Foreign property-buyers need expert advice

IRISH purchasers of property abroad need to take the best legal and taxation advice before they buy.

I have received numerous complaints from Irish people who have encountered legal and other difficulties when they have sought to purchase either residential or business properties abroad.

Many of the complaints to me relate to property transactions which take place in mainland Europe.

Prospective Irish purchasers should simply invoke the Latin phrase ‘caveat emptor’ — ‘let the buyer be aware’. They should also bear in mind complications relating to inheritance issues arising from the purchase of foreign properties.

This issue is being looked at very carefully at European level by the legal affairs committee of the European Parliament, of which I am a member.

Brian Crowley MEP

President

UEN Political Group

European Parliament

Strasbourg