Second homes abroad have trebled in a decade
Posted on 20 November 2006
BRITONS’ passion for a bolt-hole abroad has seen the number of overseas properties owned by UK homeowners treble in the past decade.
The value of foreign homes has also surged, hitting £71 billion in 2005, up
from £29 billion in 1997.
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The number of foreign homes snapped up by British buyers rose from 102,000
in 1995 to an estimated 300,000 in 2006, a study from Grant Thornton, the
accountants, revealed.
The demand for foreign properties is such that 2 per cent of
Though
The study concludes that a continued underpinning of
By 2025, the report says, up to 2 million British homeowners — or a tenth of
total home-owners in the country — could own a property overseas.
Maurice Fitzpatrick, senior tax manager at Grant Thornton, added however
that the continued trend would be “heavily dependent on the strength of the
The study warns potential purchasers of second homes to be wary about the
tax implications of purchasing abroad.
Often, it says, buyers are unaware that they are still subject to tax on
offshore income and capital gains if they are resident in the
They are often surprised too, it says, by the complexity of local tax
systems.
“It is all too easy to be seduced into the attractions of overseas property
ownership and to ignore the perils,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
A combination of low interest rates, a booming
Cheap flights and the expansion of the European Union have also helped to
make foreign ownership a reality for many people.
The typical second home-owner, it found, was either a pensioner, using their foreign property as their main home abroad, or an affluent person aged 45 or above whose second home was either an investment or a holiday home.
The study, which drew on
the Government’s Survey of English Housing, found that 35 per cent of
second home owners had a place in
Story Courtesy of
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