Rob Horgan
THE number of Brits buying abroad could tumble as the UK flirts with the prospect of an EU exit.
The majority of Brits think overseas property is an unsecure investment, with one in three claiming an EU exit would put them off buying in the Eurozone, according to a YouGov survey.
Despite the euro’s record slide against the pound, finance expert Jordan Tilley says Brits are not getting ‘caught up in a European buying frenzy’.
“Today’s findings suggest the British are still cautious about committing to property in the Eurozone, and need a better understanding of the market before they can take the leap,” Tilley said.
“A year ago, a property worth €180,000 would have set you back £150,000 – this month, a weak euro means that figure would be more like £128,000.
“Still, with Greece’s debt talks rumbling on and the possibility of a Brexit referendum following May’s general election, many buyers are wise enough to know that the dream of a European place in the sun is best undertaken with a full knowledge of the risks.”
For more information, see www.buyapropertyabroad.com
Much will depend on the outcome of the general election in May – if Labour win and/or enter into a pact with the SNP there won’t be an EU referendum and a lot of people will be looking at moving abroad.
Spain, if you want to benefit from this, get your act together and sort out your property and planning laws otherwise people will go elsewhere.
I agree Jane, I am looking to move somewhere as soon as I can sell, I spend more on council tax than on my own food and get vary little for the huge amount I pay. The UK is being bogged down by over regulation to a point where to dig holes on a building site you now need certificates. Only jobs you do not need qualifications for these days is Councillors and politicians.
Well if you move to Spain, John, you’ll have a whopping 10% purchase fee to pay and then your investment will most certainly lose money faster than teabags lose water. You will also quickly find that regulations are not such a bad thing after all, especially when the lack of regulations effect you directly, as is the case so often the case in Spain.
Cameron was a fool to promise an in out referendum in an effort to spike UKIPs guns. Memebership of the EU doesn’t feature high on UK voters list of concerns. Instead he has made it daily news and Farage a national figure.
John, the most you will be paying in council tax is sixty-odd quid a week. You sure eat frugally.
It is actually time those bands were reviewed, owners of houses worth more than three hundred grand, are getting away with murder. Bring on the “mansion tax” !
Houses over three hundred grand! where do you live. You can’t get much for that in the South.
Council taxes may be higher in the UK than Spain but don’t forget the poor and pensioners etc. in the UK only pay a fraction. In Spain you can pay €800 in council tax and then have urbanisation fees of €800 too, plus no safety net if you fall on hard times.
Another expenditure to be considered is that income taxes are higher in Spain. You could be thousands out of pocket.
My point exactly Marion. Council tax banding is way out of date. Three hundred grand is the top limit valuation for this tax. (Band “H”) So even a house worth in excess of multiple millions, only pays on that paltry valuation.
Band “A” (the lowest) is payable on houses valued at less than forty grand. You’d be hard-pressed to buy a house for that amount even in one of the old Northern mill towns.
Like I said, bring on the Mansion Tax, or would those lucky owners in London and the South East prefer a fairer valuation? Doubt it!
There are quite a few really hard up people that live in mobile homes, hard to heat, you can buy these for under £2000 but they still attract band A which can be over £600 per year. A full shake up would be good with £100 for the lowest band and take it all the way through to band Z. Even that is not altogether fair as in some parts of the country you can buy a 3 bedroom detached for £120k where the same somewhere else would cost £550k. Trying to work out a fair system is hard. Also paying it is heart destroying a lot of the time when you see what the councils spend it on. I live in a tourist area and the council has closed all the public toilets to save money, but they subsidize an airline to fly with 20 seats on at a cost of £4k per day.
Stefanjo, you can’t get much for £300,000 in my area, at best an ex-council house, two bed flat or a mediocre two bed bungalow over a mile from the station so to suggest people who own properties like this are not paying enough is madness and not even the Labour Party would stupid enough to penalise these people.
Marion is right about tax in Spain and it is worth bearing in mind that the personal allowance is only about €4,000 p.a. whereas in the UK, it is going up to £10,600 p.a. from 6 April – Spanish social security is also higher than national insurance. Also, the actual rates of tax are higher in Spain.
You seem to be missing my point Jane. Band “H”, around three hundred K, is the highest rate possible. I didn’t say those people should pay more, only that the whole system needs reviewing. Why stop at band “H”? There’s a lot more alphabet left. Is it really fair that a house worth in excess of millions should only attract the same rate as band “H”? Quite agree that one would not be necessarily better off under a Spanish admin. I was trying to point out that perhaps John Lightfoot doesn’t know when he’s well off. Would Spain really be financially more favourable? Or importantly, safer?
There is absolutely no chance of Cameron having an in out referendum on Europe. The Tories and Labour have systematically destroyed UK sovereignty to the EU, since the end of the second world war. The Lib Dems are in bed with the EU, as is the SNP party. The only vote to bring back a democracy is UKIP.
I’m still waiting for my 3% reclamation from the Spanish Government, since I sold my apartment nearly one year ago. So much for the EU anyway, a waste of time, money and space.
Robert: UKIP and democracy in the same breath? You’re having a laugh aren’t you? You really believe Farage could become P.M. ? An even bigger laugh !
