Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Hi everybody,
I'm a British citizen by descent, born and bred in Italy but planning to move permanently to the UK in the near future.
I've learnt a lot from this forum (and still learning) and I need some advice about buying a property.
I'm a freelance and lately I've been struggling a bit - both due to the recession and to the 65% tax we've got to pay over here, but I'll be able to afford buying a small flat for cash (probably in the North of England or in Scotland, where prices are lower).
Would it be best to move first into a rented flat, then doing all the paperwork in order to become officially resident in the UK (i.e. paying taxes to HMRC instead of the Italian revenue service), and only then looking for a property to buy?
Buying a property in the UK while still resident in Italy would imply a lot of taxes to be paid over here - and "more than possible" inspection by the financial guard and the revenue service.
Any advice would be really appreciated.
Nick

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Depends how well you know Britain in general, or the places you might want to buy in particular. Leaving to one side your (perfectly understandable) concerns about residence, tax responsibilities etc., my thought is that a decision to purchase should only be made after spending some time in the location, for instance, renting for six months or a year.

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Generally you need a UK income to get a UK mortgage so you wouldn't be able to buy while still in Italy.
And if you're freelance/self employed that will require a year or more to have the track record etc to prove the income.

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Seems like a no-brainer to me. Rent a modest property first (consider sharing, to increase your savings), take 6 months to a year to build up credit and look around the area, then buy.

Far more advantages to this plan than the other. In the old days of rampant house prices I'd have said buy now to save 10% on the price, but prices are stable at the moment, especially in the places you are thinking of buying.

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Thank you all for your replies!
As I said, I'm hoping to buy for cash (especially due to my very variable income) but yes I agree that it'd be wise to rent for the first period, at least until I'll be free from the Italian revenue service!
I'll keep you updated.

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

NickFan,

If you are looking for a UK Mortgage, speak to Alexander Hall. I used to deal with a few clients that used them for a mortgage when they lived and worked overseas.

Good luck

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Just another thought but if you took out a mortgage and added that to your cash, you could afford somewhere larger and then rent a room. HMRC allows you to earn up to £4,250 tax-free under the Rent-A-Room scheme.

£250-£300 pcm (normal room rental) would fund monthly payments on a £60k-£70k mortgage ...

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

:goodpost:

workable, this is a good thing

I suppose converting an attached single garage with its own side entrance to make 250-300 sq'ft living space is doable. It could be a small bedsit with a sink, lav & bed. Or rent out a room

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

It sounds as if you've arrived at the correct conclusion. ;)

It's pretty crazy to buy a property anywhere before you become personally familiar with the locality.

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Hi Nick - my husband and I have bought a flat in Liverpool, in preparation for our move back there. No problems with knowing the location, as he was born there and I've visited often.

The only hassles we've had are trying to conduct business long distance (we're in Australia). The development is finally under construction, but at the back of that we've had almost 18 months of trying to get hold of people via email and phone, being given conflicting info etc etc. Oh how we wished we could just visit the office and sort it all out!

I wouldn't attempt to buy an established property prior to being in the country - you'd be hard pressed to verify its condition etc without actually being there. Given that you don't know the area you'll be moving to, I think you've made a good decision to rent first and look around. Good luck!

Re: Buying a property before/after moving to the UK
 

Hi all
dont know if this helps, i manage a holiday park also i own a houose in Bulgaria, and have helped quite a few people now owners to buy holiday homes either Cash of on finance we have guaranteed finance options from £159 per month, with a low £1500 deposit, the holiday park is in kent 45 mins away form London & 30 mins away from the channel Tunnel the holiday park is open for 10 months march - January if you are looking for a cheap Base in the UK close to central facilites please call me on 01795 880 353 prices from £7995.
what i find is a lot of my Expats mates will rent the holiday home out when they are not here vto cover costs.
hope this helps

Dave