Studio Flats London

A well respected US magazine recently claimed Monaco has the most overpriced real estate in the world, claiming the rental returns as part of their figures meant the tax haven’s property costs were unduly high.
In response a Monaco internet site says the American magazine are wrong, and have forgotten why Monaco’s property prices are high in the first place.
‘The error they made was comparing Monaco with places like Rome, Warsaw, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and they also overestimated closing costs. While admittedly high in Monaco at around 11 per cent, it’s not common to be 20 per cent that their research was based on.’
The comparison of 50 financial centres assumed the property was not a main residence and looked at rental returns – another error when calculating Monaco’s property prices according to the Monaco internet guide.
‘By law in Monaco rentals are a minimum of one year, so it’s obvious that rental returns are going to be less than places where weekly and six monthly rentals are possible. To gain residency in Monaco via renting the residency office needs evidence of a twelve month contract, so Monaco is in a unique position when compared to other leading financial centres.’
‘There is a shortage of available property in Monaco and high demand that shows no sign of slowing down – given all these factors we just think the US magazine’s analysis of the Monaco real estate scene has been done without taking local factors into consideration.’
Typical property prices in Monaco at the moment include a second floor studio apartment at 1,100,000 Euros, a one bedroom apartment in Monte Carlo at 2,150,000 Euros, and a three bedroom two bathroom apartment at 5,500,000 Euros.
As well as buying a property, to gain residency in Monaco a bank account needs to be opened in the Principality, with account opening deposits varying between 100,000 and 500,000 Euros.
One thing that could put the brake on the number of Brits looking to move to Monaco was announced after the magazine’s claims about Monaco real estate prices were published.
The amount of time British tax exiles can spend in their home country is being limited by the British government, and it could impact the British economy, claim a company who specialise in tax haven property and residency.
Up until now a British taxpayer could avoid paying income tax by taking residency in a tax haven such as Andorra or Monaco, and be allowed to spend 90 days a year in Britain before falling foul of the Iland Revenue. Importantly both the day of arrival and departure into the UK didn’t count as a day.
So technically, a tax exile living in Andorra could drive to Barcelona airport for a 7am flight to London, and given the hour’s time difference between Spain and the UK, be comfortably in an office working by lunchtime.
Equally, the same tax exile could leave the London office at 6pm Friday for Barcelona en route to Andorra – and importantly those five days in the UK would count only as three of their ninety day allowance as the day travelling to and from the UK aren’t counted. Which allowed business men and women to commute from the tax havens of Andorra and Monaco thirty weeks a year. Some would do Monday to Thursday and could do that virtually all year and still stay on the right side of the British tax man.

A magazine column in the US has claimed Monaco has the most overpriced real estate in the world, backing up with evidence that typical rental returns as part of their figures meant the tax haven’s property costs were unduly high.
In response an on-line Monaco internet site says the American media is wrong, and have forgotten why Monaco’s property prices are high in the first place.
‘The error they made was comparing Monaco with places like Rome, Warsaw, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and they also overestimated closing costs. While admittedly high in Monaco at around 11 per cent, it’s not common to be 20 per cent that their research was based on.’
The comparison of 50 financial centres assumed the property was not a main residence and looked at rental returns – another error when calculating Monaco’s property prices according to the Monaco internet guide.
‘By law in Monaco rentals are a minimum of one year, so it’s obvious that rental returns are going to be less than places where weekly and six monthly rentals are possible. To gain residency in Monaco via renting the residency office needs evidence of a twelve month contract, so Monaco is in a unique position when compared to other leading financial centres.’
‘There is a shortage of available property in Monaco and high demand that shows no sign of slowing down – given all these factors we just think the US magazine’s analysis of the Monaco real estate scene has been done without taking local factors into consideration.’
Typical property prices in Monaco at the moment include a second floor studio apartment at 1,100,000 Euros, a one bedroom apartment in Monte Carlo at 2,150,000 Euros, and a three bedroom two bathroom apartment at five million Euros.
As well as buying a property, to gain residency in Monaco a bank account needs to be opened in the Principality, with account opening deposits varying between 100,000 and 500,000 Euros.
One thing that could put the brake on the number of Brits looking to move to Monaco was announced after the magazine’s claims about Monaco real estate prices were published.
The amount of time British tax exiles can spend in their home country is being limited by the British government, and it could impact the British economy, claim a company who specialise in tax haven property and residency.
Up until now a British taxpayer could avoid paying income tax by taking residency in a tax haven such as Andorra or Monaco, and be allowed to spend 90 days a year in Britain before falling foul of the UK’s Inland Revenue. Importantly both the day of arrival and departure into the UK didn’t count as a day.
So technically, a tax exile living in Andorra could drive to Barcelona airport for a 7am flight to London, and given the hour’s time difference between Spain and the UK, be comfortably in an office working by lunchtime.
Equally, the same tax exile could leave the London office at 6pm Friday for Barcelona en route to Andorra – and importantly those five days in the UK would count only as three of their ninety day allowance as the day travelling to and from the UK aren’t counted. Which allowed business men and women to commute from the tax havens of Andorra and Monaco thirty weeks a year. Some would do Monday to Thursday and could do that virtually all year and still stay on the right side of the British tax authorities.

