Anyone appeared on Place in the sun?

PawelK

Having watched this programme a lot, I was wondering if there is anyone who could share their post purchase experience? It's easy to fall for wonderful stories shown on telly, having your holiday home, whether just for you or as an investment but to no surprise there is nothing to show what happened later. Particularly interested if people finding it more expensive to run (regular fixed costs etc) than they initially thought or it made their tax situation in the UK, while working full time, more complicated and costly with regards to tax returns etc.

MEM62

Both my wife's briother and sister and their respective families moved to Spain.  They ended up in a village with a small ex-pat community of maybe 40 more so people.  Over the last decade I would estimate that 90% of them have returned to the UK for various reasons.  Health, money, unable to settle, holiday feeling subsides etc etc etc.  In my sister-in-law's case it was because both her sons returned to the UK as there was no prospects for them in Spain.  I know the country well and my wife and I will spend extended periods of time there in retirement but we will not, burn bridges, buy property or make it our permanent residence.
Despite the sunshine, the grass is not always greener.           

PawelK

Completely agree but wasn't really thinking about it as a permanent residence. Only either as a private holiday home to visit twice a year or so or with a potential of letting it out.

Browntoa

Holiday letting in Spain is starting to be heavily regulated in many regions . You may need to obtain a licence to do so , there was talk of communities having a veto on new letting without a 75% yes vote .

PawelK

Browntoa said:

Holiday letting in Spain is starting to be heavily regulated in many regions . You may need to obtain a licence to do so , there was talk of communities having a veto on new letting without a 75% yes vote .

That will definitely narrow the areas where FHL investments are allowed but it doesn't have to be Spain. It could be Portugal, south of France or even Greece/Cyprus. Also, I am interested to see how the investors market will change after Brexit as already read in few places about older people going back to the UK and being replaced by younger ones.

AdrianC

If you're basing major life decisions on daytime TV, you need to give your head a major wobble.

Guessing from your username, are you a Polish national? If so, then that not only makes it a lot easier than if you were a UK national, but suggests you already have experience of international relocation.

PawelK

AdrianC said:

If you're basing major life decisions on daytime TV, you need to give your head a major wobble.

Guessing from your username, are you a Polish national? If so, then that not only makes it a lot easier than if you were a UK national, but suggests you already have experience of international relocation.

Hi Adrian. Yes, I am Polish and perhaps that would make it easier in some aspects, especially if I move to a EU country first. I am not sure why do you think I would make major life decisions based on a TV show based on my OP? It's exactly the opposite hence creating this thread. 😉

Slinky

We used to dream of having our own holiday home. In fact we have a budget line in our savings dedicated to it. However we decided that for the few weeks a year we'd be able to spend there it would be a very expensive way to have a holiday. We wouldn't want to let it out to strangers, so there would be only expense, no income. Plus we weren't sure we would always want to holiday in the same place, so if you go elsewhere, it gets even more expensive unless you then start holiday home swapping with others.

Much cheaper to rent somebody else's holiday home or hotel and have a world of choice of places to go.

I do love A Place in the Sun though, but I use it to research places to visit (or not!) for a holiday.

PawelK

Slinky said:

We used to dream of having our own holiday home. In fact we have a budget line in our savings dedicated to it. However we decided that for the few weeks a year we'd be able to spend there it would be a very expensive way to have a holiday. We wouldn't want to let it out to strangers, so there would be only expense, no income. Plus we weren't sure we would always want to holiday in the same place, so if you go elsewhere, it gets even more expensive unless you then start holiday home swapping with others.

Much cheaper to rent somebody else's holiday home or hotel and have a world of choice of places to go.

I do love A Place in the Sun though, but I use it to research places to visit (or not!) for a holiday.

Fully agree with your arguments. If not letting it out you have to budget for regular costs and I also wasn't too keen on going to the same place every year as I love exploring new areas. However, if you approach the place from an investing perspective then you can perhaps cover these costs and if profitable, even help you along the way in traveling to new destinations. My other reasonings are that extra income if possible but most of all enabling my parents to enjoy the place as often as they want, especially to escape cold winters they have back in Poland. 

MEM62

PawelK said:

Completely agree but wasn't really thinking about it as a permanent residence. Only either as a private holiday home to visit twice a year or so or with a potential of letting it out.

I have seen many go down this route and all regretted it.  Before you do anything look at the cost of rent in Spain.  They are cheap!  In the village where our relatives lived you could rent a three or four bedroom house for 400 EUR a month.  I absolutely could not understand why people were selling their houses in the UK and buying in Spain.  You also need to consider that buying is easy and selling is difficult so it is highly likely that you will be stuck with an asset that you cannot liquidate as and when you need to.  There is also the consideration that, by renting, you do not have to return to the same place.  If you get bored with a particular area you can move on or stay somewhere different on your next trip.  I cannot think of a single reason or benefit to committing yourself to property ownership in Spain.  

Scotbot

PawelK said:

Browntoa said:

Holiday letting in Spain is starting to be heavily regulated in many regions . You may need to obtain a licence to do so , there was talk of communities having a veto on new letting without a 75% yes vote .

That will definitely narrow the areas where FHL investments are allowed but it doesn't have to be Spain. It could be Portugal, south of France or even Greece/Cyprus. Also, I am interested to see how the investors market will change after Brexit as already read in few places about older people going back to the UK and being replaced by younger ones.

It is not just Spain restricting holiday lets, this is becoming more common with the advent of Air BnB and other letting sites as holidaymakers can be noisy and a nuisance in residential blocks. You would need to check the restrictions in any development you looked at .