London Living is stressful. Or for that matter most parts of uk especially if your journey to and from work takes more than 1 hour each way due to unaffordable property prices.

The only thing keeping me going is the thought of my inland sanctuary in Spain. Peace, mountians with wonderful views (can even see the sea at a distance) Walks, lakes, it's like being in another world, going back in time, a simpler, slower, healther & less materialistic way of life.

Great for kids, education on par with our own and health service far superior than the uk.

Watch this space

The only thing keeping me going is the thought of my inland sanctuary in Spain. Peace, mountians with wonderful views (can even see the sea at a distance) Walks, lakes...

Yep, keep buying over there and you will see what's left of the views for the time you move there.

and health service far superior than the uk.
In your dreams

Why do you say "in your dreams"?

The World Health Organisation "W.H.O." ranked the Spanish health service in the top ten best in the world. I think it was around 7th or 8th place. France was ranked best in the world.

The Uk was ranked 18th. The US was ranked about 35th. Though the W.H.O. was looking at not just how good the provided treatment was, but how likely it was that someone could actually access it.

This was a couple of years ago, so things could have changed since then...

Buying property in Spain is very high risk. Moving to Spain in the hope of making a living is also very high risk. I have posted previously about the the 'Land Grab Laws' (and its replacement LUV; and other similar regional laws) and the potential for a very severe crash in property prices. See the thread below:

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=3645

Check out the specific links of:

http://www.europarl.eu.int/meetdocs/2004_2...36/536421EN.pdf

http://www.abusos-no.org/

Anyone moving to Spain in the hope of finding employment should also note that Spain has the third highest unemployment rate in the EU (10.5 per cent of the active work-seeking population) only behind Poland (18.4 per cent) and Slovenia (17.3 per cent). Spain is not a great place to find work, certainly not work that comes with any security.

I say all of the above as someone who has been involved in Spain for nearly 35 years. I went to school in Spain.

People thinking of buying and/or moving to Spain should also be aware that there is growing resentment within Spain about the high price of property. Many cities, towns and villages have graffitti expressing resentment and indeed hatred towards property developers, speculators and non-Spaniards who are pushing up the price of property. The current house price/average income ratio is close to 11. Do you really think that is sustainable and won't crash? Spanish people have the reputation of being warm and friendly towards visitors to their country. Unfortunately this is changing very rapidly as they see property priced out of their reach and the destruction of their environment.

In a previous post about LRAU, winkie, you suggested that people will be safe if they don't buy lots of land, or live on protected land, or buy within built-up areas. Unfortunately this is not true. In Calpe, on the Costa Blanca, British people have had their homes, including blocks of flats knocked down as a consequence of LRAU. This example was broadcast on UK TV last year. In regard to 'protected' land you only need to look at the examples of Pego, on the Costa Blanca, and Murcia where local town halls have given the go ahead for developers to build on 'protected' land. Nothing and nowhere is completely safe.

I hope the situation will change for the better. But, as the situation stands anyone buying is Spain at present is taking a very high risk.

Buying now in the UK can be high risk - Life can be risky whatever you do.

I have no regrets about buying in Spain. Do your homework, spend time in the area you are considering purchasing in, and most importantly learn the language, you will then be more accepted into the spanish community.