UK House-Hunters Search Overseas

Around a third of Britons are interested in buying property or moving abroad, according to new research.

The Spanish arm of the Halifax, Banco Halifax Hispania, revealed 29 per cent of UK residents would like to live overseas.

Australia and the US are the top choice destinations for nine per cent of those surveyed, closely followed by Spain (six per cent) and the Carribean (five per cent), according to the mortgage lender.

Halifax highlights some of the issues that could arise for British buyers looking to invest overseas.

"There are certainly slight procedural differences and different jargon, such as evaluators rather than surveyors," explained Ian Smith, head of European operations at Halifax.

"However, as long as care is taken over the choice of bank and some initial checks carried out, such as the bank's ability to deal with British residents in English, all these differences are capable of being explained."