Many of us were dubious about the Oven Ready best ever deal ..

You are not resident there though, are you? These are people who stay longer than the 90 days currently allowed- in fact live there all year but chose not to become tax residents- and try and get the best of the UK and Spain ...

Kali2

More from the Express today

'Human rights deprived!' Expat disaster over homes bought in Spain before Brexit
BRITISH expats in Spain who don't want to become tax residents and bought their homes before Brexit came into force are facing disaster, with one expert ranging it is a "serious human rights infringement".

hmmm NO, this is apparently what some of you voted for.

Golly.
We bought our tiny Spanish home just over 17y ago.

Ought we to be worried? And if so, why I wonder?
Everything was done through a recommended solicitor and notary.
He’s still working at his practice.
I’m sure if it was a concern in any way Pedro would have contacted us.

''The main criteria for the S1 is the state old age pension and you are allowed to have other pension payments. You get the S1 because you paid NI contributions for the qualifying term. ''

yes, you are allowed other pensions providing they are from UK only. For instance if you have worked for some time in another country, and get a pension for this, you do NOT qualifiy for S1- same if you are over 65 but choose to continue to work or have B&B, etc.

The main criteria for the S1 is the state old age pension and you are allowed to have other pension payments. You get the S1 because you paid NI contributions for the qualifying term.
Yes people not resident in EU before the end of 2020 do not qualify for the same rights as those who have been resident prior to that date. Some second home owners have applied for residency rights but if they are not registered for income tax etc the claims are considered fraudulent - I have seen tales that some people have fallen foul of these conditions as the French begin to follow trails. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out as I also saw a hint that there may be some special Carte for second home owners but seen nothing since the first report.

More from the Express today

'Human rights deprived!' Expat disaster over homes bought in Spain before Brexit
BRITISH expats in Spain who don't want to become tax residents and bought their homes before Brexit came into force are facing disaster, with one expert ranging it is a "serious human rights infringement".

hmmm NO, this is apparently what some of you voted for.

Welshwife

If you are a UK pensioner - receiving the state old age pension - you are entitled to an S1 form which means two things - the U.K. pays your healthcare if you live in a country which has a bi- lateral agreement with the U.K. for healthcare and the second is that you continue to be eligible to free NHS care whenever you choose. I use the French health system except for my eyes - I choose to remain seeing a dr in U.K. for check ups purely because they have records/ photographs/scans going back some 20 years. Works quite well.

Which is perfectly legal if you have S1. Many pre official retirement expats who lived more or less under the radar jumped back to UK for treatment all the time. They never de-registered from their GP (illegal) and used a relative's or second home address (illegal). You can only have S1 if you are over 65, or if you are a dependent of someone over 65- and only if you have your UK pension as sole income, no other pension, and no paid work in the foreign country.

BUT:

The S1 system is to continue after Brexit for those who are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. This should include yourselves and your friends, as long as they are established as residents in France before the end of 2020.

so not possible for those wanting to move now!

Same goes with Estate Agents, local labour and artisans, solicitors, etc, etc. If you speak the local language- you are on a different level altogether- so will contracts prices and much more.

When did you go to school? Was a foreign language not always compulsory at school? I am surprised.

I totally understand that learning a language can be challenging for some, however the foreigners that come to live in the UK are expected to learn, and most of them do, and very well. And they often even have an alphabet or way or writing which is totally different, and it must be difficult ++++ for them. There is truly a 'British exceptionalism' present - 'ah well, they all can speak English, so why should we bother'.

But Lincslass, if you regularly spent significant amounts of time in a foreign country, if you had a holiday home there, or if you emigrated and lived there- would you not think it would make sense to learn the local language? Not just to get by ordering in a restaurant, but to communicate with locals, try and understand how it all works, the culture, and, tbh, as a form of respect?

Once you do speak the language well enough to go beyond just 'getting by'- even if you make mistakes- your whole relationship with locals changes, and they truly appreciate you making the effort, taking a genuine interest. I have no intention of going to live in Italy, but we go regularly, and it is amazing the difference speaking some Italian makes.

My husband is a scientist, and only scraped his French 0'Level- but he has earned so much respect from everyone here for making the effort from day one- people love his British accent, and forgive all his mistakes, correct him gently, or pull his leg. If he had made the decision to just shout louder in English, he would have never made the friends he has here.

I always remember a German business man who came to speak to my 6th Formers. He was quite witty and when a student asked him about the difference speaking German for a British business when conducting transactions. He smiled, and replied 'We are very happy and competent to speak English to you when we are selling. When we are buying- it is a different matter. We are much more likely to award a contract to a business that is prepared to negotiate in German.'

Just don’t understand why the snide unnecessary comments on these sites. Some of us didn’t get the opportunity to learn a foreign language, some find it very hard many enjoy trying.

Why the ‘eh’ ?? You continue to be goady don’t you?
I think you’re highly intelligent.
But very judgemental with it.

I agree, let’s call our spat quits. Others reading all this must be sighing by now.

At least I make the effort though, eh Urmistongran?

Dos cervesas, por favor

Sorry, we should stop. Some people get upset if they see things on here in a language other than English.

Alegrias1

Sí, lo sé. Pero probablemente hablen español y si no, podría evitarlos.

Curiosamente, realmente entendí tu español. a veces, aunque Google es maravilloso.

Google Translate is bluddy wonderful too.

