Regulations Abroad

It’s easy enough complying with the UK regulations for property letting: there’s plenty of information around, a lot of places to seek advice and one massive help is that the law is probably written in your native language. If you’re letting property overseas, however, that might not be the case and overseas regulations might differ greatly to the UK.

Two sets of rules?

Often if you’re letting ‘overseas’ property you’ll be residing in one country and letting in another. Depending on the country your property is located in, that might mean you’ll have to follow two sets of rules: one at home and one abroad. Things like health and safety, fire prevention and legal protection will have to be done to the regulations of the country your property is in, but you might still be chargeable to things like UK tax laws.

Inside and outside the EU

Inside the EU things tend to be simpler; a lot of the regulation surrounding rental property comes from the EU anyway and so standards are more or less the same. Outside of the EU, however, you might find a lot less flexibility and you need to be certain you’re doing the right thing.

Seeking information

Your Overseas Property Insurance provider might be a good starting place and specialised overseas agents will have specific knowledge country to country. Sometimes, though, you can’t beat a bit of local knowledge and the best people to ask are property owners in the country you’re thinking of investing in.

Don’t be certain that you only fall under one set of regulations when investing abroad, make sure you seek all the information you can and make sure you won’t fall foul of either UK or overseas property law. Expect things to vary from place to place and even within the EU there are a number of differences. Do your research well and save yourself any penalties or trouble in the long run.