Cash quandary

[Adamski]

. I have never read of a recommendation for a single person to look for a bigger house unless of course they are contemplating marriage. It is useful if I have people to stay but how often does that happen?

Hi Dod, my personal recommendation for a larger house was because the poster mentioned their current house was £180k which doesn't get much in part of country I live, a flat at best. If one has assets £1m+ most people would upgrade their house and car(s) accordingly.

I'm moving to a 4 bd detached, just myself and wife, but the extra room is useful, for a home gym, storage, study to work from home etc. Take care, Adam

[RockRabbit]

Hi Dod, my personal recommendation for a larger house was because the poster mentioned their current house was £180k which doesn't get much in part of country I live, a flat at best. If one has assets £1m+ most people would upgrade their house and car(s) accordingly.

And of course any increase in value would escape CGT.

[Dod101]

. I have never read of a recommendation for a single person to look for a bigger house unless of course they are contemplating marriage. It is useful if I have people to stay but how often does that happen?

Hi Dod, my personal recommendation for a larger house was because the poster mentioned their current house was £180k which doesn't get much in part of country I live, a flat at best. If one has assets £1m+ most people would upgrade their house and car(s) accordingly.

I'm moving to a 4 bd detached, just myself and wife, but the extra room is useful, for a home gym, storage, study to work from home etc. Take care, Adam

You are right of course. It did strike me that the property must be fairly modest at that sort of value. My place is three bedrooms plus a study and the usual double garage, utility room etc. It was ideal for the two of us but I do find myself rattling around in it. I am glad though that we moved (downsized) when we did because I used to have a big Victorian house over three floors and we realised that we probably had as many beds as the local hotel!

I agree that it is nice to have the space but I would be wary of the maintenance costs.

Dod

[Quint]

. I have never read of a recommendation for a single person to look for a bigger house unless of course they are contemplating marriage. It is useful if I have people to stay but how often does that happen?

Hi Dod, my personal recommendation for a larger house was because the poster mentioned their current house was £180k which doesn't get much in part of country I live, a flat at best. If one has assets £1m+ most people would upgrade their house and car(s) accordingly.

I'm moving to a 4 bd detached, just myself and wife, but the extra room is useful, for a home gym, storage, study to work from home etc. Take care, Adam

You are right of course. It did strike me that the property must be fairly modest at that sort of value. My place is three bedrooms plus a study and the usual double garage, utility room etc. It was ideal for the two of us but I do find myself rattling around in it. I am glad though that we moved (downsized) when we did because I used to have a big Victorian house over three floors and we realised that we probably had as many beds as the local hotel!

I agree that it is nice to have the space but I would be wary of the maintenance costs.

Dod

The "usual double garage" love it. You must have mine as I don't even have a single garage

[Dod101]

Hi Dod, my personal recommendation for a larger house was because the poster mentioned their current house was £180k which doesn't get much in part of country I live, a flat at best. If one has assets £1m+ most people would upgrade their house and car(s) accordingly.

I'm moving to a 4 bd detached, just myself and wife, but the extra room is useful, for a home gym, storage, study to work from home etc. Take care, Adam

You are right of course. It did strike me that the property must be fairly modest at that sort of value. My place is three bedrooms plus a study and the usual double garage, utility room etc. It was ideal for the two of us but I do find myself rattling around in it. I am glad though that we moved (downsized) when we did because I used to have a big Victorian house over three floors and we realised that we probably had as many beds as the local hotel!

I agree that it is nice to have the space but I would be wary of the maintenance costs.

Dod

The "usual double garage" love it. You must have mine as I don't even have a single garage

Yes. Sorry about that. In my part of the world sadly more often than not houses seem to have triple garages but what I really meant was his and hers garages are the standard round here. It came out wrongly though!

Dod

[Quint]

You are right of course. It did strike me that the property must be fairly modest at that sort of value. My place is three bedrooms plus a study and the usual double garage, utility room etc. It was ideal for the two of us but I do find myself rattling around in it. I am glad though that we moved (downsized) when we did because I used to have a big Victorian house over three floors and we realised that we probably had as many beds as the local hotel!

I agree that it is nice to have the space but I would be wary of the maintenance costs.

Dod

The "usual double garage" love it. You must have mine as I don't even have a single garage

Yes. Sorry about that. In my part of the world sadly more often than not houses seem to have triple garages but what I really meant was his and hers garages are the standard round here. It came out wrongly though!

Dod

Not at all, I saw the funny side of it. Besides the wife drives a smart car, if it rains we can park it in the porch.

[stevensfo]

Congrats on the early retirement! Think a lot more are finishing early, or changing hours, pandemic has made ppl reassess their lives.

