Insurance News Archive

Spain buy-to-let industry 'less troubled than UK'

Investors in overseas property have been told that the Spanish buy-to-let market is different to the UK market and is "not suffering the problems we see over in the UK".

Property prices in Spain have risen 5.3 per cent in the last year and on average 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, though some areas such as Murcia have seen 10.7 per cent annual growth, according to Spanish Property Insight.

In addition to those figures Atlas International has suggested that the difference in the workings of the buy-to-let industry in the UK and Spain has protected the Spanish market.

James Dearsely, the company's European sales manager, said: "If you take London as an example, most people will only really look to the long-let scenario, so anything from six months to two years.

"In Spain, you've got the option of that longer-term letting, which is either ex-pats who want to move out there but want to rent first, but the more prevalent, flexible and lucrative option is short-term letting."

He added that the slide seen in the UK market is not translating to Spain.

28 Nov 2007