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 The
British have always had a reputation for travel and exploration;
it seems that being bound by the shores of the island nation is
no restriction because Brits have an insatiable appetite for adventure.
Therefore it may come as little surprise that British expatriate
numbers increase annually…however, what if we were to tell
you that a recent study by the Office of National Statistics in
the UK shows that the number of British people leaving their country
behind has actually shot through the roof in the past ten years?
We decided to take a closer look at what’s fuelling this dramatic
phenomenon…
In part a positive upward swing in the fortunes of the UK
housing market has fuelled the British appetite for buying
property overseas – but does it have anything to do with
the numbers selling up and shipping out to permanently reside overseas?
Well, around 2.2 million Brits in total own property abroad
but over one million have emigrated permanently to live abroad in
the past six years alone, and both the numbers of those buying abroad
and moving abroad are rapidly ramping up according to various studies
by the likes of Barclays
Bank and the Office of National Statistics.
So it’s fair to say that the fact that more people
can release equity to buy abroad or sell their UK home and afford
to move abroad lock, stock and barrel has definitely had an effect
on the amount of people with the choice of being able to live overseas
– long live the healthy British property market! Furthermore,
it’s a fact that properties in many parts of the world are
now far cheaper than property in the UK and what’s more, because
the cost of living in many nations is so much cheaper than living
in the UK, more people are able to do the maths and figure that
they can live a better lifestyle on less money by moving abroad
- and that the sale of their UK property can get them on the housing
ladder overseas whilst leaving them with a pot of money to start
a new life abroad with too.
In addition to all of these facts there has been extensive and positive
media promotion of many nations with emerging property markets that
has brought a wealth of opportunity to light for even more Brits.
Nations such as Turkey and Bulgaria or even Morocco and Romania
have featured in British television programs about starting new
lives abroad and as a result all have witnessed a development of
British expatriate communities as those who had homes in the UK
that were worth more than their job would ever earn them realized
that they could potentially have a better, more affordable life
if they moved abroad.
All of this is interesting as it points to how the British are affording
their new lives overseas – but what about the reasons behind
their increasing desire for expatriation and emigration?
Well, we can only speculate – but the findings released by
the Office
of National Statistics would suggest that a more detailed survey
of expatriating British nationals needs to be conducted if the UK
is to save itself from a brain and indigenous ethnicity drain. Last
year Britain waved goodbye to around 380,000 citizens – that’s
more than 1,000 people every single day of the year leaving to find
an alternative lifestyle to the one they ‘enjoyed’ in
the UK. To us that suggests that the excessively long hours that
British people are forced to work to appease their fickle bosses
and fulfil their staggering mortgage commitments is putting an emotional
drain on the nation and resulting in more and more British citizens
resigning from the British way of life…but then who are we
to comment? We left ten years ago when things were better than they
are today and we’ve never looked back!
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