I would like to see the UK out of EU. We don’t need it and the 53 million a day we pay it could create an awful lot of jobs.
John, £100 a year, you could not collect the rubbish in the three lorries that come to my house every week, one for general waste, one for garden waste and one for recycling of paper etc. Don’t forget in Spain they charge rubbish collections as a separate fee to the yearly Council Tax. If someone has a bigger house what are they using more of to pay more money for, is it because people are jealous of them? Don’t forget stamp duty and if you kill this sector off you will receive a lot less stamp duty, estate agents tax… Maybe a higher band would with slightly higher fees will keep everyone happy but taxing people thousands every year is not the answer. We may as well all give up on aspirations and plod along in life.
I may not even vote this year, Labour to reduce uni fees to £6k, that is good my sons, UKIP to have no fees for maths and medical, that is good for my sons..
Conservative, I was speaking to my local MP on Saturday, I said, how can is be right that a couple can earn £99k between them and still receive Family allowance while another family can have one earner above £50k and have it stopped or reduced? How can you give money to Countries with aid when they have a space programme? How can it be right to send billions abroad in tax credits and family allowance? His answer, we have only had five years and we cannot sort everything out in that time. Foreign Aid – £12bn – we give to stop terror here and build up their infrastructure.. Cant say I was reassured by anything he said. I am not really a UKP voter but £10bn less in aid, I expect they would cut of tax credits for foreigners with no kids here, they do have some policies that the conservatives should adopt. Hard top believe anything any of them tell you, are we becoming like the Spanish?
Reap, I read your post with interest and from what you have said, I imagine the last thing you would want is a Labour/SNP pact because both parties are big on the negatives you have highlighted. I don’t know which constituency you are in but I would suggest you vote tactically – please don’t withhold your vote altogether.
ha ha ha still mentioning voting for UKIP on here I see Reap. Giving them some kudos as if they’re an actual party
Yes Stefanjo, that’s right. A chance to vote for a party that will let the people vote for a government that make their own policies, and not to be dictated by a fascist undemocratic unelected EU.
You know Farage is the real deal when the media try and stigmatise the party with negative headlines, and false accusations. The Corporations that are behind the big party puppets are scared of Farage, and if I were him, I’d watch my back very carefully.
Excruciating having to agree with Derek. But there you go, even a broken clock is right once a day…
I hope it is UKIP that holds the balance of power and not the SNP.
Marion: Why are you so fond of racists ? Where do you think the National Front, the B.N.P, and all those shaven-headed thugs went to skulk and hide? That’s right, under the capacious cloak worn by Farage.
@Stefanjo, funny you should mention the BNP….one ex member was welcomed into the Labour Party a couple of weeks ago. A few more too in the past.
It is not racist to want to get out of the nut job that is the EU or cut immigration to a manageable level…even your mate Milly Band says so.
Anyway better Farage who loves England than the two Crankies who hate it.
What makes you think I’m a fan of the Pink Tories Marion? Got about as much time for them as I have for your Fascist buddies. The first protest you hear from a racist is; ” I’m not racist, but”.
Exactly the verbal acrobatics Farage employs to disguise his true agenda, which is to appeal to those people who dare not say what they really think and hide their hatred of foreigners behind spurious claims of “overcrowding” stealing jobs/women/houses. All the crap that was trotted out against our Commonwealth cousins in the fifties and sixties It’s the same old song but it’s always capable of making weak-minded folk join in the chorus.
Derek, I think I gave everyone a mention and said I may not vote for anyone, can’t get more on the fence than that can you. The last people I want in power is that little fat pig and bubble cut but as said, I have kids going to uni soon so I will be shooting myself in the foot with conservatives. I think freedom of movement in Europe is good, when you retire you can still receive healthcare in the EU, and who knows if I will live abroad again one day, maybe. We give more away in foreign aid than the EU costs us for membership but the other things are the questions aren’t they, can’t get rid of terrorist unless the EU approve it which they don’t very often, you have to let as many unskilled workers in the Country as want to come in here for the ever expanding EU. Then all the three main parties dish out money to them left right and centre, excuse the pun! Not sure if I can even say there is a tactical vote. Still, I suppose with all the cheap labour and 10 Eastern Europeans sleeping to a room maybe we can rival India with clothing manufacturing.
If Farage and UKIP are Racists Stefanjo, why are there many members of UKIP from Asian and Black backgrounds? I think you are the worst type, a left wing progressive, politically correct, EU loving sheep. All you do is throw the word racist at anything that makes sense outside your left wing progressive bubble. Think for your self and not what the biased media ram down your throat.
You appear not to have a grasp of the meaning of racism Robert. For a start, colour has little to do with it. The clue lies in the term, which denotes a hatred/fear of foreigners and an urge to blame them for the ills of society. It’s a primitive, ages-old method of hate-mongering which will always work on the weak-minded. It worked a treat for Adolf.
By the way, have you never asked yourself why the token members of UKIP always figure so prominently in publicity shots? Simple, so that people like yourself who equate colour with racism will be persuaded of the non-racist pose of UKIP. It’s just a new coat of paint on an old evil.
Which “biased media” do you refer to?