Want to Buy Holiday Home on Isle of Wight

There are all kinds of hoops that you will have to go through and over. Fortunately it is the British system and not the French. No one here can answer your question and, if someone does, not sure I would want to totally rely on their answer. I would find a web site for the Isle of Wight and locate a local real estate agent. It will not be the first time that they have encountered this question. You should goggle "Owning property in the Isle of Wight" and I am sure you will get some hits.

Good luck.

To get an idea of property on the Isle of Wight look at one of the property websites. eg. www.rightmove.co.uk.

There are no bars to overseas nationals buying and owning property on the IoW. Don't know enough about the IoW to comment on the need for a car or other transport. And there have been so many changes to taxation around property recently that I wouldn't want to get involved in that minefield.

It has been a while since I have spent time on the Isle of Wight, but back then if you wanted to explore anywhere on the island you would want to have a car. I would check to see if Uber is available on the island or if you can rent a car. We took a car ferry over to the island and it was a very easy connection so you could always rent a car before going to the island.

As long as you have the money there's nothing to stop you buying property in the UK. Half of London is owned by overseas investors these days.

Just google ~estate agents Isle of Wight" - they'll haapily sell you a house and many will act as landlords to rent it out.

I suspect you may need a residential visa or something of that sort. If the UK were within the Schengen zone (which it is not), you'd need a long-stay visa of some type to stay more than 90 days within a rolling 180-day period. The UK may have a similar requirement that applies to Americans. Googling should turn up at least some high-level information.

The tax impact of having rental income from the UK is something else to investigate.

It is commonly reported that obtaining a British bank account as a non-citizen (even as someone with a valid work permit/visa) is a torturous process. That's the type of hurdle you'll need to deal with to make your plan work.

There is nothing preventing you from purchasing property in the UK. The challenge will be all of the related issues such as banking, taxes, possibly hiring a management company, etc.
It's already been stated that you can technically stay for up to 6 months on a regular tourist visa (basically just presenting your passport at immigration) but when you enter the UK permission to enter is completely up to the immigration officer upon arrival. They ask VERY pointed questions these days. If they see that you are entering the country frequently they are going to become very inquisitive and you will need to have your ducks in a very straight row.
To make all of this easier you may want to look into a Tier 1 visa that allows you to "settle" in the UK for a specified period of time. There are multiple categories you might consider including "entrepreneurial" and "investor". I'm not sure how much you are planning to spend but one of these might help you achieve your goal of having an investment property there and make movement going in and out of the country, as well as doing business within the country, easier.

InternationalLiving.com is a good resource.

I once came across a Texan who had been sent to Britain to run an electronics plant. Having purchased a place to live - while still keeping his Texan home, he found he quite liked it in Britain. When he retired, he and his wife decided to keep their British home and used it to migrate to very summer. He said that the heat in Texas in summer was terrible and that the weather was much better in the UK.

If you have a television, you must pay for a license - which is used to fund the BBC. (I think it is £150 per year). Apart from that, you can get a load of channels for free just by plugging an aerial into the back of your TV. (Freesat is also available). You can purchase a recorder for about £150 or use catch up services via the internet. If you have a land line phone/broadband, you would have to pay an internet provider. This could cost around £20 to £35 per month. You would also be billed for water/sewerage so this could come to around £600 per year but as the building would only be partially used, have a water meter and this amount could be reduced. You will also be billed for Council Tax (for collecting rubbish, maintaining local roads, libraries etc.) This will be based on the value of your property so could vary but expect an average of maybe of £1,200 per year. Not sure about income tax, but if you earn nothing in the UK, then presumably you pay no Income Tax. (You can still earn money up to a threshold level without paying tax to the Inland Revenue). You may have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the value increase of your property when the time comes to sell.

The trouble with the Isle of Wight is the cost of taking cars back and forth to the mainland. Many would prefer a place on the mainland so that they can easily go touring around without having to make sure they have a slot on the ferry. You don’t have to have someone to maintain your property but you could well find a local who would cut the grass etc. If you purchase in an apartment block, then you would have to pay a management fee. This also applies to some new housing estates . I would only purchase a house/cottage if it came with Freehold. This means that you own the land on which it is built. (Leasehold - means you must pay a rent to someone who owns the land on which your property sits).

