With Italy bringing back its popular €1 home initiative, which has reportedly attracted thousands of buyers, experts share their top tips for purchasing property abroad.

Italy’s €1 home initiative is aimed at revitalising small, rural villages that have experienced population decline. Several towns, including Zungoli in Campania and Mussomeli in Sicily, are offering abandoned houses for €1 to attract new residents.

The initiative has also gained popularity among celebrities, with Alan Carr and Amanda Holden purchasing a €1 home in Tuscany as part of their hit TV show Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job.

William Cooper, marketing director at expat insurance operator William Russell, comments: “Buying property abroad as a UK expat can seem complicated with unique challenges such as language barriers, exchange rates, and more difficulty getting a mortgage. But it’s pretty straightforward if you know what you’re doing.

“If you’ve found your dream home abroad, my tips are to work with local experts, monitor currency exchange rates, and organise financial documents well in advance to make the process go as smoothly as possible.” 

• Work With Local Experts: consider hiring local property and law experts to help navigate language barriers and local laws. If you can, pick estate agents and local legal council officials who specialise in working with British expats or find a community of British expats for the country you’re moving to and ask them for recommendations. For legal experts, make sure they’re registered with any local legal councils and/or the Law Society in the UK. If you don’t speak the language or aren’t fluent in it, more often than not, these experts will act as your translator, too, which will help streamline the process; 

• Monitor currency exchange rates: transferring your money from your UK-based bank account to your overseas seller may incur a currency conversion charge. Arrange your financing ahead of time whether it’s through a local bank or an international mortgage. Keep a close eye on currency fluctuations and consider using a foreign exchange specialist to save money; 

• Organise financial documents: as a UK expat, you might need to supply your mortgage lenders abroad with more extensive paperwork, such as proof of income, tax returns, and credit history. Plus, there are extra expat-only steps you’ll need to go through such as anti-money laundering and tax checks. Some countries require expats to take out things like private health insurance as part of the process, too. So it’s a good idea to get these organised and translated well in advance to prevent any hiccups.