England’s World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst has instructed a team of lawyers to recover a deposit he put down on an off-plan house in Spain.
The former striker, who scored a hat trick in England’s 1966 victory over West Germany, put down a €298,000 (£251,000) deposit on a holiday home in Marbella in 2004 but was one of thousands to lose the property and deposit in the 2007 Spanish housing crash.
He has now instructed Fernando Salmerón, director of law firm, Bufete Salmerón, to take his case against the Spanish bank which financed the development.
In December 2013 Mr Salmerón achieved a ruling obliging Spanish banks to return deposits to victims of the off-plan property crisis.
The verdict on behalf of two separate clients was supported by the Spanish Supreme Court in December 2015.
Mr Salmerón said: “Now three years on from the 2013 cases and one year on from the Supreme Court ruling there are still thousands of Brits who are unaware that they can get their money – as well as interest and legal fees – back.
“Those who are aware might be wary of entering into overseas legal battles or may doubt that they can win their case against big banks.
“However, victims from all over Europe are successfully recovering their deposits. We alone have to date recuperated more than €5.3m (£4.4m) on behalf of clients who are not in possession of a guarantee.”
Sir Geoff invested ahead of the peak of the Spanish housing boom, with the developer promising to hand over the property by 2007.
But by 2008 the house had not reached completion and the bank financing the development pulled the loan amid the Spanish housing crash, bankrupting the developer and ending construction.
Mr Salmerón said his firm is currently handling a further €2.5m (£2.1m) worth of claims on behalf of British clients.
damian.fantato@ft.com
