Maio Property

Vila Maris Development

Built onto a flood plain of marshy ground north of the airport and Vila do Maio, the main port and town. It features lines of villas along the beach some of which are partly built, and others of which are externally completed. It is back from the beach behind marshy ground which becomes a flood plain in winter. The nearby Bela Vista hotel is bankrupt and closed. Work on the development has also ceased.

M from Kent went there but found

"that on the Spring Tide, the sea came over the seawall and flooded the marsh where the development is planned"

R from Wilts made an interesting discovery when he got there

"I was told that the original developer is now in jail in Europe and the project has been bought by an Englishman. But the Italian developer whom I met admitted that work has not started and will take at least two years. He said that he cannot get labour to come to Maio. Also the attractive stone facings in the spec have been replaced by concrete. He claimed nobody could do stone facing anymore. So I am not going to buy."

M from Kent saw the site before work had started.

"The Vila Maris development hasn`t started yet, but we had a walk around the land where the development was due to be built. The finishing date, according to our glossy brochure mentioned December 2006! Guess they will be employing Olympic standard bricklayers. What bothered us, on the particular day that we were there, the wind was a howling and quite a few waves broke over the sand dunes, flooding the proposed site."

J from Cornwall has had enough

"We have decided to pull out after advice from our solicitor over the land registation issues. I can only wish the rest of you all the best! "

T from London got cold feet.

"I was considering buying a studio at Vila Maris Village but having read the comments on this site I now have some doubts. Can anyone give me an update on the following: The land registry/ownership problem. The problems with flooding. Does the 5% guaranteed rental really exist?"

We can answer the last point. Since the Bela Vista hotel went bamkrupt on the same site, from lack of custom, there are not likely to be many lets at this juncture. Of course, things do change. J from London was warned about another problem.

"The land ownership issue was raised by our solicitor because although the developer has purchased the land they are not the registered owners as yet. The Cape Verde 'Land Registry' is obviously being swamped. We are waiting for this to be resolved in some way by our solicitor so we do have legal ownership."

A from Birmingham thinks this is now resolved.

"I have received information and was delighted to see that the work had started. I was also pleased about the land issue, I have heard from my solicitor that everything is OK now and the land is being registered in the name of the seller in Praia."

A from London feels that things are moving again

" I have seen photo evidence to prove work has started on Vila Maris as I may be inteersted in buying there, just cannot decide whether to go for Vila Maris or Salinas Beach Resort (main beach in front of Vila do Maio). Both look great investment opportunities."

K from Manchester says

" Good to see progress, I know we have all had to wait a while, but now feel much happier with my investment. A lawyer in London has also now cleared the legal situation re the land - as they told me originally it was just a question of waiting for all the land on Maio to be registered in Praia instead of locally on Maio and this has now been done.

S from Essex has pulled out

"After much research I have decided not to buy on Vila Maris. Flooding,land ownership,no unloading facilities,no shops for 5km,handful of restaurants usually closed and 5km away are all reasons but mainly it is the lack of connecting flights from Santiago.They are a complete shambles and even if you have a ticket you cant sometimes get onboard.There are only 3 small planes connecting ALL the islands.They have a monopoly and can charge what they like.I have been told that £140 return has been asked! Also the flights from Birmingham to Santiago are total fiction.I have spoken with Birmingham Internationall and they have not received any application from any airline for routes to CV.They told me that even if they had received an application for a licence it can take up to 2 years to be granted.So this means flying to Sal from England then hoping for that internal flight or Santiago from Europe.Of course the Portuguese should hopefully flock to the island because they can fly direct to Santiago.But I doubt that the Brits will touch it."

S from Birmingham sees problems with furniture supply.

"There are 2 developements on Maio Stella Maris and Villa Maris. Both are the work of an Italian developer and both were supposed to be finished this year. Not a brick has been laid yet. There has been a dispute over land ownership. I think it has been solved now. The developer is an Italian and lives in Vila do Maio. Has any ane considered how they will unload all their furniture, white goods etc when there is no crane on the jetty?"

capeverdeinfo.org.uk