Although this would not be everyone’s first choice as a place to buy a second or holiday home, Iceland is proving very popular with overseas investors. Iceland or The Republic of Iceland to give it it’s official title is located in Northern Europe between Norway, Greenland the Faroe Islands and the British Isles. It’s name is a bit of a giveaway as to the climatic conditions but this is a holiday home destination full of surprises. Certainly, you wont be spending a great deal of your time sunbathing but temperatures are milder than you may think helped by warm currents from the Gulf Stream.
Property Investment in Iceland
Property prices have been a little on the low side but have increased in recent years, especially in the capital Reykjavik. This is a city that is considerable to be very fashionable and during the summer months, the midnight sun turns it in to a place that never sleeps. It is easily the property hot spot of the country but it’s other main cities; Akureyri, Kopavogur and Hafnarfjorour are also popular as well. Investors from Britain have been keen to buy property on the Islands, until very recently, short trips were not economically via as airfares were very expensive. However, airfares have now reduced quite dramatically making the island more accessible for short term breaks and making a holiday home a viable proposition. Iceland as a lot to offer, the country is sparsely populated, about 300,000 at the last count with an average of about three inhabitants per square kilometre. The bulk of Icelanders live in the capital city. Iceland has numerous active volcanoes, much of it is made up of lava fields and farmland. The scenery is dramatic to say the least and many people holiday is the country to take advantage of this stunning natural scenery. Add this to the fact that Iceland has been described as the least corrupt country in the world, wonderfully friendly to visitors and investors, and amongst the richest most stable countries in the world, you can easily see why it is so popular.
Insurance for a Property Located in Iceland
When you have located your holiday home or second property, you can now obtain an insurance policy from the United Kingdom covering a wide range of insurance perils and public liability insurance. Iceland has approximately 24 active volcanoes and is known to suffer from Earthquakes, in fact minor tremors almost on a daily basis. The last big quakes in the country were a few years ago and you should check to see if your policy can be extended to include earthquake damage. Property purchase in Iceland is fairly straight forward with very low acquisition costs once you have located a property to buy but alas they can be a little thin on the ground. Once you have located the property that you wish to purchase and of course sorted out how you intend to pay for it, you will need to contact the Icelandic Land Registry and obtain a certificate of non-encumbrance, this will cost around ISK 1000 and very efficiently will only take 24 hours to obtain from the magistrates office. Estate Agents in Iceland have on-line access to this information (Landskra Fasteigna) at a cost of approximately ISK 550 per case.
The Property Purchase process
Although you do not have to use an estate agent if you do, they make the whole process easier and will draw up the sale purchase agreement. There fees will be around 2.5% of the property value. Unless you pay the full value of the property at the time of the agreement, the sale purchase agreement will be registered with the magistrate, this will provide you with certain protections and the cost of this is very cheap to arrange. The conditions for registry of the sale purchase agreement are that it must contain the following information: the name of the property as officially registered by the authorities, the unique property reference number of the land and the property, the legal description set forth by the planning and building authorities and the land and the building’s number which has direct reference to it’s coordinates. This information is available from the magistrates office or if you use a licensed estate agent, they can obtain the details electronically from Landskra fasteigna (cadastre).The deed is first signed when the property is paid in full.
So if you are seeking an holiday home insurance quote why not see if we can help? The main holiday home areas are: Akranes, Akureyri, Arnessysla, Austur Bardastrandarsysla, Austur Hunavatnssysla, Austur Skaftafellssysla, Borgarfjardarsysla, Dalasysla, Eyjafjardarsysla, Gullbringusysla, Hafnarfjordur, Husavik, Isafjordur, Keflavik, Kjosarsysla, Kopavogur, Myrasysla, Neskaupstadur, Nordur Isafjardarsysla, Nordur Mulasysla, Nordur Tingeyjarsysla, Olafsfjordur, Rangarvallasysla, Reykjavik, Saudarkrokur, Seydisfjordur, Siglufjordur, Skagafjardarsysla, Snafellsnes Og Hnappadalssysla, Strandasysla, Sudur Mulasysla, Sudur Tingeyjarsysla, Vestmannaeyjar, Vestur Bardastrandarsysla, Vestur Hunavatnssysla, Vestur Isafjardarsysla, Vestur Skaftafellssysla and Zalaegerszeg
