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Air Madness
Figures released at the start of November by the UK Office for National Statistics showed that 190,000 Britons moved overseas last year. This figure does not take into account people who are spending between six months and a year abroad. The figures show a 50 per cent increase in the number of Brits moving overseas since 1998. Last year there was a rise of 5,000 on the 186,000 who left the UK in 2002. This figure was more than 30,000 up on the numbers for 2001. However, what percentage of these people actually purchase a home they are happy with in the long run which is not besieged with structural, regulatory, geographical or financial problems?
Russell Wilson, Managing Director of Royal Bay Oroklini, a property development in Cyprus, has been in the property business for over 15 years and has diagnosed this condition: ‘Warm weather coupled with a two hour or more plane journey seems to influence people into buying a property that they wouldn’t think twice about in the UK. How many people do you know that would happily buy a property in the UK that was prone to damp, subsidence, structural cracks and cost a fortune to heat in the winter or air condition in the summer? Nobody you would think. But thousands of people are doing just that all over Europe and the Mediterranean and they don’t seem to realise that even the hottest climates have changeable seasons and they’ll need to heat their house in the winter, just like in England. That’s when they realise just how much this costs and begin to regret the purchase. Our development is not based on concrete but modern building methods. They are highly energy efficient, meet all EEC building regulations and come with a 10 year guarantee.’ Purchasing a property in the UK is a lengthy process, taking on average two to three months from agreeing the sale to moving in, and that’s usually only if everything goes smoothly. It takes this time due to all the surveys, legal proceedings and estate agency dealings. With newer properties it is vital to check that all the planning permission has been granted and that building regulation requirements have been met. However, on a break from the office and awash with the local tipple, it is tempting to sign on the dotted line for a property you have only seen once (if at all), never mind having a structural survey completed or assessing what the area will be like out of season. The laws regarding the purchase and sale of property in some countries are full of holes and an open invitation for dishonest sellers to exploit a foreign buyer's ignorance and that’s when the dream can turn into a nightmare, before you have even moved in: ‘Homebuyers in England can get frustrated at how long it can take to buy a home, but they should be glad that the process is thorough and governed by law’ says Russell Wilson. ‘In foreign countries, I have heard of people signing up for the wrong house, signing contracts written in a foreign language and even handing over cash deposits, returning to the UK to say goodbye to family and friends only to find when they return to move into the house of their dreams, it doesn’t actually exist and the so-called agent has scarpered. It sounds unbelievable that British people could be that gullible, but the frequency of these occurrences is frightening’.
‘People can be very organised when purchasing a property abroad from agreeing a local mortgage to researching flight costs throughout the year, only to forget the more basic things like whether the house will still be standing in five years time or if there’s any heating that actually works.’ If you are considering a move abroad, Russell Wilson has compiled this basic checklist of points that many people forget, in addition to all the other checklists that experts offer which only focus on financial and legal implications: • What will the house
be like in winter? Is it insulated and how much will it cost to heat?
Similarly, in summer, what will it cost to run the air conditioning? It is estimated that nearly a fifth of people who move abroad regret their decision within the first year for a number of reasons. However, by applying the same approach to buying property abroad that you would in the UK, ‘Air Madness’, or the loss of a sane, logical, thorough approach to home-buying, can be cured and your move abroad will be a successful one.
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