A woman has claimed she is owed £5,000 for a flat she reserved on Newcastle's Strawberry Place that has not been built as Newcastle United buy back the land.
Geraldine Murphy, 53, who lives in Nottinghamshire, put down a reservation fee in November 2021 for an off-plan apartment on the site opposite St James' Park, Nottinghamshire Live reports. Off-plan is when a property is bought or reserved before it is built, with only the plans available for inspection.
Mrs Murphy, who runs a holiday lets business, said she expected to exchange in early 2022 but that this timeline kept slipping and decided to fill out a refund form in March.
READ MORE: Vans and North Face close in Newcastle city centre but one brand hints at revamped store
"We were expecting progress very early last year but nothing seemed to be happening and I was eventually advised by the company I had been working with to request a refund," she said.
"The key issue was that there seemed to be no fixed date by which the development would actually be completed and that was obviously very concerning."
However, plans to spend £3.5m of public money on the controversial development at Strawberry Place were shelved last month. The North of Tyne Combined Authority had been due to cover a “viability gap” in the transformation of Strawberry Place into new flats, offices and a hotel, but a decision was deferred at the last minute.
On Wednesday, February 8, Chronicle Live reported that Newcastle United's co-owners have bought back the land at Strawberry Place that was sold by Mike Ashley in 2019. United are yet to officially comment on potential plans for the land but the sale has been confirmed by its former owners.
The Strawberry Place site, which had been bought by North East property developers High Street Group, was taken over by lenders Reditum Capital when the Newcastle firm ran into financial difficulties.
A spokesman for Reditum Capital said: "We are delighted to announce that Reditum and Newcastle United FC have agreed a deal which will ensure that the future development at Strawberry Place will now be in line with the plans of the football club."
Early plans for the reclaimed land are yet to be announced by the club but it has been reported that it could be turned into a fan zone.
However, Mrs Murphy said that she has still not been refunded for the flat on the site, despite being promised on three separate occasions between last June and December that she would be paid.
That is also despite a judgement in her favour from the small claims court, a claim which was submitted on December 14. The claim made by Geraldine Murphy was against The One Collection company, which is marketing the St James' Park development.
Mrs Murphy added: "I've been promised so many times that I'll get this refund but I haven't seen a penny yet.
"This company is still advertising for other people to put reservations down on this apartment and it's worrying that they're not giving me my refund while they're still doing that."
The One Collection company was contacted by Nottinghamshire Live for a response, but a spokesperson said the company did not want to comment on Mrs Murphy's refund at this stage.
READ NEXT:
- Newcastle fan fears he will miss Carabao Cup final despite travelling 400 miles for every home game
- Inside Newcastle city centre's newest cafe Black Sheep Coffee as it takes over former L'Occitane store
- Gateshead couple in row with council over tree they claim is ruining their garden
Newcastle United fan sells car to pay for flight home from Australia for Carabao Cup final
