The northern Spanish coastal region of Cantabria is drawing a lot of attention from British buyers looking to invest in a holiday home.
Out of all enquiries for properties in that region during the first three months of 2015, More than two-thirds (67 per cent) came from the UK, the quarterly enquiry report of property portal Kyero shows.
Martin Dell, director of Kyero.com, which lists more than 200,000 homes from 3,000 estate agents, commented:
“The level of interest shown in Cantabria highlights an interesting trend. Price is certainly an influential factor on purchases in the region – 25 per cent of enquiries are for land or properties that cost less than EUR 50,000 and another 17 per cent are for those costing between EUR 50,000 and EUR 100,000. Buying parcels of land in this way can be a really cost effective way of owning your dream second home in Spain – you buy the land, then build the house that you have always wanted.”
Of course, Spanish red tape can make the process a little more complicated than simply buying and building, but with the right checks before purchase and the right contacts for the design and construction parts of the process, buyers can end up with a home worth far more than they invested.
The attractions of building your own home are being felt across Spain, with the number of building licence applications for new housing increasing by 38.9 per cent in January 2015 according to the Ministry of Development. Applications to reform or restore homes were also up, by 10.6 per cent.
When it comes to British buyers, the key to Cantabria’s popularity may well lie in its ferry link to the UK. Regular sailings from Santander to Plymouth and to Portsmouth provide an economical way to transport people, vehicles and goods between the two countries, with ferries taking around 24 hours to complete a single journey. Even pets can be taken along, with the right documentation.