The Monaco Grand Prix held at the end of the May shows Monaco in her full glory to the world for a Sunday afternoon, and this year was no exception as Lewis Hamilton won the race for the first time.
Monaco is known the world over not just for the best Grand Prix of the F1 season, but for million and billionaire residents, glamour…and some of the most expensive property in the world.
But with the world on on the brink of a possible recession and falling house prices both in the US and Europe, Monaco could buck the trend in the years ahead and see surprisingly big gains in prices while those around her go into freefall.
Part of Monaco’s price increases in recent years, and for the medium term future too, is that new housing being built is for locals, and a strong new supply of openly available apartments is unlikely to happen for ten years – and with strong demand and little supply it suggests further price rises are likely for this year and next.
British citizens have moved to Monaco in high numbers in recent years and as UK taxes show no sign of falling this large group is expected to swell further in 2008.
Previously a relatively small group of Monaco residents, the number of British people living in Monaco has doubled in the last three years since 2005, with some 3000 now claiming residency in Monaco.
Attaining residency in Monaco necessarily means renting or buying an apartment. The lowest priced property on the market at the moment is a 30m2 studio with a 7m2 balcony in the Fontvieille district at 720,000 Euros. With closing costs this rises to over 800,000 Euros. As well as buying a property, to gain residency in Monaco a bank account needs to be opened in the Principality, with account opening deposits varying between 100,000 and 500,000 Euros.
Mid range is a 210m2 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in Monte Carlo, close to Casino Square, at 4,200,000 Euros. And at the top end is a three floor penthouse apartment in the well known Eden Star development at 25,000,000 Euros, equivalent to around 16 million Sterling.
At the opening of Monaco’s new consulate in London recently, Prince Albert of Monaco acknowledged the important contribution British people are making to his country, and said he would like to see more in the Principality. Prince Albert is particularly keen to see British entrepreneurs move to Monaco, but one travel guide for the country doesn’t think Prince Albert has fully thought through his ideal scenario.
‘Prince Albert said recently that he welcomes British entrepreneurs moving to Monaco, but that he wouldn’t be distributing leaflets on London’s streets to get more to do so. But he is missing the point. The costs involved in moving to Monaco are prohibitively high, even compared to London standards, and if he is serious about British talent moving to Monaco while we don’t expect Monaco to remove the financial barriers he could move to lower the bar a bit at least.’
A well respected US magazine recently claimed Monaco has the most overpriced real estate in the world, claiming the rental returns as part of their figures meant the tax haven’s property costs were unduly high.
In response a Monaco internet site says the American magazine are wrong, and have forgotten why Monaco’s property prices are high in the first place.
‘The error they made was comparing Monaco with places like Rome, Warsaw, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and they also overestimated closing costs. While admittedly high in Monaco at around 11 per cent, it’s not common to be 20 per cent that their research was based on.’
Monaco property buyers would find it difficult to find anything at all for 700,000 Euros, even for the smallest studio apartment, and realistic starting prices are from a million Euros.
Prices last year rose dramatically, with the Casino Square area seeing price increases close to forty per cent, and in Fontvieille, close to the helicopter pad which connects Monaco with Nice Airport, prices nearly doubled.
Overall it is thought that demand has grown by around thirty five per cent over the last five years, with few new Monaco properties becoming available to meet the new buyers expectations and putting pressure on already high real estate prices.

Monte Carlo attracted the new rich Russians a decade ago, but a decade later it’s the British – using conventional banking methods and with it a degree of respectability – who are investing in Europe’s top tax haven.

While the British have been players in the region for nearly two hundred years, with Nice just along the coast being a favourite resort of the genteel Victorian English – in recent years the British have held a presence in Monaco, but now they’re back in numbers not seen for over a century.

The new wave of British buyers is welcomed by Monaco real estate agents as their funds are more likely to be legitimately earned, while some of the 90’s Russian cash was often a little suspect.

‘Things have changed since the 90’s when the Russian mafia were the big players in town’, explain a Monte Carlo property agency, ‘Then it was easy to put a few million cash down for a property and not have questions asked. In the last few years the banks have really tightened up due to government pressure because of the ‘war on terror’ and tracking money from illegitimate sources. Estate agents in Monaco know that the chances of a British buyer being able to show the source of their money as legitimate is very high’.

With quite ordinary one bedroom apartments at just under a million Euros, and a typical three bedroom apartment at over three million Euros, property prices have more than doubled in Monaco in the last ten years.

