What do the British really want when they escape the UK’s drizzly, damp and good-mood murdering weather and flee southward towards sunnier climes to find their much dreamed-of holiday home?

If the brochures are to believed what counts are nearby beaches plus authentic local restaurants or bars and decent shops.

But is this really what British buyers want or merely an idyll? The question has preoccupied many developers and estate agent over the years but now it’s ever more pressing as British buyers become more choosy as the credit crunch bites.

One conundrum is whether we want ‘real’ versions of places like Spain, Portugal or France or merely faux editions that, beneath the stylised architecture, are really little Britains offering the familiar rather than the foreign.

Traditional or new: a recently-built property in Crete that could pass for a converted farmhouse.

Most coastal strips in southern Europe offer both these days. For example, venture over to the Praia D’El Rey resort in Portugal on the country’s Silver Coast above Lisbon and you’ll find a small town of villas and apartment blocks built in a style that mimics that local vernacular but offers a five-star hotel if you tire of cooking your own food.

On the other hand, ten miles along the coast and inland a bit there are country villas for sale built by Lisbonites forty years ago that ooze a bit more authenticity.

There are, though, places where an acceptable middle way can be navigated between new and ‘real’. This is most obvious to see in the Greek islands, and in particular on Crete. There builders know that to attract British buyers – who are usually purchasing with an eye on retirement on the island at some point – they have to offer a fairly unique product.

Because Brits treasure the island for its relatively intact architectural vernacular and the swathes of similar-looking brown-tile roof villas built on some stretches of the Spanish costas over the past decade are usually a no-no on Crete.

Therefore new-build and resale houses on the island have to look like converted farm outhouses but offer all of the comforts Brits expect, as research by island developer Said Marie of Caversham-Barnes recently revealed.

“They told us they wanted a private heated pool with a huge sun terrace, air-conditioning – but also central heating for use during Crete’s brief winter period – gardens and a garage,” he says.

“Those were our design criteria and, because potential buyers can see that we have taken the trouble to build what they actually want, we are selling the properties despite the recession.”

The lesson for buyers currently looking in particularly for a newbuild property overseas is to find a developer which has made an attempt to understand the British – for example it is only recently that high-end kitchens and bathroom have started to become standard within properties overseas, many years after it has been standard in the UK.

buying abroad, international property market

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