I'd move house to somewhere bigger. People imagine 4 bd detached are for large families, but surprisingly a lot of them are singles and empty nesters. Then balance is lifestrategy or world trackers.

If no family could think about gifting some to extended family, Christmas, birthdays, weddings etc as can't take with you!

Re. 4-bd detached houses, when we moved back from France to UK in 1998, we visited loads of houses and I was shocked how tiny modern houses could be. We initially chose an old 3-bd house and were planning our move when the survey discovered some structural problems, so, being in a hurry we went for a 4-bd house that was only 5 years old. Much smaller, lower ceilings and two of the bedrooms were about as small as you could possibly get! What p*ssed me off was, despite the smaller size, the insurance was a lot more than the other house, due to the extra wardrobe - sorry - bedroom!

Steve

PS Some relatives, both retired teachers sold their house near Manchester and upsized to a much larger, though cheaper house in Scotland, beautiful views and large garden.

[Hariseldon58]

On the subject of houses we recently moved into a new build bungalow of my own design, one bedroom, a large kitchen and utility which my wife appreciates , a study for me plus the usual, more living space than the previous modern 4 bedroom, not so good for reselling but great for living in, why waste so much space on spare bedrooms that are used a few times a year, that’s what hotels are for !!

[floyd3592]

[Brexit has taken our travelling rights from us, but you can 'take back control' and apply for residence in Tenerife while keeping your address in the UK.

Another alternative for someone retired is the Spanish ‘golden visa’ and that doesn’t have the length of stay requirement and so avoids the tax issue, but it does require you to buy a property worth at least €500,000 (or make investments in Spain of €1,000,000 to €2,000,000) and the visa fees are fairly substantial.

So if you are ‘poor’ and move everything to Spain - no problem, and if you are ‘rich’ and buy an expensive holiday home in Tenerife - no problem. But for those in the middle wanting to buy a small place to spend a the winter in Spain but keep living (and being taxed) in the UK - problem.

Funnily enough there's another way to avoid the 'small place to spend a winter in Spain problem' post Brexit. I've just found out that having a spouse eligible for an Irish passport means that any days I spend with her in Spain don't count towards the 90 day rule. Whilst I am in no way suggesting divorcing a current other half to overcome Brexit issues, I speak from experience that flame haired, violet eyed Irish collens (& lads i suppose) are wonderful things...

[AF62]

[Brexit has taken our travelling rights from us, but you can 'take back control' and apply for residence in Tenerife while keeping your address in the UK.

Another alternative for someone retired is the Spanish ‘golden visa’ and that doesn’t have the length of stay requirement and so avoids the tax issue, but it does require you to buy a property worth at least €500,000 (or make investments in Spain of €1,000,000 to €2,000,000) and the visa fees are fairly substantial.

So if you are ‘poor’ and move everything to Spain - no problem, and if you are ‘rich’ and buy an expensive holiday home in Tenerife - no problem. But for those in the middle wanting to buy a small place to spend a the winter in Spain but keep living (and being taxed) in the UK - problem.

Funnily enough there's another way to avoid the 'small place to spend a winter in Spain problem' post Brexit. I've just found out that having a spouse eligible for an Irish passport means that any days I spend with her in Spain don't count towards the 90 day rule. Whilst I am in no way suggesting divorcing a current other half to overcome Brexit issues, I speak from experience that flame haired, violet eyed Irish collens (& lads i suppose) are wonderful things...

Sorry, but I don't believe that is true (the 90 in 180 bit for spouses of EU passport holders!).

As someone entitled to an Irish passport myself but my wife probably isn't (probably because there is some vagueness about her grandmother), I have looked into this and everything I have read on the subject indicates that the spouse of a non-EU citizen has some additional rights to be with them, but is still limited to the 90 in 180 days unless they apply for a long term visa and residency.

It should become clearer when the ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System - https://www.etiasvisa.com/) visa waver system becomes a requirement for British people travelling to the EU later this year.

However at the moment this is the type of information (https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/t ... dex_en.htm) I am seeing that indicates the 90 in 180 is applicable to spouses of EU citizens, where it refers to visas for short stays (90 in 180) and long term visas.

I have no doubt people will be caught out with the 90 in 180 rule, whether through not knowing about it or misunderstandings like this, and it will be interesting to see whether the EU imposes the usual penalties for overstayers of deportation and banned from entering the EU for a period of time (I can just imagine the headlines in the Daily Mail and Daily Express with outraged comments from Brexit voting second home owners).

When I visited Portugal just before Christmas my British passport was stamped on the way in and stamped on the way out, and the passport officials were very definite with "You British wait in that queue, EU citizens come forward and be dealt with first", so there is certainly an appetite in the EU to do things according to their rules.