In the past Monaco property buyers have often been retired sixty-somethings, staying away from their home country to avoid the taxes that come with selling their business. But today’s Monaco buyer is just as likely to be in his mid thirties or forties as they are in their sixties, with the middle age British leading the way.

‘A few years ago around one in ten enquiries we were receiving were from the UK’, the agency continue, ‘but now it’s virtually four in ten – a significant shift in the nationality of Monte Carlo property buyers.

The buyers have often made their money from one of three sources. The traditional company owner with a bricks and mortar business who has sold up, but also younger entrepreneurs, some of whom have made money in e-commerce. A significant number of buyers from the UK have worked in the financial sector, invariably in the City of London. We see a lot of futures and commodity brokers who are on high million pound and more salaries with annual bonues to match.

Some British buyers continue to trade or run their businesses from Monaco. Nice Airport is a ten minute helicopter ride away, and the City of London can be just three hours away from their Monaco property with the right connections. With some clever accounting thrown in, today’s technology enables people to manage their UK business from Monaco in a tax free environment’.

A loca Monaco travel guide has also noticed more Brits on the streets of Monte Carlo.

‘The British have arrived in Monaco in numbers recently. The ones I have spoken to have recently sold their business or are on very high salaries with million pound and more annual bonuses. I would like to think they are coming here for the Monaco weather, but of course it is for the tax environment we offer -and of course the Monaco Grand Prix.’

In recent years the British economy has consistently been one of the strongest in Europe, and with a top rate of income tax cut a decade ago to forty per cent the wealthy have become wealthier – and want to stay that way.

‘Despite the top rate of tax coming down to forty per cent, by the time other direct taxes such as National Insurance are taken into account around half of top earners salaries are – as many of the Monaco property buyers from Britain see it – being lost to the Inland Revenue. By moving to Monaco they effectively double their disposable income.

When you go to hotels in Monaco and see a couple with estate agent details on the table and a map of Monte Carlo with various places highlighted, there’s an almost even chance that they will be British. A lot more than just a couple of years ago. They like Monaco, the security, the tax advantages and the closeness to London’.

While much of Europe could be on the edge of a property price recession, Monaco it seems knows no limits for her prices.
Prices have risen consistently in recent years, to the point where it overtook London early in 2007 to become the most expensive location in the world for real estate, with London overtaking Monaco again recently.
The studio is just 43m2 in size with a 15m2 terrace, and located in Jardin Exotique, an area of Monaco that becomes behind better known Monte Carlo and Fontvieille in popularity for potential Monaco property buyers.
Monte Carlo has traditionally been the first area most people ask for as it is so well known, while Fontvieille, which has its own harbour and hosts the annual Monaco Yacht Show is popular among business people as the heliport is based there.
Jardin Exotique is the highest area in Monaco, and most apartments enjoy good Mediterranean views.
Monaco is due to invest heavily in Jardin Exotique’s infrastructure in the near future, making property there attractive to investors looking for property appreciation. Overall, it is possible that Monaco property prices could overtake London again in the coming months.
Monaco property prices are almost certain to rise in the short and medium term according to a Monaco travel guide, and possibly to the level where the cost per square foot will exceed that of London.
‘Three years ago there were around six hundred properties to rent or buy in Monaco – that has declined since then to two hundred – but demand is as high as ever, pushing prices up more.’, explain the travel guide.
With property prices in Monaco the second highest in Europe and one bedroom apartments after closing costs starting at around a million Euros, longer term the shortage of property in Monaco will be helped a new island being built off Monte Carlo.
It’s thought unlikely that the new island will reduce prices much overall though, despite the increase in the number of property units available as Monaco property is always in demand.
Monaco property specialists believe that most new apartments will be sold to investors off plan well in advance of any building work starting.
‘The problem with property in Monaco is not the lack of buyers’, they say, ‘but more the lack of good properties for buyers to choose from. Hopefully the new island will address that. Everyone in Monaco is aware of how important the environment is thanks to Prince Albert’s initiatives in pushing it up the political agenda, and any new developments will be low rise. With the good weather in Monaco expect to see plenty of solar panels on the roofs to make the buildings energy efficient’.
It is possible that the new island will be incorporated into future Monaco Grand Prix, which could give more overtaking opportunities.
One Monaco property company reports that new enquiries are running at a high rate, with many buyers keen to buy now in case prices go up more, either for residency, or more commonly than before for investment.
In recent years the UK market has accounted for much of Monaco’s property price rises, as the number of buyers has increased to 40 per cent of the total market, but in recent months buyers from other European countries and from further afield, Australia and Canada in particular have been noticeable.

