Barclays has expanded its Openplan mortgage to non-Spanish residents who want to buy a property in Spain.
The decision means the mortgage will now be available to all non-residents of Spain, but is expected to be most popular among borrowers from the UK.
Over 75,000 Britons own a home in Spain and with the continuing problems in the stock market and high UK property prices, this is expected to increase over the next few years as Britons look for other ways to invest.
The move follows the successful launch of Openplan in the domestic Spanish and Portuguese markets.
The product offers a rate of Euribor (currently 3.89%) plus 0.75% with a maximum LTV of 70%. The mortgage is only available in euros to non-residents. The maximum term is 15 years. The minimum property value is around e100,000-120,000, dep-ending on the area. Total borrowing should not exceed three times annual income.
David Colebrook, director of the Costa branches of Barclays, said: ‘There has been strong growth in the Spanish market among UK property buyers in recent years. We expect this to continue as the UK property boom means many second homers are looking abroad to get more value for their money. We are confident this product will meet the needs of UK residents looking to buy in Spain.’
The popularity of buying abroad was confirmed by news that FPDSavills is opening two offices in Italy and one office in Spain.
Jeremy Helsby, chairman of FPDSavills Commercial, said: ‘These new ventures build on the solid foundations of our French and German operations.’
