WE CANNOT BELIEVE IT HAPPENED! Guildford couple, Simon and Donna Jordan have just bought a Spanish home for €155K. Are they pleased? They should be. It was reduced from €275,000. A Daily Telegraph (June 3, 2009) feature on making the pound stretch further in the euro-zone recommends Spain as the place to get the best deals. A euro mortgage is reckoned to be the best bet.
The view from Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante. One of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe
/ THE THINGS PEOPLE SAY People sometimes wonder if Spain is getting too full of people. In size it is third only to Ukraine and France; five times the size of England with a population 1/3rd less. David Lean, Britain's greatest film producer (A Man For all Seasons, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia etc) when making Doctor Zhivago needed to create an awesome expression of space, as in Russian steppe. He chose Spain where most of the movie was made. Extras? The Russian armies were in fact the Spanish Army. It cost $15,000,000 to make Doctor Zhivago but it brought in $200,000,000. It won't surprise you that the critics at the time gave it the thumbs down.
THE EXODUS CONTINUES Britons are buying in Spain every week. The Office of National Statistics revealed that Spanish property is as popular as ever. One of the reasons is the upwardly mobile generation has been priced out of the UK home buying market. Buying in Spain or Cyprus, where work is available, is the attractive option for thousands.
TOP TIP Want to convert euros into pounds? Just go into google box and type in €136,000 in to pounds and there is your answer. The € symbol is found by pressing ctrl and alt at the same time and then the € key.
WILL THE LAST PERSON TO LEAVE THE UK Nearly a quarter of a million non-Spanish are registered in Alicante Province according to the latest survey. Of these 58.7% are British.
FORMULA 1 Valencia is to stage a Formula 1 Grand Prix starting in August 2009. The race will be called European Grand Prix - formerly run in Germany - and will take place Le Mans style around the port area.
LLOYDS TSB BREAK RANKS (May 7th 2009) As we reported Lloyds TSB, Britain's biggest High Street bank spotted the house buying signals and drppped its mortgage rates by .04% to take advantage of the predicted recovery.
SPOT THE SPANIARD The number of ex pats on the Costa Blanca continues to rise. Foreign residents now outnumber their Spanish neighbours in fifteen towns. Benitachell, Marina Alta, Lliber, Teulada, Calpe, or closer to Alicante, San Fulgencio where 3/4 of the population are not Spanish. Rojales boasts a 69% non-Spanish residencia followed by San Miguel de Salinas with 60%. Orihuela has a 40% non-Spanish residencia. There's over 100 nationalities living there.
CAPITAL GAINS TAX REDUCED Gordon Brown's recanted? Of course not. The Spanish Government has reduced CGT for non-residents from 35% to just 18%. This means those who sell their Spanish homes make bigger profits and buyers get lower prices.
WHAT ABOUT MUM AND DAD? UK pensions set against the high cost of living in the UK means mum and dad live in poverty compared with European friends. Why not divert your pension fun or equity into a property in Spain or Cyprus and let your parents retire there? As a 'Thank you for bringing us up.' retirement gift to your parents it cannot be beaten. Their pension is transferred FOC to their local bank and the cost of living is so low they won't need it all. Holiday there whenever you like; you have loving baby-sitters free of charge, and it is yours when mum and dad pass on.
THE WRONG KIND LEAVING? The Government encouraged the older generation to move to Spain because they were at the age when they were least productive, paid little in tax, yet were a burden on the health service. They are now alarmed at the exodus of younger professionals. One of the reasons for their leaving is that homes are much cheaper abroad, mortgage interest rates lower; better lifestyle, and better work prospects.
LAND GRAB In Spain the confiscation of property illegally built only effects 1/200 purchasers. It doesn't effect urbanisations or apartments at all and applies only to properties for which no planning agreement was acquired, as happens in England. In the UK thousands also lose their homes to CPO (Compulsory Purchase Orders). Tens of thousands see their homes confiscated and sold by local authorities to pay for their residential care home arrangements.
204,000 LEAVING THE UK The latest available figures indicate that in just one year 204,000 Britons left the UK for sunnier climes, lower taxes, better lifestyles, and job opportunities abroad.
LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES? People worry unnecessarily about language difficulties and health care in Spain yet the Costas are as much home to English speakers as to Spaniards. The various communities get on well. The British community was recently honoured by the Spanish Tourist Board for their contribution to the Costa Blanca's prosperity. Ironically it is the Spaniards who learn English so they can better serve the English-speakers. As one lady put it: "There isn't a need to speak Spanish anymore than you need to speak Welsh because you live in Wales."
HEALTH CARE? In respect of healthcare there are few complaints. Private health insurance costs less than Britain and the care is far superior. Brits are covered by their European Health Insurance card and health care for the retired is free. A bit rich of TV to broadcast occasional whinges from Britain. The UK was ranked an abysmal 37th in terms of 'quality of life' (Spain is 11th).
MONTHLY LIVING COSTS IN SPAIN (ex mortgage) PER COUPLE
Food €200
Water €15
Electricity €30
Community Charges/Rates €37
Gas €10
House Insurance €16 TOTAL €308
CORONATION STREET: GLAD TO BE OF ASSISTANCE
If you are a fan of Coronation Street you may remember the Mike Baldwin storyline involved leaving a Spanish will. It was Southern Comfit's Roy Taylor who Granada Television approached when they wanted to get the story detail right.
Roy says, "A Granada researcher telephoned me in December to ask about Spanish wills and related subjects. It seems he couldn't get the information he needed elsewhere. Most of the issues concerning Mike Baldwin and his Wills, and his family's reaction to them have derived directly from our conversations. We also discussed some of the scenes that are presently unfolding ... here is nothing as satisfying as helping to construct the television plot we are now seeing on our screens, using the unique knowledge that I have pieced together as part of my business."
LIVING SPAIN MAGAZINE in their SURF SPAIN survey (March/April 2006) praised the Southern Comfit website as being superior and an example to others.
The Liverpool Chamber and Liverpool Business Associations The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce & Industry quarterly magazine publicised the professional way in which Southern Comfit International presents itself with its emphasis on commitment to excellent customer care. The LBC carries a glowing report on Southern Comfit. (June 2006).
SOUTHERN COMFIT PRACTICAL NEWS, VIEWS AND INFORMATION
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