The number of Brits who own property abroad is set to double to a massive 4.4 million, according to research by Barclays.

Five percent of people surveyed (the equivalent of 2.2 million people in the UK, according to Barclays figures) said they would definitely buy a property abroad in the future.  This would double the number of Britons owning property abroad bringing the overall total to 4.4 million.

What's more, the number of Britons owning property abroad could end up being even higher still as a staggering 37 percent of respondents (the equivalent of over 16 million people in the UK) said that they were considering a purchase abroad.

Suzanne Clay, Head of European Business Development at Barclays commented: “The trend towards owning property abroad shows no sign of abating and could go through the roof if people were more confident of a hassle-free purchase.”

Indeed, respondents did express many concerns about the buying process.  The most significant worry amongst people considering a purchase abroad (58% within this group) was that they would get caught out by local legal or tax issues.  There were also concerns about keeping empty property secure (17%) and being able to understand the local language well enough (14%).  But surprisingly only 8 percent of people considering buying overseas were worried about being taken for a ride and paying too much.

The results of Barclays survey showed that the most popular countries for Brits planning to buy abroad were as follows:
1 Spain (inc Balearics and Canary Islands) 30%
2 USA 15%
3 France 14%
4 Italy 10%
5 South Africa 6%
6 Dubai 5%
7 Portugal 5%
8 Bulgaria 3%
9 Croatia 2%
10 Morocco 1%