According to a survey carried out by "Rightmove Overseas", Spain will overtake France to top position of places to purchase property abroad this year.  Half of those plan to stay resident in the UK, using the purchase as a holiday home while around a third plan to emigrate for good.

The New Year always starts people thinking about making big lifestyle changes - and with the current dreadful weather conditions in the UK probably even more so at the moment. The top reasons given by those surveyed was better weather and less stressful lifestyle - and I can attest to that. You can´t get more horizontal than the Spanish when it comes to urgency, something which takes some time to get use to - the "mañana" outlook generally prevails.

Mal Pas on Sunday 2nd Feb - whats not to like!

Much has been reported about Brits buying property abroad, particularly in Spain from unscrupulous developers who were in cohoots with officials taking back handers and then finding out that their homes are built on illegal land. It is truly heartbreaking to hear these stories, but many, not all, do not carry out proper checks beforehand - taking the word of the agent that "everything will be fine". I have heard this many times.... my advice, you wouldn´t buy a property in the UK and accept the word of the estate agent would you, so why do it in a foreign country?

When we moved to Spain the best thing we did was take on the services of a Spanish/British lawyer based in London to check all the paperwork. As it happened, the "escritura" or deeds were not in order - something which the agent said would all be ok, "just sign". Our lawyer picked it up and the paperwork was all eventually sorted before we went ahead - it cost us a few thousand pounds, well spent we feel as the consequences could have been very costly in the long run.

Albir - very popular choice

Spain has always been a popular location for Brits and in addition to the obvious reasons, lower rates of crime and anti-social behaviour also rate highly for reasons to leave Blighty. The ease to get back to the UK was also an important factor, and with the huge choice of "low cost" airlines flying in and out of Alicante, the Costa Blanca, and Benidorm area in particular are a favourite choice.

Towns on the outskirts of Benidorm, such as Albir and Villa Joyosa are only around 5km from the centre of all the action and both have seen a surge of ex-pats moving there - and not only retirees, but young families too. British schools, bars and social clubs are more prolific here than in some UK towns these days - that is certainly true of London, my home town where on a trip back last year I struggled to hear anyone speaking English on the bus!

View of Villa Joyosa from balcony of bargain apartment

Property prices are certainly still affordable here and many buy and rent out for part of the year to holiday makers - obviously you should declare any income and pay the relevant taxes as there is a clampdown on illegal holiday lets. An example is a 2 bed apartment near the beach in Villa Joyosa for the equivalent of 115,000 GBP! As with everywhere, stay within the law of the country and you will be fine....

I recently read in a British newspaper that someone was planning on buying an apartment in Spain and commuting back to London. This is not unusual in the least - I have many friends here who´s husbands fly to the UK on a Monday morning and return on either Thursday or Friday... so it´s certainly nothing new. The commute can be quicker than driving or getting the train from Manchester to London - especially if there are leaves on the line or the wrong type of snow!