Alegrias1

All that sherry growstuff, all that sherry....

And day trips to Cádiz.

Except I don't drink alcohol. It's the orange trees which attract me.

Welshwife

Dinahmo - two things - we pay €25 when we go to see the Dr - or were you meaning after you have been reimbursed? We did not have to pay anything at all to get our CDS - from Perigueux - we found them to be very efficient.
I think Kali said about people living quite easily in the EU while we were also members but what we have found is that quite a few people never registered to pay income tax in the EU country - they are often the ones having a problem now.

It might be your age - as I said we are 74 and 75. Occasionally our doctor didn't charge us and he told my DH that it was because he could!! Our doctor is retiring and we went to see a new one last week and he only charged us 7.50 euros.

We got our CDS in Perigueux and it was very efficient. You could be right about not being charged. It was back in January or February and my memory isn't that good now. Although we completed separate applications they managed to give us adjacent appointments but ended up being seen together. It was all much easier than we expected.

An acquaintance here, with a second home, has decided to apply for residency and hasn't found it too difficult.

We didn't have any problems with changing our driving licenses either but that was a few years ago.

We knew of one person living under the radar here. (The brother of a friend) He'd left the UK several years ago because of large tax liabilities but he died in 2019 I think. We heard of someone who had not been in the system who'd had a heart attack and was airlifted to Bordeaux. He died in hospital and his wife later received a bill for around 24,000 euros but that could be apocryphal.

We did know someone who, whilst living here was receiving medical treatment both here and in the UK. She had cancer and flew back regularly for treatment. She was told at the English hospital that should not be doing this and that she could be fined. She decided to return to the UK to continue her treatment but she died about 1 year after her return.

Sí, lo sé. Pero probablemente hablen español y si no, podría evitarlos.

I have a friend who lives in Jerez. Guess what? There’s ex-pats there too. Can’t get away from the buggers. At least the ones I know pay resident taxes in Spain.

Alegrias1

See what I mean, fallacious arguments and believing what the politicians told you.

And experts. Just different ones is all.
We all pick a side and vote accordingly. As you did (and will).
That’s life.

All that sherry growstuff, all that sherry....

And day trips to Cádiz.

If you are a UK pensioner - receiving the state old age pension - you are entitled to an S1 form which means two things - the U.K. pays your healthcare if you live in a country which has a bi- lateral agreement with the U.K. for healthcare and the second is that you continue to be eligible to free NHS care whenever you choose. I use the French health system except for my eyes - I choose to remain seeing a dr in U.K. for check ups purely because they have records/ photographs/scans going back some 20 years. Works quite well.

Alegrias1

If and when Scotland votes to leave the Union, we will probably not be blighted by a bunch of lying charlatans in charge who will do everything they can to deflect blame for any little thing that goes wrong and will blame the big bad French for all our problems.

Although I'm sure you'll tell me that you know better.

Totally agree with Alegrias1. Not only that, but a treat to read her intelligent posts. Always succinct and spot-on.

Lincslass

Kali2

In the Express- PM ordered to get tough as British expats face Brexit Hell!

10s of 1000s of British expats have been living 'under the radar' - dipping in and out of Spain and UK, avoiding taxes, using NHS when they needed it, playing a 'now you see me, now you don't' silly game. And they have been caught out. Now I have no evidence for this, but I can wel imagine they would have been the first to vote for Brexit.

And this is not 'just' in Spain, but all over EU.

This has been going on for many years, and yes should have been cracked down on well before now. We are rather lax about people landing on our shores, from many countries and escaping paying their medical bills. Wether they voted for Brexit or not, isn’t the problem, being allowed to get away with fraud is.

Totally agree. Some people have milked the system for years giving others a bad name.

Alegrias1

I’m not going to post much today but I’d just thought I'd say this.

Did I hurt your feelings Urmstongran? What a shame.

You know what hurts my feelings? People who voted for Brexit based on completely fallacious arguments and then tell us their lives haven’t changed. People who say that its quite doable to have a second home in Spain when some people who have worked hard for their pensions can’t even afford to heat their only homes, and are suffering from shortages brought about by the Brexit vote. People who think if anyone who criticises them it must be because they are jealous of their lifestyle. People who have no idea what they are responsible for, or don’t care.

Well if ever I do manage to buy a holiday home in Andalucía, it will probably be in Jerez. Menos expatriados ingleses.

I'm fond of Jerez too. Maybe if I win the lottery, we could be neighbours.

I agree with you by the way. My feelings haven't been hurt, but the attitude gets up my nose too.

Urmstongran

Nice try Alegrias. You forget, I have often said I voted they way I did in the hope to enhance the wages of the UK’s blue collar workers which, thanks to Brexit, is showing green shoots in that regard. Hauliers for example.

For too long big companies have taken on skilled workers from within the EU rather than providing apprenticeships or in house training for our own lads and lasses.

It’s going to be a huge juggernaut to turn around. The UK will have to accept, adapt and move on. It will happen.

I wager it doesn't happen.

Welshwife

Dinahmo - two things - we pay €25 when we go to see the Dr - or were you meaning after you have been reimbursed? We did not have to pay anything at all to get our CDS - from Perigueux - we found them to be very efficient.
I think Kali said about people living quite easily in the EU while we were also members but what we have found is that quite a few people never registered to pay income tax in the EU country - they are often the ones having a problem now.

Good! I hope their problems are big ones!