Pay for a house from UK bought in SA
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 1
Pay for a house from UK bought in SA
Dear all
We are thinking of buying a guest house in SA. What is the easiest way to pay for it from the UK? Anyone had any experience paying for properties in SA from UK account?
Thanks so much and apologies if this has already been asked, I am new to the forum and have tried to search without any luck. :-)
We are thinking of buying a guest house in SA. What is the easiest way to pay for it from the UK? Anyone had any experience paying for properties in SA from UK account?
Thanks so much and apologies if this has already been asked, I am new to the forum and have tried to search without any luck. :-)
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Pay for a house from UK bought in SA
If you eventually sell up. how easy will it be to get Exchange Control to repatriate your capital ?
#3
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Joined: May 2012
Location: South Bucks
Posts: 1,654
Re: Pay for a house from UK bought in SA
Scott asks a very good question. I have thought of buying a holiday property in Cape Town and have not done so for fear of losing our capital if things go pear shaped! Most people on this forum are selling up so I think you may have to search through your solicitors or find info from an accountant who deals in international tax and foreign exchange. Anyway you look at it if you can risk it and plan to be there for a long time it probably wont be a problem but you will need your bank and solicitors to become involved. Where about are you thinking of relocating to and do you have either SA citizenship or visas in place?
#4
Re: Pay for a house from UK bought in SA
You can take R5m out of the country a year based on exchange controls (per person, so in theory you could take R10m as a couple. Less capital gains tax etc (you - in theory - need a tax clearance certificate before you can take it out)
But the OP asked about getting money in. You’d need to open an SA bank account (which usually requires an SA ID or PR, and be in SA) and then transfer it through an IBAN. It’s easy enough to do, but the financial controls in SA are pretty stringent and they’d probably be asking for proof of the source of the funds, so get your ducks in a row before you start the process.
Good luck!
But the OP asked about getting money in. You’d need to open an SA bank account (which usually requires an SA ID or PR, and be in SA) and then transfer it through an IBAN. It’s easy enough to do, but the financial controls in SA are pretty stringent and they’d probably be asking for proof of the source of the funds, so get your ducks in a row before you start the process.
Good luck!