[floyd3592]

Sorry, but I don't believe that is true (the 90 in 180 bit for spouses of EU passport holders!).

I never said the 'rule' didn't apply, it does. However if u are travelling with a spouse who is a Shengen area passport holder then those particular days u spend in the Schengen area with ur spouse do not count towards ur 90. This is because it is considered that to penalise spouses in this way restricts the free movement of the Schengen area passport holder, which is, of course, verboten under the 'free movement' philosophy.

[AF62]

I never said the 'rule' didn't apply, it does. However if u are travelling with a spouse who is a Shengen area passport holder then those particular days u spend in the Schengen area with ur spouse do not count towards ur 90. This is because it is considered that to penalise spouses in this way restricts the free movement of the Schengen area passport holder, which is, of course, verboten under the 'free movement' philosophy.

Could you provide a link to where you have seen this information please.

As before, everything I have seen indicates that the non-Schengen passport holder is limited to 90 in 180 either because they have a short term visa or are a citizen of a country which automatically allows 90 in 180 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... d1e32-54-1).

However if they need a visa then getting a short term (90 in 180) visa is easier if their spouse is a Schengen passport holder (https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/t ... dex_en.htm).

Why else would this official EU page (https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/t ... dex_en.htm) exist telling the non-Schengen passport holding spouses of Schengen holding passports what they need to?

That official EU page is quite straightforward with the ‘check if you need a visa section’ -

Do your non-EU family members need a visa?
Your non-EU family member can check if they need an entry visa from the country they are travelling to using the tool below:

Do you have a residence document from an EU country? - No

You don't have a residence card as an EU national family member - issued by an EU country - or a residence document - issued by an EU country

You must have a visa

If your understanding was correct, and I wish it was, then you and your wife could move permanently to (say) Spain because the next 40 years living there “do not count” as you are simply accompanying her whilst she is there staying on an EU passport.

The “not penalise spouses in this way restricts the free movement of the Schengen area passport holder, which is, of course, verboten under the 'free movement' philosophy“ is overcome by making it easier to get a short term 90 in 180 day visa or making it easier for the non-Schengen spouse to apply for residency; it doesn’t just remove the rules on visas and length of stay.

[floyd3592]

Could you provide a link to where you have seen this information please.

As before, everything I have seen

Of course I can't comment on what u have, or haven't, seen, but its a fundamental & widely accepted fact that if a EU citizen has chosen to take up Freedom of Movement rights and moved, or travels, to another state (that is not his/her own), they should not have their movement restricted due to the restriction of movement of a non EU spouse. Indeed, this is enshrined in the European Council’s Directive 2004/38 which deals with “the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States”

The actual specific example of a UK citizen with an Irish passport holding wife wanting to travel to Spain was addressed by the, European Commission run, ‘European Direct Contact Centre’ which exists to ‘answer any question from the public about the European Union’. Following a query submitted to it, the EDCC commented as follows: -
“The fact that you reside with your Irish wife in the UK is, on its own, not sufficient to waive the limits of the 90/180-days rule if you intend to travel on your own to a Schengen Member State.
However, if your wife is travelling with you to a Schengen country, or joins you in a Schengen country, the 90/180 days limitation does not apply. Accordingly, any stays in the Schengen area together with her will not be taken into account when you travel again on your own”

[TUK020]

Could you provide a link to where you have seen this information please.

As before, everything I have seen

Of course I can't comment on what u have, or haven't, seen, but its a fundamental & widely accepted fact that if a EU citizen has chosen to take up Freedom of Movement rights and moved, or travels, to another state (that is not his/her own), they should not have their movement restricted due to the restriction of movement of a non EU spouse. Indeed, this is enshrined in the European Council’s Directive 2004/38 which deals with “the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States”

The actual specific example of a UK citizen with an Irish passport holding wife wanting to travel to Spain was addressed by the, European Commission run, ‘European Direct Contact Centre’ which exists to ‘answer any question from the public about the European Union’. Following a query submitted to it, the EDCC commented as follows: -
“The fact that you reside with your Irish wife in the UK is, on its own, not sufficient to waive the limits of the 90/180-days rule if you intend to travel on your own to a Schengen Member State.
However, if your wife is travelling with you to a Schengen country, or joins you in a Schengen country, the 90/180 days limitation does not apply. Accordingly, any stays in the Schengen area together with her will not be taken into account when you travel again on your own”

Thank you for this.
Very helpful (wife has French passport), means I won't need to pass a French language proficiency certificate for residency (but would to obtain a French passport)