Brit buys dream home in Spain for £110,000… only to find out he has to share his KITCHEN with the locals!

From the moment Steven Najda received an evocative postcard from the emblematic Arcos de la Frontera, he was in love.

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

During the five-day break, he came across the very same historic house – the Casa del Conde del Aguila – that featured the postcard.

To his surprise, there was a for sale sign on the door and, assuming this was destiny, the Yorkshireman seized his chance to snap up half of the ground floor of the Grade II listed 19th century building.

Seemingly a bargain at €135,000, he soon set about turning it into his dream home.

However, it didn’t take long for the 67-year-old to realize he had made a serious mistake when strangers started appearing in his kitchen after a few days.

Unbeknownst to Najda, a pharmaceutical executive, his kitchen was shared by two neighbors who had the right to enter at any time.

“It started one morning when a random stranger showed up with her dog,” he told MailOnline.

Steven Najda (photo) fell in love with the town of Arcos de la Frontera

But he has to share a kitchen (pictured) with his neighbors despite dropping £110,000 on a plot

He bought the Casa del Conde del Aguila (pictured) for £110,000

“When I asked her what the hell she was doing, I found out there were two doors that led directly into my kitchen from other houses,” he added.

‘Of course I immediately checked with my lawyer and he turned out to be right.’

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

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

They all confirmed that although the kitchen was once shared with two other houses, ownership would ‘transfer’ once the purchase was completed.

The problem is that both neighbors have ‘access rights’ and keys to enter.

Despite the fact that they both have their own kitchen, neither of them has waived their rights.

And the worst was yet to come, when he discovered a few months later that one of the neighbors had stolen his coffee machine worth more than € 1,000.

He didn’t realize that his kitchen would be used by two of his neighbors, who have access rights and keys

Steven said his plants have been ‘lost’ since he moved here

He saw the house on a postcard and immediately fell in love with it

He has spent €20,000 repairing the property so far

He also ‘received’ all the plants and an irrigation system that he had installed in the communal courtyard.

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

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

‘I spent around £20,000 on all the work including paying for repainting my neighbour’s house and new beams in the kitchen to save my neighbour’s house from collapsing,’ added Najda, from Huddersfield .

‘I understand that these costs should be shared because they relate to common property, but my lawyer is useless and cannot get the residents together.

‘Ironically, my children told me I would regret buying a house in Spain, and unfortunately they were right.’