This is a good site for searching for property. Property within commuting distance of London will be expensive. Desirable areas within commuting distance of major cities are also expensive.http://www.zoopla.co.uk

(You might also wish to try seaside towns well away from London. Put Salcombe or Tenby in the Zoopla search box. Salcombe is one the most expensive places on the south coast due to wealthy people buying second homes). Don’t forget to check out how long it will take to reach your chosen location from the airport. For places in the north, try landing at Manchester.

To add to what others have said:

"Realtors" as I think you mean don't exist here. Estate agents act for the seller. You won't find one to act for you as the buyer, but that's ok the system is not set up to require that. Later in the process you'll need a conveyancing solicitor to handle the legals.

You might want to take us advice from someone versed in UK/US tax wrt cap gains and tax-residency (which is totally different from residency-residency.)

Have fun!

Wow! Thanks for all of the responses & information. It almost sounds overwhelming. But this is an endeavour we plan to do in the future, so we have time to work on fulfilling all of the requirements. Please keep your suggestions coming.

I've just remembered reading tooth-gnashing posts on another (non-travel-related) board about the process of buying/selling property in the UK. It sounds as if it is substantially more time-consuming than it is in the US. Time, it appears, is not of the essence. Not a reason not to proceed, but a reason to be aware that it could be a much slower process than anticipated.

You have not mentioned where you are from in the US, but I suspect you're going to be surprised at the cost of property in the UK. I sometimes amuse myself by looking at advertisements posted in the front windows of European real estate agencies, and prices usually seem very high to me. I'm not talking about London/Paris/Barcelona, but rather smaller cities not in resort areas. More population/less land, I guess?

Yes, high population and less land. Wealthy foreigners also purchase property in the UK as they like to make long and frequent visits.

You will also have to pay for electricity and natural gas (if your home has it) but this cost should cancel out as you will not be using this when away from home. Regarding cars; most new cars registered after 1 April 2017 will be paying £150 road tax per year. However, there has been a period when clean fuel efficient cars paid little or no road tax and such cars should continue to do so. (You should be able to road tax a car for just 6 months - as long as it is off the public highway when not covered by tax). Cars over 3 years of age must undergo an inspection called an MOT.

If you live in a cold area during the winter, you may like to spend all or part of the winter in the UK - especially in the south where snow and ice are rare. Some seaside towns can be pretty dead/bleak in winter. The east of England & Scotland can be bitterly cold should the wind blow from Scandinavia during the winter. (Usually the weather comes off the Atlantic and storm lashed areas should be avoided. If you see windswept trees - be wary. Also avoid flood plains).

Don’t forget, you will need to insure the house. You will also need health insurance - something that most Brit’s don’t bother with as they are covered by the National Health Service. (They can just go along and see their local doctor - though most have an appointment system so that people are less likely to be kept hanging about. Hospital treatment is also not going to result in bills being paid by British citizens).

This site is useful for those thinking of going to Britain to take up residence.http://www.moneysavingexpert.com

About the time it takes - or can take.

I have dear friends moving nearer to me from 2 counties away. They were supposed to be in by last July. Then it was absolutely positively going to be mid December, certainly by Christmas. They were going to be moving the last weekend in March.

They haven't closed or moved in yet. But it should be soon.

To answer some of your questions we live in Hawaii & will continue to have Hawaii as our main residency, using Medicare as our insurance. Comparing the estimates of "living expenses" from above, they do not sound too unreasonable from what we are paying now. We would probably only be there in the summer months, give or take. This afternoon we will start looking at suggested websites & let you know what we find out. Thanks again.

Medicare does not provide coverage overseas, only in the US. If you have a Medicare supplemental plan, they probably would, but you should check to make sure.

The UK has a special visa category called "retired persons of independent means." What it basically does is allow you to stay more than 6 months as long as you don't need to work. You can only apply for it when you are in the UK and it costs a few thousand pounds just to apply.

I've started to look into it but haven't gotten very far.

As for insurance....some travel insurance companies offer annual medical plans for people who travel a great deal or for expats living overseas. Not very expensive.

The category of UK visa for retired persons of independent means has been closed since November 2008 and there are no plans to reopen it. Those who are already in the UK under this are able to apply for extensions etc as before.

House prices on the IOW are often cheaper than those on the mainland, particularly in comparison to Portsmouth and the surrounding area. There is public transport covering the island however you may prefer to have a car, it enables you to be far more flexible in your travels. The big downside is the cost of the ferry to travel between the mainland and island, particularly if you're taking a car.

When referring to "local" discounts this isn't something that you see much in the UK.