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General election round the corner, and for the first time in at least a decade the outcome is far from certain (though personally I think the Tories will win on the day).
Whichever party wins there will be a certain amount of Britons who decide they want to emigrate as a result. For better or worse, Spain is still one of the most popular destinations to get away from the UK.
The question is, which party will drive more people away if it wins? And will that increase demand for property in Spain?
Mark
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Good thought Mark,
However I feel that what is driving people to emigrate from the UK are the policies of succesive governments.
What ever party wins Labour or Conservative there is little between them in terms of policy.
Taxes will rise sharply whether they are open and up front or neatly hidden away.
Political correctness will continue to erode the freedom of speech which we Britons once enjoyed and there will be no area where government does not see fit to invade.
Family values, discipline etc will all be under the nanny state.
So there is little between the two main parties and the policies, we will all have to work harder, work longer and pay dearly for the priviledge.
Also in the mix will be the weather and no party can make a difference there.
British people are very wary (even scared) of change and many know that when in power the Tories are no better than the rest.
Dont forget the expences scandal this will play a big part in voters decisions.
If we get a hung parliament who will we start with? -
What would be the point emigrating to Spain 😕 Tax breaks are still more generous than Spain, Politicians are even more corrupt than the UK. Unemployment over 4 million, youth unemployment reaching 50% in many areas. Spain does have better weather but why would anyone choose Spain as a political decision 🙄
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Actually, I think there is a good chance that both of the big two parties would drive those with an inclination to emmigrate out of the UK.
It would appear that regardless of who actually wins the election, the outcome will be the same for joe public. We are by all acconts going to be put through the wringer as far as tax increases / spending cuts are concerned….all to pay for the indiscretions of the financial industry.
I agree with Mark, in that I think the tories will emerge ahead….although it may not be with a large majority. I have no political afiliations, and this is just my ‘guess’.Incidentally, regardless of the numbers deciding to emmigrate to Spain…I don’t think it will drive any recovery in the housing market….in fact I think that Spain as a destination for those wishing to emmigrate may not be as popular as some may think.
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Emigrate may not be the word in question, merely move out of Britain.
Emigration probably only refers to those young enough to be seeking employment and with young families to support.
The group that will continue to move to Spain are the retirees or those of independent means and still perhaps the odd criminal.
They will continue to move to sunnier climes and I still think Spain is up there as a contender.
These ex pats are probably now a different group who do not rely solely on a state pension and are looking for a less complicated way of life.
Taxes are crippling the elderly in UK with taxes on insurance, travel, recreation etc etc.
We have paid our dues and looking forward to a tax break in the Sun.
Remember the excitement when it looked like we would have a labour government to replace the Tories after years of suppresion of the man in the street, the destruction of the Steel industry followed closely by the mines. Teachers, nurses, doctors and scientists leaving the UK in droves.What did we get ? More of the same tax, tax and more tax. the man in the street funding the excesses of the politicians.
Any one know an honourable one? -
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I would definitely consider emigrating if the BNP or UKIP gained power. I have borne the misery of Tory governments before, I can do so again. I think a conservative majority is still wishful thinking, there is no great groundswell for either of the big parties. The next few weeks are going to be a hard slog for both of them to garner any votes, and an even harder slog for us the poor electorate.
Dit
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The money markets may prefer the Tories and the pound may rise. Under Labour, perhaps for other reasons too, the pound is now much lower than it should be and may stay there if they stay in power.
A hung parliament seems bad for the strength of the pound, the money markets don’t like uncertainty.
I think emigration from the UK to Spain depends mostly on the strength of the pound (as well as property prices in both countries etc etc), but if the pound returns to buy 1.60 Euros, then more people will emigrate, no matter who wins the election.
It looks like a ‘no win’ situation for Labour expats.
