26/04/07 - More UK Investors Looking Abroad

Buying property overseas continues to soar in popularity with each passing year…

The lure of emerging markets such as the Bulgarian property sector and the consistency of regions such as Spain has led to a 200 per cent increase in the number of people owning property abroad compared to ten years ago, new research shows.

In 1995, it was recorded that 102,000 people owned a property abroad, the Grant Thornton study explains.

It is now estimated that there are 300,000 UK residents who also have a property in Bulgaria, Spain, France or other countries.

This trend is forecast to continue. Grant Thornton predicts that, by 2025, as many as 1.3 million British people could own a property abroad.

A diverse range of people are forecast to make up this group, with pensioners, affluent investors and holiday home owners aged 45 or over all expected to be a part of the foreign property investment market.

Mike Warburton, Grant Thornton’s senior tax partner, said:

"Thousands of UK nationals have been attracted by the lure of a warm climate, a cheap cost of living and easy access to a second home overseas."

However, Mr Warburton also stressed that investors should show caution, as it is easy to "be seduced into the attractions of overseas property ownership and ignore the perils".