Brits are behind one-fifth of properties sold to foreigners in Spain as sky high UK prices push buyers abroad

The Colegio de Registradores – Spain’s land registry - reported that 19.8 per cent of all foreign purchases in the first six months of the year were made by British people.

Tourists relax on Puerto del Carmen beach on April 12, 2014 in Lanzarote, Spain. Lanzarote, , is a popular destination for British tourists and is just 37 miles long and 12 miles wide ( Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

After leaner timers, British people are buying property abroad again as a new study reveals they are leading the way when it comes to properties bought by foreign nationals in Spain.

Of all property sold in Spain in the first half of 2015, 12.7 per cent was bought by foreign buyers with British nationals leading the way. The Colegio de Regisradores – Spain’s land registry - reported that 19.8 per cent of all foreign purchases in the first six months of the year were made by British people.

With 750,000 British people officially living in Spain, the most popular places to buy a house are holiday destinations such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands followed by Murcia, Andalusia and Catalunia.

Badly hit during the financial crises Spain property prices fell sharply. Coupled with an agreeable climate, a laid-back lifestyle and a beautiful coastline it made the country a popular place for British people to buy a house.

Sky-high UK housing costs are also adding another motive to move to sun-kissed Spain. In London, the average house price is £513,000 according to the UK’s Office of National statistic, almost 40 per cent above the peak prices before the financial crisis.

Brits aged 55 to 64 are the most active with 43 per cent of request followed by those aged 45 to 54 with 31 per cent, according to the British real estate website Rightmove.

Although many moved to Spain to get a little bit of sun for a bargain price enjoying a greater purchasing power, the British are also aggressive buyers of luxury property. According to research carried out by leading overseas property broker Tranio.com they are often the ones who choose real estate priced at €800,000 and above in the best Madrid neighbourhoods.

While, 90 per cent of housing priced above €1 million is purchased by foreigners, with traditionally many British citizens among them according to Spanish Property Insight.

The Spanish land registry data confirmed that 16.7 per cent of registered property in Spain belonged to UK citizens, ahead of the French with 10.3 per cent and the Russians 7.5 per cent