Spain Pound Exchange Rate - British Expats Leave
Strong Euro, Costs and Spanish Housing Crisis Force Brits to Quit
Sep 5, 2009
A large proportion of the 1 million British expats in the sunny Costas of Spain, whose move was fuelled by cheap package holidays and aspirations raised by television programmes such as A Place in the Sun, have regretted their decision recently due to the credit crunch affecting their sunny lifestyle. Principally, their desire to “live the dream” has come unstuck due to the strong Euro, the high costs of living in Spain and a mounting Spanish housing crisis.
Exchange Rate Crisis Explained
For Vic and Audrey Taylor, who relocated close to Valencia seven years ago, life has been harder as their UK rental income from residential property dropped by around 30 per cent when converted into the strong Euro, however they have managed to ride out the crisis. As Vic says many British expats: “who sold their UK home to fund property purchase in Spain with a private UK pension and savings as their only income are in dire straits.”
Whilst sterling to euro exchange rates are slowly starting to improve, it is too late for many of the expats who have spiralled further into debt due to the relatively higher costs of living in Spain.
Spanish Housing Crisis Leading to Demolition of New-Build Properties
Unfortunately, Vic states: “There is a glut of housing on the Spanish housing market at present, so it is very difficult to sell a property at what you thought it was worth. The market is virtually dead.” His comment was echoed by the ITV television programme Paradise Lost screened in June (www.itv.com/presscentre/spainparadiselost). Many of the British expats featured had their homes repossessed by banks or were forced to sell their property at a loss. On the other hand, Brits are still house hunting in Spain but cannily waiting until their dream home drops to a dream cash price.
The situation in Spain has been exacerbated by a property boom which burst at the start of the credit crunch. Bankrupt construction companies forced many purchasers of off plan properties to move into unfinished homes. The rush to build also led to developments on green belt or rustic land, which local councils are now attempting to claim back. Len and Helen Prior were devastated to see their Costa Blanca home demolished in 2008 for this reason. Vic commented that this was a problem for many purchasers of new build properties throughout Spain as there had been frequent allegations of official corruption in land deals.
Certainly Vic and Audrey think themselves fortunate that they are not in the same position as the Priors. Like many British expats, they: “Trawled the internet quite a bit, decided on an area to move to, booked a package holiday to Benidorm and found the house while on holiday.” Luckily, after viewing several coastal villas and apartments, they fell in love with a traditional Spanish villa on a predominantly Spanish urbanisation several miles inland.
British Expats with Businesses in Spain
Many British holidaymakers to Spain love the lifestyle so much that they rush into opening small businesses, however, a little forethought is always wise.
Over the past seven years quite a few English-run businesses have opened in Vic’s local area of Alberique, but he observed that “People in bars only last about 18 months as they find the work too hard and the small English grocery shops only seem to last a couple of months here as they are not competitive at all.”
Increasing Anti-Foreigner Attitudes in Spain
Labour MP, Denis Macshane, writing in The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/ expats/ expats_news/1931379), has stated that there is an increasing wave of anti- foreigner feeling in Spain, due mainly to the loss of local jobs and that expats, particularly the ageing population, are costing too much to local services.
Vic’s opinion, however, is that the Spanish display “No prejudice at all against the British. Brits bring UK money into Spain and they are happy to take it. Also Brits create jobs whilst very few English take Spanish jobs.”
He added that he had: “been admitted to hospital four times in the past seven years and can’t speak highly enough of the Spanish hospitals, particularly compared to those in the UK.”
One Good Reason to Remain in Spain
Vic and Audrey have no plans to leave Spain. For them the traditional way of life that they have found is epitomised by a recent burglary at their villa. Within 15 minutes of calling, the local police were on the premises investigating the crime. As Vic comments: “In the UK we could have been waiting over a week for the police to arrive.” The couple plan to put their villa on the market in the next few months and downsize to a townhouse in the locality as they are aware of the problems they will face as they age however they still believe they are “living their dream” despite recent credit crunch and currency problems.
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