Overseas property owners up 45% in two years

The number of British households with an overseas property has risen 45 per cent in the last two years, research out today shows.

There are also as many as 800,000 Brits that want to buy overseas, though more than a fifth of these say it would a take a lottery win to make the dream of a place in the sun a reality.

When it comes to where people want to buy, Spain remains the favourite, with 43 per cent choosing the country over anywhere else for their property abroad.

France is the next most popular location, with 26 per cent ranking it as their top place for an overseas property.

Rated almost equally were Australia (22 per cent) and Italy (21 per cent), with the US lagging slightly behind (17 per cent).

The property investment hotspots of eastern Europe were not high on Brits' preferred locations to buy, only seven per cent choosing them as their favourite place for a second home.

"The UK property boom, has increased levels of housing equity and has given many people the opportunity to purchase their dream home in the sun," said Paul Davies, senior finance analyst at Mintel, who commissioned the research.

He added: "The low interest rate environment has allowed other prospective property purchasers to take advantage of relatively cheap borrowing.

"Interest in overseas property has also been stimulated by the amount of coverage the issue has received across the media, together with the boom in low cost airlines."

Mr Davies concluded: "The UK has witnessed a buoyant buy-to-let market in recent years and the surge in house prices has made it increasingly difficult for investors to find suitable places at home where they can reap sizeable returns.

"As a consequence, some investors are now looking further afield in order to identify properties that have the potential to yield reasonable profits."