THE wet summer and high property prices have led to an upsurge in the number of Britons seeking to buy a second home abroad.

The mortgage broker myMortgageDirect said that last week it had received 2,000 inquiries from people about financing the purchase of a holiday or retirement home, compared with just 250 a week in July.

The broker, which claims to account for about a third of the mortgage broker market, said the majority of inquiries were from people planning to buy a second property in France or Spain, although there was also interest in Eastern European countries, such as Croatia.

Peter Barrett, head of myMortgageDirect, said: “There has been a dramatic increase in inquiries for second homes and retirement homes abroad. It has been an unusually busy period and I guess it is a combination of that feeling of disgruntlement after a break abroad and a very real sense of wanting to explore the practicalities of second-home ownership.”

He said that the majority of people were looking at remortgaging to buy a second home, taking advantage of soaring property prices and interest rates that were low by historic standards.

Mr Barrett said: “Our view is that the simplest and most cost-effective route is to remortgage the main residence and take advantage of the considerable equity millions of UK homeowners now enjoy.”

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