Laurence Dollimore
A DESPERATE grandfather is pleading for help after his Costa del Sol home was taken over by British squatters FIVE YEARS ago.
Birmingham native Kenneth Jobe (pictured above), 84, told the Olive Press he ‘hasn’t got much time left’ and is ‘exhausted’ after going back and forth with the courts in a bid to remove the English couple.
K.B, an expat of 33 years, and his partner have allegedly failed to pay more than €50,000 worth of rent for the €400,000 three-bed house in Mijas (pictured above right), since 2020 – allegedly helped by a ‘squatter’s bible’ that is used by so-called ‘okupas’ across the country.
They have also allegedly moved in their two sons, aged in their 40s – a fact they have neglected to tell the courts. The Olive Press contacted K.B, but he refused his right to comment via a lawyer.
Jobe, who is still reeling from the death of his own son from cancer last year, thought his nightmare was over when a Malaga court said they must be evicted and the locks changed.
But incredibly, the ruling was overturned on appeal last month after the squatters were deemed vulnerable and at risk of homelessness.
Jobe said: “I just want to get into my home… the tenant is pleading poverty but has two older sons living there.”
He added: “On top of that he’s not been paying community fees so they also want him out.
“And when I try and negotiate he outright refuses…he’s a really nasty person.”
Jobe said he has been battling the family since 2020, when he first filed an eviction notice after they stopped paying rent for various months on the Balcones de Mijas home in Buena Vista.
The area is filled with affluent Brits who are ‘sick’ of the squatters’ mess, with one video seen by the Olive Press showing mattresses dumped on the porch, next to multiple cars covered in dust.
“It’s tiring me out,” owner Jobe added, “I can’t believe the courts have sided with him, I haven’t got much time left.
“I’m just getting desperate. It’s dragged me down and it has cost a fortune on legal fees.”
Liverpudlian estate agent Paul Stuart, from local firm Palm Estates, told the Olive Press: “The eviction was cancelled because they claimed vulnerability.
“They know the law, they’ve got something called ‘the squatter’s bible’, which tells them all the laws and how to get around everything.
“They are British and are receiving their pensions and taking advantage of the legal system. It’s a terrible situation.”
A family friend, meanwhile, branded the squatters ‘disgusting’, claiming that when he begged them to move out, they demanded a fee to do so.
“It’s absolutely disgusting,” he told this paper.
“Poor Ken has spent decades visiting Mijas and it had been his dream to spend his latter years there.
“They know all the tricks in the book, Ken lost one of his two sons in April and it took such a toll on him, and now he is still dealing with this on top, it’s vile.”
He added: “I pleaded with them to leave and they said ‘we will work something out’, and they had the nerve to demand a fee to move out.
“They are holding the family to ransom, it’s sickening.”
