Natwest Study Shows Foreign Property Goes Mainstream
New research conducted by NatWest International has confirmed what we have all known for ages: buying and owning a holiday home (or two) is becoming the norm amongst British families. The study found that around 250,000 people from the UK owned foreign property, their choices predominantly in Europe, especially in France and Spain.
The number of English people buying a property abroad has risen by more than 60% from 129,000 in 2000 to 211,000 last year, with 60% of these buyers aged between 45-64. Interestingly, only 38% of people in this age group own a property in England, consistent with the fact that 54% of second home owners say their main motivation for buying was to own a holiday or retirement home. A combination of media pressure, bad weather and savings uncertainty has led increasing numbers of British families to sink their savings into foreign bricks and mortar. The research confirmed that buyers like to stick to known tourist destinations, with 52% of those they asked purchasing in a location previously visited on holiday.
However, another new study, this time from the British Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), has looked at overall property trends in England, and has revealed a detailed profile of the English buyer, which suggests that not only does the British buyer increasingly buy abroad but that he also seeks to own more property within the UK. In 2006, around 242,000 English households apparently owned a second property in England and 36,000 households with a second property in Wales or Scotland.
A further 211,000 households own a second home outside the UK of which 34% are in Spain and 23% in France. Italy and Portugal each accounted for 2% of England’s second home ownership abroad, while 16% owned property in what the study referred to as ‘other European countries’. The US (6%) was the standout location for non-European property ownership, while 17% of English second homeowners owned a property in ‘other non-European countries’.
