The British appetite for a place in the sun grows ever more insatiable, according to statistics which reveal that more and more people are investing in property abroad, and making money from it.
Last year, the value of property owned by Britons in countries as diverse as Spain, India, New Zealand and South Africa was £23 billion. Four years ago, that figure was just £11.1 billion, according to an analysis carried out by the Office for National Statistics.
The figures reflect not only the growing number of Britons who are investing abroad, but also the growth in the value of properties.
"I have never really known property prices abroad go down," said Naomi Greatbanks, a specialist in foreign property investment for Savills. "I don't think I know of a single client who has lost money. In places such as France, Italy and Spain, property buying is tried and tested, flights are a maximum two and a half hours and the British feel comfortable living in these countries.
"The most ordinary person who years ago would think himself lucky to buy his own home here can now consider a second home abroad."
The boom in foreign property ownership has been fuelled by low interest rates and soaring house prices in this country. Cheap mortgages and the ability to unlock equity from the main home has made a place in the sun increasingly affordable.
Mark Wiggin, 41, an estate agent from Shewsbury, bought a three-bedroom apartment in Majorca with his brother in 1991 for about £180,000. It is now on the market for approximately £400,000.
"We certainly bought it as an investment," said Mr Wiggin. "If you buy at the right time you can get good capital growth. We were left some money and thought it would be a great place to go. Neither of us were married and it was wonderful to go for long weekends, to play some golf, just get away."
The statistics show that in the year 2003 to 2004, the British owned 256,609 properties abroad, collectively worth £23 billion. In the year 1999 to 2000, more than 176,000 people owned a property abroad, with second homes collectively worth £11.1 billion.
Spain, predictably, is the most popular place for the British to buy a second home. Nearly 70,000 homes here are owned by Britons, accounting for 27 per cent of the total in number and nearly a third in value. France is also popular, with 51,322 properties owned by people from the UK, collectively worth £5.6 billion, followed by Portugal and Italy where 5,132 and 2,566 homes are owned respectively.
Nearly two thirds of second homes abroad are in Europe, with six per cent in the United States and the rest in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Caribbean islands.
The ONS estimates that during the year 2003 to 2004, Britons received rental income totalling nearly £190 million from foreign property.
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