The United Kingdom is increasing taxes — a lot —. The English are fed up, and choose Portugal as their destination to emigrate. The problem: they affect the price of houses.
Portugal was one of the European Union countries in which the in 2024. According to , the average bank valuation value in the first 10 months of 2024 registered a 11% increase in relation to the same period of 2023.
Now, another fact that has nothing to do with it (or will it?): according to , British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves carried out at the end of last year the biggest tax increase since 1993with companies and the richest being the most affected. As an example, the rate of social security contributions paid by employers will increase by 1.2 percentage points, rising to 15% from April.
There will also be a freeze on income tax and an increase in tax on capital gains in the country.
According to the British newspaper, the sunny climate and Portuguese quality of life are reasons for the exodus to Portugal, where many British people may be avoid paying taxes on income earned abroad. According to the newspaper, this exemption should end in April.
“A income tax rate increased for those who earn more than 125,000 pounds (around 150 thousand euros) and the personal allowance, which reduces the amount of income tax, has been frozen”, explains the real estate investor Khan foundation.
He also says that “this could lead to people paying more taxes than before without an increase in their earnings. Brits at this level may find it interesting to move to countries with lowest tax rates in Europe for those who make a lot of money.” And one of these cases is Portugal.
“We continue to record a strong demand from the UK. We have sold to buyers in 32 different countries over the last two years, and the UK continues to be our biggest market,” he told Zosie Hawker, manager of Fine and Country real estate, based in the Algarve.
The company manager explains that “there is also a new regime that offers lower tax rates for certain categories of qualified professionals, which also made the country very attractive.”
It is attractive, but it is no longer for Portuguese people looking for a house: Express itself cites our National Statistics Institute, which calculates that house prices in Portugal rose more than 60% between 2019 and 2024.
And, in fact, according to another article from , between June 2020 and the end of the second quarter of 2024 the median value of homes sold increased by more than 60% in 49 municipalities.
According to the British press, the large arrival of the English in our country could even cause the real estate panicat a time when house prices continue to rise in Portugal.
