British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
#76
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 30
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
A thousand UK retirees will provide far more custom to supermarkets, restaurants, pubs and golf courses than one retired UK millionaire. After all, there is only so much food and drink one individual can consume even if their name is Jacob Rees Mogg.
#77
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
But the retirees will still be there. If property prices drop in typical low cost British areas just means that other retirees can afford to live there. You might not see the couple from Leeds but you will see the couple from Belfast instead.
#78
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
The demographic will change considerably over the next 10 years , I think there will be more Scandinavians , Russians and Germans making a full time move to the costas .
#79
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
The British, the only ones who have gone down
By nationality, us British are losing relative weight although there’s still a big difference from other nationalities. The Brexit effect has caused Brits to buy fewer houses than in 2016, with fewer than 9,200 transactions, and a 10% drop compared with the previous year, when they set a record.This decline in transactions by the British has been offset by the other nationalities, all of which have grown. The French recorded nearly 5,300 purchases and increased their weight to 8.6% of total foreign purchases. They are followed by the Germans (7.7%), with around 4,750 purchases; Belgians (6.4%), with 3,900 operations; and then Swedes (6.3%), Italians (5.7%) and Romanians (5.3%).
The type of house: the greater the purchasing power, the larger the house
While it’s true that, in general, ex-pats also buy used homes, just like Spaniards usually do, there are nationalities that prefer to buy new homes. By numbers, the Belgians are first with 26.6%, followed by Norwegians (23.9%), Swedes (19.6%), Russians (19.3%) and Dutch (18.1%).If we look at the size, the average property bought by ex-pats is around 60 to 90 m2 (650-950 sq ft), although by nationality we can see that the greater the purchasing power, the more possibilities there are to buy a larger house of more than 100 m2, or 1076 sq ft.
Dutch (48.2%), Danes (46%), Swiss (43.7%), Germans (36.3%), British (36.3%) and Norwegians (35.3%) are the ones who buy the most houses of this size, most of them being second homes or holiday homes on the coast.
Those who buy properties of 60-80 m2 (650-850 sq ft) and 80-100 m2 (850-1076 sq ft) tend to do so as a main residence rather than a second home. Here it is more Romanians, Algerians, Moroccans or Bulgarians who are in the top positions. Then there is another type of smaller touristic property, apartments of less than 40 m2 or 430 sq ft, where Italians, Poles, French and Irish are the ones who buy the most.
#80
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Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Beckenham, London borough Bromley
Posts: 1,617
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
I believe you are wrong in that assumption; "Will the last Brit please turn the lights out" is nearer the mark. Yes there will be some EU retirees that will choose Spain, but I don't believe in the same numbers as the Brits leaving.
I am seeing many more Brits returning to the UK than ever; they are not being replaced in a like for like basis; there are people from Madrid, Cordoba and such like cities taking up some of the slack . but for how long?
I don't have the answer but then again, does anybody
Davexf
#81
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
So why are these Brits that you mention leaving? Are they all the “illegals” who cant get residency now, or what?
#82
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Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Beckenham, London borough Bromley
Posts: 1,617
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
No these are people who have spent years legally living here - I know things go around in cycles but there is no one reason from what I can see
Davexf
#83
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Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Winterpeg
Posts: 771
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
Also NLV ,s don't appear to have an infinite life so if an applicant were to use capital to "make up the shortfall" it would only be a matter of time before funds run out and visa renewal was not possible, consequently there will only be higher net worth individuals permanently migrating to Spain, which I said earlier is what Spain is fully aware of and no doubt welcomes.
#84
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
You will probably see a mass exodus soon by working people/small business owners, the covid financial support in Spain has been very poor compared to the UK and very few will survive financially.
#85
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 660
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
Last edited by Chipmonk; May 6th 2021 at 6:54 am.
#86
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
Very few Brits ( proportionately) actually have legitimate small or big businesses and anyone legally employed will have received ERTEs which pay over 70 % of wages. Spain has been as generous as UK but many Brits were not working with legal contracts or not registered as fully autonomo and therefore will have suffered. In fact Spain made the process much easier than UK as it is not means tested and your ERTE was automatic with no requirement to even apply for it!!. Add to the fact that many have been over paid as the ERTES often kept running when people returned to work and it was very generous.
#87
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
Theres the rub , all those working on the black economy are now paying dearly , in the UK the furlough scheme pays 80% of wages up until Oct 21 , many retail businesses who have a premises thats council tax registered have done very well , some picking up more than they would normally earn pre Covid , they've all had at least £20k grants some over £50k , grants do no have to be repaid, then theres the Bounce Back Loan scheme , large business loans have been available without credit checks ,a 12 month holiday before re payments start and then interest at 2.5% , theres been a lot of winners in the UK as well as losers due to Covid.
#88
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
Correct - there has been a lot of support for established businesses, although, no doubt, they'll be paying it all back in taxes and business rates in years to come. However, just like those working on the black, a couple of groups have missed out. Those people who had only just opened a business (and so weren't registered on previous year's rates system) were left out, and many self-employed complained about this. Also, those people who rented business premises via intermediaries (I don't know why they did this, maybe a tax avoidance method) also lost out through not being officially on the business rates register. I know a couple of businesses that had to close because of this, plus several "new" businesses in early 2020 that folded because there was no support. I suppose there had to be a cut-off to prevent fraud, and apparently registration of rates-paying businesses has risen with local councils.
#89
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Joined: Jun 2017
Location: Alicante
Posts: 928
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
In essence for those living here legally Brexit has changed nothing so I would suggest that the people leaving now are those who were considering it anyway and Brexit has little or nothing to do with it.
#90
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Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Cartama, Malaga
Posts: 1,168
Re: British Citizens Can No Longer Move to Spain Unless.....
So if shes had 0€ / month since October... what is she meant to live on ?