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Travel agents urged to embrace foreign property boom
ABTA Convention special report: A predicted doubling in overseas home ownership has been presented as a new alternative revenue stream for travel agents.
An expert in the sector told the ABTA Travel Convention that the value of UK foreign property ownership is estimated at GBP23 billion and the number of Britons planning to purchase abroad is set to double in the next five to seven years.
Avanti International Developments travel division managing director Laurence Hicks said the number of UK families owning a second property abroad grew by 20% between 2003-04 and there are now 250,000 owning a second home overseas.
This figure is forecast to grow with changes to pension tax legislation on April 6 to give tax breaks for overseas investments.
Travel agencies such as Thomson and independent consortia retailers have started offering overseas properties through referral schemes.
Hicks said there were “substantial rewards” for agents making positive referrals.
Spain is the most popular country for Brits to own a home overseas at 62,000 followed by France at 47,000, the US at 14,000, Portugal at 4,000 and Italy at 3,000. Other EU countries make up 35,000 and other non-EU countries 66,000.
Report by Phil Davies
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