holiday home in Portugal or Italy

[windmill26]

Do you have a holiday home in Portugal or Italy (ideally Puglia)? Please give me the pro and cons about it.
We have been thinking to buy a holiday home with the view to have somewhere to move permanently to when we retire

Italy is beautiful and expensive*. Portugal is beautiful; the people are kind, welcoming and generous; the cost of living is low (apart from buying a car); the weather is temperate but there are proper 'seasons' and the way of life is...blissful. Have a look at the Life in Portugal FB group.

*Disclaimer - I'm sure there are plenty of other good things about living in Italy.

@Sarahlou63

Italy is beautiful and expensive*. Portugal is beautiful; the people are kind, welcoming and generous; the cost of living is low (apart from buying a car); the weather is temperate but there are proper 'seasons' and the way of life is...blissful. Have a look at the Life in Portugal FB group.

*Disclaimer - I'm sure there are plenty of other good things about living in Italy.

Hi,do you live in Portugal or have a holiday home there? I am interested to know more about tax and general costs for a holiday home from people that have a second home in Portugal or Italy.

I've lived in central Portugal for 13 years now. I considered Italy before I moved here but it appeared to be a lot more expensive at the time.

@Sarahlou63

I've lived in central Portugal for 13 years now. I considered Italy before I moved here but it appeared to be a lot more expensive at the time.

We have been to Porto and Lisbon so far .We liked Porto better.We would like to have a look at other areas ,we are looking for a City or a biggish Town close to the ocean/sea (feel free to recommend ).

I live in Puglia.

Everything is a lot more expensive than the UK.

Thing is, you'll get your actual property bare bones fairly cheaply- which is what people look at obvs. Then you'll pay agents, lawyers, notaries, etc etc. Utility bills are, iirc, the highest in Europe, or were. You'll pay property taxes, which will then have extra added on because it's your second home, (your utilities will be higher because it's your second home) Your rubbish tax paid to the council will be higher.

Puglia has opened up to tourists and second home owners in the last decade but is still (in parts) a bit everyone will come out and look at you.

@TheCanterburyWhales

I live in Puglia.

Everything is a lot more expensive than the UK.

Thing is, you'll get your actual property bare bones fairly cheaply- which is what people look at obvs. Then you'll pay agents, lawyers, notaries, etc etc. Utility bills are, iirc, the highest in Europe, or were. You'll pay property taxes, which will then have extra added on because it's your second home, (your utilities will be higher because it's your second home) Your rubbish tax paid to the council will be higher.

Puglia has opened up to tourists and second home owners in the last decade but is still (in parts) a bit everyone will come out and look at you.

Hi,is your home in Puglia your main residence or your second home?Any ideas of the amount in regards of taxes for second homes? are we talking a few hundred or into the thousand Euros yearly? do you live by the sea? do you have any recommendation for towns by the seaside?

Mine is my main home so not sure. Google tells me 10% of its value give or take but that's what's due at the moment you buy. Then you have the annual taxes to pay.
Italian bureaucracy, especially financial, is a nightmare, I've been here 26 years and understand nada. I am by the sea, north of Bari. Most second home owners look further south. Otranto, Ostuni down there. The sea where I am is minging.

@TheCanterburyWhales

Mine is my main home so not sure. Google tells me 10% of its value give or take but that's what's due at the moment you buy. Then you have the annual taxes to pay. Italian bureaucracy, especially financial, is a nightmare, I've been here 26 years and understand nada. I am by the sea, north of Bari. Most second home owners look further south. Otranto, Ostuni down there. The sea where I am is minging.

The sea where I am is minging. LOL Thank you,I had a look at Google...defo need an Italian accountant to navigate the financial bureaucracy.

The Italian tax on second homes (IMU I think it’s still called - the acronym changes often) is a % of the catastal value, which is often the value registered at the time it was built and not updated. When it was due on main residences I only paid around €230 a year as my house was built in the 1950s and the value remained what it was then. It’s not the actual sell price or market value.

That said, the utilities for second homes are a lot higher, but possibly offset by the fact you’re there less frequently, plus you’ll have council tax at a higher rate. I don’t know what the regional and council taxes are in Puglia but I can ask friends who have a second home near Lecce, which is where Canterbury is talking about.

That said, they’re Italian citizens resident in Northern Italy. I think there may be extra taxes for non EU residents, which I assume you are (as in U.K. citizens only)? It might be worthwhile booking a session with an Italian notary to understand what exactly would be due. It might not actually be as much as it sounds.

@Melassa

The Italian tax on second homes (IMU I think it’s still called - the acronym changes often) is a % of the catastal value, which is often the value registered at the time it was built and not updated. When it was due on main residences I only paid around €230 a year as my house was built in the 1950s and the value remained what it was then. It’s not the actual sell price or market value.

That said, the utilities for second homes are a lot higher, but possibly offset by the fact you’re there less frequently, plus you’ll have council tax at a higher rate. I don’t know what the regional and council taxes are in Puglia but I can ask friends who have a second home near Lecce, which is where Canterbury is talking about.

That said, they’re Italian citizens resident in Northern Italy. I think there may be extra taxes for non EU residents, which I assume you are (as in U.K. citizens only)? It might be worthwhile booking a session with an Italian notary to understand what exactly would be due. It might not actually be as much as it sounds.

Hi,would be great if you could ask your friends in Lecce. I am a UK resident but I wasn't born here.Unsure how things will change after Brexit for second home owners in Europe. I have a lot of research to do to understand if it is worthwhile buying a place in the next few years with the view to use it as a holiday home or wait until we retire and buy it then as our main home.I had a look at Portuguese taxes for holidays homes and they also have a few to pay (like Italy)...unsure if the bureaucracy is as bad!LOL

I have heard that if you own property worth more than EUR 350k in Portugal that you can apply for Portuguese passport - which would give you an EU passport?

@FanSpamTastic

I have heard that if you own property worth more than EUR 350k in Portugal that you can apply for Portuguese passport - which would give you an EU passport?

I'll check it out.Could be useful .

Hi, coming back to this to say that my friend with their second home in Puglia pay around €600 a year between taxes and council charges - rubbish etc. Energy bills are also higher per kw etc. but they tend to use the place a couple of times a year at most, so the impact isn’t huge. It’s an old stone cottage type place and very basic, though, not high value and with only a normal sized garden.

Again, they are Italian citizens, I do know the costs ramp up a bit for non EU citizens, but it does depend on the value of the property.

@Melassa

Hi, coming back to this to say that my friend with their second home in Puglia pay around €600 a year between taxes and council charges - rubbish etc. Energy bills are also higher per kw etc. but they tend to use the place a couple of times a year at most, so the impact isn’t huge. It’s an old stone cottage type place and very basic, though, not high value and with only a normal sized garden.

Again, they are Italian citizens, I do know the costs ramp up a bit for non EU citizens, but it does depend on the value of the property.

Hi,thank you for the information.Not as bad as I was expecting ...I definitely need to research different areas in Puglia.