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@katy wrote:
What would be the point emigrating to Spain 😕 Tax breaks are still more generous than Spain, Politicians are even more corrupt than the UK. Unemployment over 4 million, youth unemployment reaching 50% in many areas. Spain does have better weather but why would anyone choose Spain as a political decision 🙄
The feeling I get is that some/many people emigrate because they are so fed up with Britain that they just want to get away. So even if the taxes are higher, and the politicians more venal, they don’t really notice, to some extent because they don’t really know what’s going on in Spain. Ignorance is bliss sort of thing.
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Well there is the cost of about 300 euro per annum for school books
50 euro per month if kids need a brace.I do agree Mark that the happiest ex-pats are those that live in a bubble and don’t speak Spanish. It just seems silly to me when people state they are moving to Spain because of immigration etc. when spaniards complain about the same thing. Reading Sur de Málaga every day is very similar to the Daily Mail, Pedeophiles, crime, negligent treatment at hospitals etc.
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@katy wrote:
Well there is the cost of about 300 euro per annum for school books
50 euro per month if kids need a brace.I do agree Mark that the happiest ex-pats are those that live in a bubble and don’t speak Spanish. It just seems silly to me when people state they are moving to Spain because of immigration etc. when spaniards complain about the same thing. Reading Sur de Málaga every day is very similar to the Daily Mail, Pedeophiles, crime, negligent treatment at hospitals etc.
I think a lot of people who came to live here thought they were rich or would become so through their property investment. Now with the lower pound they aren’t rich and I think most realise now that their property investment will not make them rich. It would be interesting to see if attitudes between expats and locals change. I suspect that many expats who could see no wrong whatsoever in the Spanish were just living in some sort of dreamworld, they convinced themselves that they had found Shrang-gri-la! I also suspect that many Spanish will have a sense of schaudenfreude for their expat neighbours.
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There are a lot of us who live here, work here and make a living. Not fabulously wealthy by any means, but enough to pay the bills and have a meal out once a week.
Its still a simple pleasure to be able to stroll along the paseo, tomorrow we are out for lunch with firneds and wont spend more than 15 euros a head including drinks, sitting in the sun (hopefully as today is a bit cloudy!) and watching the world go by.
School books are now free for state schools, but I used to have to pay roughly that amount and yes dentistry isnt free, although again there have been changes for kids under a certain age that dental work is free.
My daughter is at uni – she works hard and is an honorary student meaning we dont pay any fees, however, for her year in Biology, we would have had to pay the princley sum of ….750 euros for the whole year!
Son is in Bachillerato looking to go to uni too, but has had the pleasure of representing Spain at Rugby in the U18 setion – just back from a totally paid for 11 day trip to Italy and the Internationals, now representing Andalucia in the national championships in Zaragoza, also paid for, so there are some benefits to being here!!
Rents are a lot cheaper which helps and whilst there isnt a huge amount of work, now so many have gone back, it does leave openings for the existing people still here and others to come out. I do know of people who have relocated here, still less than have gone back so far, but they are making a living.
I doubt it will matter which party gets in as unless people can live here on their own income or have a job or business to come to, they wont be able to come out anyway.
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All down to the pound/euro fiasco of an exchange rate. As the Labour Government showed no inclination whatsoever to help it back to what it should be (and may have even orchestrated the crash as an unofficial bit of devaluation to make British goods seem cheaper abroad. Haven’t they heard of India or China?) it probably won’t be going anywhere if they get back back in again. C’mon everybody! Isn’t 13 years of this bunch enough?
So, the main hope would be the Tories. Not a case of ‘driving’, More, making it financially more feasible to go!
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@DrRobert wrote:
All down to the pound/euro fiasco of an exchange rate. As the Labour Government showed no inclination whatsoever to help it back to what it should be (and may have even orchestrated the crash as an unofficial bit of devaluation to make British goods seem cheaper abroad. Haven’t they heard of India or China?) it probably won’t be going anywhere if they get back back in again. C’mon everybody! Isn’t 13 years of this bunch enough?
So, the main hope would be the Tories. Not a case of ‘driving’, More, making it financially more feasible to go!
I cant see it being that clear, if the Conservatives win then maybe there will be slightly bigger increase in sterling than if Labour is returned but the biggest thing the markets need is a clear winner.
