With a total of 293,500 British expats making Spain their home, it comes as no surprise that the country is still the top destination for Britons living abroad, new figures show.
Around 750,000 Brits have now left their home country and taken up residence in EU countries outside of the UK and Ireland, with 37% choosing Spain as their top destination, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The warm climate, laid back lifestyle and low cost of living are just some of the reasons Brits make the move to Spain – the cost of living in Spain is roughly 20% less than the UK last year, according to information database website Numbeo, while rental prices and groceries were 38.18% and 17.07% cheaper, respectively – a major draw for the 41% of British expats in Spain aged 65 and over, who are spending their retirement in the sun.
Marc Pritchard, sales and marketing director of Taylor Wimpey Espana, said: “Spain has so much to offer those who are retired or approaching retirement. The Mediterranean climate and diet are well suited to those looking for a healthy lifestyle, while the medical system here is also superb,” reports property investment website, Buy Association.
In fact, Spain is not only a popular destination on a European level but also on a worldwide level; Spain was voted among the top ten destinations in the world for retirement, according to the Annual Global Retirement Index published by International Living Magazine, after taking ninth position in the index and being one of only two European countries to make the top ten, which is some achievement.
“As Spain remains the top choice in Europe for Brits living overseas, it’s important to provide accommodation that suits their preferences and budgets,” says Pritchard.
The Spanish property recovery is consolidating and prices have been steadily growing over the course of the last 12 months; in the first quarter of 2018, property prices rose by 3.8%, compared with the same quarter in 2017, according to property valuations firm Tinsa.
After 31 consecutive quarters of year-on-year declines, Spain’s housing market returned to growth in the first quarter of 2016 and house prices are now forecast to grow across the country by an average figure of 6.1% this year, according to the Instituto de Práctica Empresarial (IPE). However, even with rising property prices, home values in some parts of Spain are still considerably lower than those in the UK.