If you’re considering making an investment in hotel rooms overseas or buying a holiday home in the sun, Portugal should be your top consideration – and here are ten reasons why we think buy to let investment in Portugal is the right choice.

1. Golf in Portugal
The Algarve, only a short flight away from most European capitals, has been a magnet to many discerning golfers for almost three decades. Golf tourism is growing four times faster than any other form of tourism and golf tourists spend far more than just your average holiday maker. The Algarve is well known for being the number one destination in Europe for golf with the main golf season from late autumn to late spring. Winters are mild and golfers from northern European countries can enjoy warm sunny days and keep their swings smooth at the same time. There are just under a quarter of a million golfers who holiday in Portugal every year and this means they contribute a substantial amount to the local economy and represent an affluent and growing base upon which an investor could base a property investment purchase decision in Portugal and from which an investor could draw down a decent income.

2. Strong Tourist Demand
Portugal is among the top 20 most visited destinations in the world and it is incredibly popular with the Brits. Eleven million visitors travelled to Portugal last year (figures taken from the World Travel and Tourism Council), and the tourism based growth will be in the region of at least 3% annually from now until 2017 which means anyone buying hotel rooms in Portugal on a buy to let scheme will see their ROI (return on investment) come to fruition very quickly.

3. Property Prices
The Algarve has seen prices double in the last ten years and the latest statistics suggest that prices increased by 6% in 2006 and up to 10% in 2007/2008. This is proving that Portugal properties still have a high buy to let demand. This is good to know as anyone joining the market can exit the market smoothly and efficiently.

4. British Tourism & Expatriates Lifestyle
Portugal has been a British favourite for years, it is only a two and a half hour journey by plane and almost a quarter of the tourism into Portugal comes from the UK. Portugal boasts excitement, passion and a history that is a fundamental part of the Portuguese way of life. Similar to the Spanish, the Portuguese have a slower pace of life, a sunny climate, excellent food and wine and with over three hundred days of sunshine a year – imagine that! Despite all the golf courses and the tourist attractions, Portugal also has wonderful beaches and for the more country folk - mountains for great walks, wildlife and natural beauty. All of these reasons are an advantage to why buy to let investments are rife in Portugal right now, making it cheaper to buy property in Portugal than it is in the UK.

5. Buy to Let
Portugal is a popular destination offering fantastic weather, stunning beaches, tourist attractions, activities for entertainment, sporting activities, great food, wine and a diverse way of life. The appeal of Portugal is huge and growing annually, making buy to let Portuguese property in very high demand. Buy to let offers the buyer a few weeks a year where you get to enjoy your purchase while the rest of the time you gain an instant income from holidaymakers, golfers, family and friends.

Buying a hotel room in a country like Portugal is a fantastic opportunity as you are almost guaranteed returns on your investment instantly! The majority of the buy to let properties you buy will offer you some form of a management service or letting service so you can kick back, relax and generate your retirement income.
Buy to let mortgages are available from UK banks for Britons, this process is well documented making it easy for Britons to invest in buy to let apartments.

6. Portugal is easily accessible and affordable
EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Monarch, Jet2 are among some of the regular airlines that offer cheap, direct flights into Portugal from the UK.

7. Portugal Politics
Portugal was admitted to the European Economic Community (now EU) on January 1st, 1986 and on February 16th, 1986, Mario Soares became the country’s first civilian president in 60 years. Elected in 2005 under a strong reform mandate, Prime Minister Jose Socrates is undertaking ambitious measures to lower Portugal’s deficit and strengthen the economy, improve general conditions for population and they have been accepted internationally for having a strong and intelligent police force. As part of the country’s economic plan, Portugal will invest 10 billion Euros in infrastructure in the next 5 years, making use of the European Union’s structural and cohesion funds that are still available to them.

8. High Level of Investment into Infrastructure Projects
Portugal’s government is literally pouring billions of euros into the country’s infrastructure. This was not only because of the economic improvement due to the European integration, but also because the country received support in financing its infrastructure projects from the union’s funds. The expansion of additional roads, dams, ports, new international airport, new metro system, modernisation of the country’s railroad system and an upgrade of the natural gas pipeline systems are all part of Portugal’s attempt to improve their infrastructure. As a result, the country has a well developed transportation network with 59,100 Kilometres of paved roads. This is good news for anyone thinking of investing into buy to let schemes in Portugal.

9. Tax Purposes
Portugal has the lowest corporation tax in the whole of Western Europe, thus making it a popular destination for buy to let property. Portugal has policies in place that attract foreign investment such as offering attractive finance grants and additional tax breaks. Since the mid-1980s the country had become especially competitive in attracting foreign investment. These attractions included political stability and a hospitable investment climate that included EC investment subsidies, the lowest wage scale among the EC-12, and programs of economic deregulation and privatisation, as well as robust national economic and export growth.

10. A Decent and Robust Economy
Under the new leadership, Portugal’s economy has improved and is tipping around 1.6%. Over 200,000 of UK residents have already bought a property in Portugal for investment purposes, giving us another reason why buy to let property in Portugal is the investment of 2008.

__________________
Buy to let hotel rooms and Apart hotel investments. FREEPHONE 0800 048 0712
The place to buy hotel rooms