I think we all know that huge cuts in public expenditure are on the cards no matter what party wins, the budget last month was a total waste of time, whoever gets in will have another budget in early June but all this will go on hold if there no ruling party and that’s the biggest problem for sterling.
So in answer to Marks original question I don’t think it matters what party wins, if there’s a clear winner then it will encourage people to leave because they can with the increase in sterling
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I think the Canaries are a better area to live because of the all year round comfortable climate and will survive the downturn better. Labour have always been the party that devalues as the default option at least Tony Blair would have got us in the euro at a decent rate -Gordon Brown was the most irresponsible chancellor we ever had -he has done a bit better post crisis -but he is totally dishonest allowing a phoney housing boom instead of doing the right things-they now talk about creating a high tech economy -thats what they were supposed to be doing from 1997 they deserve booting out and NEVER SEEN AGAIN .
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If you are non resident you continue to pay UK taxes and if you are over 65 get better personal allowance than resident in Spain?canaries. However pensions are taxed at 8% so if you get a large private or company pension you can be better off. Taxes on interest is 1% less but its more on dividends and tax on earnings in Spain is 24%. If you sell your property as non resident you now pay 19% capital gains reduced from 35% by the EU so no different from a 2nd home in UK. If you go resident then you can move capital gains tax free within the country after a while and if over 65 can repatriate cgt free if lived in the property 3 years. Youmight though loss some exemption on a UK main residence -but not sure how this works. The main advantages of course are not monetary -avoiding the winter -and a healthier climate that can make such a difference. It depends on your lifestyle too -no need to over-eat and if you like fishing you can partially feed yourself . If you have a garden you have long growing season -if you like wine -its not expensive to drink at home. Above all the sunshine makes you feel better. If you like lots of expensive social life thats where you will notice it but if like me you are quite happy living economically its ok unless the £ drops another 10 20 or 30%. The only way round that is to have euro investments -equities and bonds in the stronger euro economies. Banco Santandar is Ok if bought last year at 4-5 euro but at current price -well who really knows despite their substantial Latin American presence.
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@katy wrote:
Well there is the cost of about 300 euro per annum for school books
50 euro per month if kids need a brace.I do agree Mark that the happiest ex-pats are those that live in a bubble and don’t speak Spanish. It just seems silly to me when people state they are moving to Spain because of immigration etc. when spaniards complain about the same thing. Reading Sur de Málaga every day is very similar to the Daily Mail, Pedeophiles, crime, negligent treatment at hospitals etc.
i would gladly pay £50 a month for a brace,We had to pay £110 a month for my daughters as i was deemed her teeth were not bad enough to get it payed for even though they had to remove a tooth before pulling the rest in.
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I honestly don’t think that British politics will make that much difference to those emigrating anywhere Mark.
Those that can afford it will still go, some still falling prey to the scams and rip-offs but the turbulent Spanish Property market and all the cons are widely known in the UK thanks to tabloid journalists and TV “exposés” over the years.Of course, a great number of people still only know snippets of information regarding the pitfalls of buying in Spain and a fair percentage of them will still think that nobody will get the better of them but genuine people wanting to live in Spain will not really be pushed into it by political events in the UK.
The government is the government for most; always universally disliked and distrusted, regardless of which party is actually in power. In the whole of Europe we in the UK are probably the least politically active or motivated and I don’t see a dramatic change in that any time soon.
stevmk2 -
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As the Labour Government showed no inclination whatsoever to help it back to what it should be (and may have even orchestrated the crash as an unofficial bit of devaluation to make British goods seem cheaper abroad.
For UK residents in the current financial situation devaluing the pound is a good thing, keeping it high to help ex-pats and people looking to buy property abroad is absolutely the last thing the British government wants to or should do. So get it into your head; Devaluation is GOOD for Britain, expats and 2nd home buyers sucking money out of the UK economy is BAD for Britain.
Don’t expect this to change – selling the pound for Euro’s is anti-British.
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50 euro per month if kids need a brace.
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