Brits in Spain

I have been reading articles posted on the web about retirees and those in their 50s selling up in the UK and buying property in the hope of a better life in the sun. Many are now finding that they are less well off due to the falling exchange rate between sterling and the Euro.

With regard to property, one lady we know purchased a town house 10 years ago and now finds that she is unable to sell it for the price she paid and cannot find tenants to rent the property. When we lived in Huescar there were two identical town houses up for rental in the same urbanization with similar decor and furniture. The Spanish owned property asked for a montly rent of 300 euros, the Brit wanted 495 euros. Guess who rented out the house and who didn´t? Many Brits expect the same rental income they would get in the UK and that would appear, on the surface, to be their problem. The majority of the prospective tenants in inland Spain are Spanish and they will not pay high rents charged by the Brits. In addition, the Spanish are willing to rent a property out for however long you want it (in most cases – there are exceptions), the Brits put a maximum of 11 months as apparently after that you qualify for “squatters rights”. Or so we were told by a British estate agent.

As far as work is concerned for the 50 somethings, in a lot of areas there isn´t any. The only work available is offered at minimum wage and is usually in the service sector. Unless you have excellent Spanish, you will not be offered, for instance a job similar to that you did in the UK, ie IT or management, no matter how well qualified you are. And there are only so many “home finders” or “estate agents” that the market will support, especially in the current financial climate. Many have already gone down or are struggling.

As a pensioner, I find my income has dropped quite a lot and I am sure other Brits whose sole income comes from the UK are experiencing the same problem. I think when I last compared the exchange rate when we arrived compared with the current rate, my income has fallen by about 16%.