Budget drives brits to switz

Wealthy British tax payers arguably emerged the greatest losers from this month's Budget - as from next April, anybody earning more than £150,000 per year will have to pay 50 per cent in income tax - an increase which is expected to drive hundreds more well-off UK citizens to consider investing in tax havens...

While residential property may not seem a particularly attractive investment at present, there is one country which is proving an exception to the rule - Switzerland.

In addition to the fiscal benefits of the country's taxation system, the Swiss property market stands alone as the first real estate market to produce positive capital growth for 2008.

According to the IPD Switzerland Annual Property Index released earlier this month, the Swiss property market saw 1.2 per cent capital growth in 2008.

The index also showed that Switzerland produced Europe's highest nominal total returns for 2008, at 6.1 per cent - topping Germany's 3.5 per cent and the Netherland's 3.3 per cent.

"Switzerland has a limited supply and, with pension and insurances fund investing conbsiderably in domestic Swiss property over the long term, there is, therefore, genuine market stability," explains Nassos Maginas, Director of IPD Europe.

A report by financial services company Credit Suisse also predict a positive outlook for the remainder of 2009. "The Swiss property market will not emerge from the global financial crisis unscathed," says the report. "However, the economists at Credit Suisse do not expect any major upsets in 2009, especially given that the Swiss real estate markets are in a good state of health and that there have been virtually no excesses here in the last years. The housing market is the most stable segment, and the wave of immigration into Switzerland is still having beneficial effects."

Those looking to buy into Switzerland's advantages as a tax haven should look at high end Swiss property, such as Savills' development of four chalets in Grindlewald. However, if the starting price of £1.95 million exceeds your budget a little, take a look at InvestorsInProperty.com's Les Collons development, where you can pick up a chalet for as little as £169,500.

Source: www.worldofproperty.co.uk