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SPECIAL FEATURE: Jet-to-Let

UIPI: a useful resource for Property Owners Overseas

Want to buy a property in Greece, but worried about regulatory issues? Experiencing legal problems in respect of your Spanish property? Has French taxation got you ras le bol?

NLA members in these situations may well find the International Union of Property Owners to be helpful. The UIPI (Union Internationale de la Propriété Immobilière) is an international body made up of not-for-profit organisations that represent property owners in 23 European countries. The NLA is a member, offering particular benefits to NLA members in need of advice overseas. Under a reciprocal agreement, they can receive legal, tax and more practical advice on property problems experienced in any state with an affiliated association, operating the equivalent of the NLA advice line, just as they would from the NLA.

The UIPI website contains details (including websites) of the affiliated national property associations in around 25 European countries. 17 of those, among them Italy, Greece, Spain and Cyprus, participate in the Property Legal Advice Network (PLAN), offering a wealth of advice to NLA members on regulatory issues.

Founded in France in 1923 and now based in Brussels, the UIPI’s aims are similar to those of the NLA. UIPI represents landlords with small and medium-sized portfolios in the private-rented sector and deals with problems such as housing and rent controls, excessive taxation on real estate property, expropriations without fair compensation paid on time, unworkable environmental restrictions without compensation, energy savings in buildings, property restitution in the former eastern European countries and all other problems related to real estate.

A good starting point for people thinking of investing outside of the UK are the country fact sheets displayed on the UIPI’s website, containing an overview of property purchase, taxation and regulatory basics for the relevant destination.

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