home. 

It wasn’t long however, before the 67-year-old realised he had made a grave mistake when after a couple of days strangers began to appear in his kitchen. 

Unbeknown to Najda, a pharmaceutical boss, his kitchen was shared by two neighbours who had the right to enter at any time. 

“It started one morning when a random stranger appeared with her dog,” he told the Olive Press.

“When I asked her what the bloody hell she was doing, that’s how I learnt there were two doors that led directly from other homes into my kitchen,” he added. 

“I obviously immediately queried it with my lawyer and it turned out she was right.”

Najda, who currently lives in France, continued: “It was completely devastating: I bought it thinking it would be the basis for a new life in Spain, but now I hardly come over because I don’t want to live under the threat of random people sitting down in my kitchen.” 

The irony is that Najda insists he specifically asked the seller, plus his lawyer, and even town notary to check the deeds to ensure the kitchen was his. 

They all confirmed that while the kitchen was once shared with two other homes, ownership ‘would be transferred’ once the purchase was complete. 

The problem is both neighbours have ‘access rights’ and keys to get in.

Despite both of them having their own kitchens, neither of them have ceded their rights.

And worse was still to come, when a few months later he discovered that one of the neighbours had stolen his coffee machine worth over €1,000.

He also ‘lost’ all the plants and an irrigation system he had put in the communal courtyard. 

And then a neighbour illegally connected a pipe to his water, siphoning off his supply. 

“I was just recovering from a stroke when this all happened,” he continued. “It’s taken a big toll on me both financially and mentally. 

“I’ve spent about €20,000 on all the work, including paying for a neighbour’s house to be repainted and for new beams in the kitchen to save my neighbour’s house from collapsing,” added Najda, from Huddersfield. 

“It is my understanding that these costs should be shared as they are related to communal property, but my lawyer is useless and can’t get the residents together. 

“Ironically, my kids told me I would regret buying a house in Spain and unfortunately they were right.”