A BRITISH couple caught up in a title deed scandal in Didim officially lost their home this week, amid plans by other victims to set up an action group.

Geraint and Beckie Evans, of Swansea, bought a four bed duplex penthouse through builder Ali Bulur but learned their tapu had been switched to another person’s name.

Despite court action, the couple officially lost their bid to regain the home, which they bought for £52,000 after a judge accepted it had been bought by another person who claimed it as his own.

The couple put on a brave face on the court decision after 18 months of wrangling, particularly as they discovered this week that their furniture had all been removed from the property. They, along with other victims who have also been affected by wrangling with the same builder, are now trying to launch another legal bid in which they will try to snatch assets and recoup the money they have lost. Billy and Jane Coldwell, from Glasgow, are also in a similar position, as well as victims Mr Paul Pearson and his cousin Lesley Lewis-Dixon. Their court cases challenging the legal standpoints and attempts to get their tapus are all at different stages and are still ongoing.

But with the Evans losing their home, the victims have sought to launch an action committee and bring the scandal to the notice of their MPs in the UK, Parliament and the Turkish authorities.

Mr Evans said: “It is still sinking in that we have lost our home in the sun, but the cost to us runs to nearly £80,000. We can’t believe that all the paperwork we had has not been accepted by the judge who decided that the apartment was rightfully owned by someone else.

“It is just adding heartache to more misery. But I know that there are a lot of victims of the buying process out there who have still not got their tapus because they have been put up as collateral for loans to builders.

“They are ruining the Turkish property market for everyone.”

The couples and families believe the builder borrowed thousands of Turkish Lira against the apartments that were being built and put up the tapus as collateral.

It is thought the families proceeded to buy the homes through estate agents, but in the meantime the title deeds had been sold on to money lenders who then, in some cases, sold them on again to recoup the outstanding loans.

The families turned to lawyers in Didim to launch legal proceedings to freeze the builder’s assets and to put a block on the tapus being sold on further down the line. That was accepted, but in a counter bid a judge lifted the freeze.

The victims are now assessing how many other families have been affected by the same builder. Anyone with a similar experience are being urged to email details to jlmccann@hotmail.co.uk