There's a big difference Sam. Almost incomparable.Holiday homes tend not to be in Cities, where people live and work.In France, Portugal and Spain, the migration from country/coast to Cities was more recent, unlike the UK where it occurred during the industrial revolution.Most homes bought by the British in France were rural, derelict and abandoned. In fact, the British, more than any other nation, have almost single handedly revived and saved whole rural communities in France bringing work, visitors and sustainability to villages which 35 years ago were almost dead and insolvent.In Spain and Portugal, Tourism is one of the most important factors in the economy outside of key cities. All manner of investment has gone into resorts and some are truly awful. Most residential developments though, are very tasteful and do not conflict with the landscape. Again, it underpins a whole local economy.All these other places have one thing in abundance that does not exist here.A huge abundance of space.They also have much lower population per hectare. Even Madrid Airport has 4 runways but barely affects residents as it is well clear of residential districts.It is a completely different scenario here, and encouraging Buy to Let, in my opinion, is completely wrong. If we did not have a crisis of supply and demand then it would be not such an issue. But, this is an urban district in a huge city, we have a burgeoning population, a complete lack of space and yet we have thousands of empty and part occupied homes in the hands of investors with Buy to Let and commercial landlords taking 40% of available residential property.Cities in Europe, do not allow this and have big restrictions on people buying to let in areas of housing pressure. Some countries insist on residence for X months a year or even full time residence to be able to own a property.
Raymond Havelock ● 3865d