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Greece: Be afraid, be very afraid! - Mike Saunders, Snobby Homes

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Hundreds of British families who own holiday homes in Greece face new tax bills and fines as the struggling Government tries to claw back some of its vast debt.
Daily Telegraph April 14th – NOT TRUE!

I am increasingly reading scare stories about Greece. Take the sub-heading above, in the Telegraph on April 14th – “British and German property owners in Greece face new tax”. It twitters on about how a bankrupt Greece has to raise taxes to cover its borrowing and goes on to say the government is seeking to impose up to a 20% surcharge on extensions to existing properties.

Absolute balderdash. There is no new punitive property tax in Greece. People can rest easy in their beds.

Greece is following what is already done in the UK - if you do not comply with the planning permission granted on your property, you will get fined. What’s wrong with that? A fine is a fine – not a tax.

In Greece many property owners will have covered open spaces on their homes – such as a covered terrace or a balcony – and the planning permission when the property was built will show this. However, many owners may have subsequently installed windows on the balcony to create another room, without seeking the required planning permission. This is illegal and the Greek government has passed a law and imposed a fine on any property owner who has done this.

Is it right to claim that the Telegraph is the world’s largest selling newspaper? Of course not. That would be unbelievable, but then it is just as fanciful to suppose British owners of holiday homes in Greece have to face new tax bills on their properties!

Aren't you scared of Greece becoming bankrupt?
Everything I read in the UK press reflects a holier than thou attitude, but in actual fact the UK and Greece are in the same leaky boat with comparable borrowing deficits high above GNP. The real difference is that Greece is getting on and doing something about it, while the UK is still playing the ostrich.

The UK housing market may have crashed with prices plummeting, while in Crete house prices have remained stable.

UK banks have required horrendous bailing out in order to survive, while banks in Greece have needed no help whatsoever from the tax payer.

Part of the economic downfall in the UK was due to society going mad for the cheap credit on offer and embarked upon an unrestrained decade of overspending, while Greek culture has been far more conservative, it is a cash society and personal borrowing is extremely low compared to the UK.

Greece has been caught by insufficient tax revenue in a recession when the country was striving to modernize its social infrastructure. The Government has been applauded by the international markets for the austere measures it has taken to bring matters under control and 65% of the Greek population agrees. In the UK things are different. There’s a sword of Damocles hanging above the country waiting for the ostrich to arise out of the sand. Is the UK ready for the chop? Why hang around to see? Get out while you can to a land where the sun shines 320 days a year, where crime is the lowest in Europe, where there is no MRSA in hospitals or long waiting lists for operations, and you get far more bricks for your pound – in fact property prices are at least a third cheaper here!

What’s more a couple can still live really comfortably in Crete on the equivalent of £1,000 a month – so what are you waiting for? Don’t be afraid. Leave the sinking ship and come on over, where the water’s warm and life is good!

Mike Saunders

Mike is Marketing director of Snobby Homes, www.snobbyhomes.co.uk

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