Monte Carlo has appealed to Europe’s wealthy – and since the advent of jet travel from further afield since the 1880’s, but recently British money in particular has been finding its way to Monte Carlo at record levels.
Signs of the British in Monte Carlo are everywhere to be seen. Each apartment building has a good number of British owners, and the harbour is full of yachts flying the English ensign – some estimates put the figure as high as fifty per cent.
Previously a relatively small group of Monaco residents, the number of British people living in Monte Carlo has doubled in the last two years since 2005, with some 3000 now claiming residency.
Attaining residency in Monte Carlo, the most popular part of Monaco,necessarily means renting or buying an apartment. The lowest priced property on the market at the moment is a 30m2 studio with a 7m2 balcony in the Fontvieille district at 720,000 Euros. With closing costs this rises to over 800,000 Euros. As well as buying a property, to gain residency in Monaco a bank account needs to be opened in the Principality, with account opening deposits varying between 100,000 and 500,000 Euros.
Mid range is a 210m2 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in Monte Carlo, close to Casino Square, at 4,200,000 Euros. And at the top end is a three floor penthouse apartment in the well known Eden Star development at 25,000,000 Euros, equivalent to around 16 million Sterling.
At the opening of Monaco’s new consulate in London recently, Prince Albert of Monaco acknowledged the important contribution British people are making to his country, and said he would like to see more in the Principality. Prince Albert is particularly keen to see British entrepreneurs move to Monaco, but one travel guide for the country doesn’t think Prince Albert has fully thought through his ideal scenario.
‘Prince Albert said recently that he welcomes British entrepreneurs moving to Monaco, but that he wouldn’t be distributing leaflets on London’s streets to get more to do so. But he is missing the point. The costs involved in moving to Monaco are prohibitively high, even compared to London standards, and if he is serious about British talent moving to Monaco while we don’t expect Monaco to remove the financial barriers he could move to lower the bar a bit at least.’
A well respected US magazine recently claimed Monaco has the most overpriced real estate in the world, claiming the rental returns as part of their figures meant the tax haven’s property costs were unduly high.
In response a Monaco internet site says the American magazine are wrong, and have forgotten why Monaco’s property prices are high in the first place.
‘The error they made was comparing Monaco with places like Rome, Warsaw, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and they also overestimated closing costs. While admittedly high in Monaco at around 11 per cent, it’s not common to be 20 per cent that their research was based on.’
The comparison of 50 financial centres assumed the property was not a main residence and looked at rental returns – another error when calculating Monaco’s property prices according to the Monaco internet guide.
‘By law in Monaco rentals are a minimum of one year, so it’s obvious that rental returns are going to be less than places where weekly and six monthly rentals are possible. To gain residency in Monaco via renting the residency office needs evidence of a twelve month contract, so Monaco is in a unique position when compared to other leading financial centres.’
‘There is a shortage of available property in Monaco and high demand that shows no sign of slowing down – given all these factors we just think the US magazine’s analysis of the Monaco real estate scene has been done without taking local factors into consideration.’
Given the love affair Britain’s elite seems to have with Monte Carlo, the real estate and finance sectors are probably in for a reasonable time in the years to come, with or without a world recession.

A survey by a highly placed and respected European banking internet site has just concluded a survey showing where the most expensive roads are in the world for property – and the top one is Avenue Princess Grace in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The bankers’ internet site suggest that four bedroom apartments are selling for over US 40 million dollars, and estate agents in Monaco confirm this to be about right.
And they describe the 190,000 US dollars a square metre as ‘eye-watering’ – a description few people would disagree with, and that buyers will need to be billionaires, or not far off being a billionaire.
The second most expensive street in the world is Severn Road in Hong Kong with prices fetching 120,000 US dollars a square metre, and it isn’t until third place that New York features, with Fifth Avenue real estate achieving a mere 80,000 US dollars a square metre – placing it firmly within grasp of some multi-millionaires. The upper East side side of Fifth Avenue is the part that gains most interest, and the site notes that some apartments can reach to 60 million – more than Monaco’s Princess Grace Avenue, but being such a long road in comparisom it brings the average below that of Monaco’s.
It’s back to Europe for the fourth most expensive road, London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, where property is fetching 77,000 dollars a square metre, and is symbolic of London where some areas continue to see price rises while others drop. London and Monaco normally vye for the most expensive real estate in Europe.
Helping Monaco’s Princess Grace Avenue to be the most expensive street in the world is a mix of British, Russian and Arab money, with the British buyers especially attracted by her tax haven status.
Monaco’s tourism is upmarket and exclusive too. In a recent report on Monaco’s tourism, the Director General of the tourist office announced that no less than 93 per cent of the Principality’s hotel capacity is in the luxury category – more than any other country in the world, and confirming Monaco’s status as haven for the wealthy.
Also in the report figures showed that Monaco increased her tourist numbers by 36 per cent between 2004 and 2007, and last year alone saw a 10 per cent increase over 2006.
But good as the figures are, Monaco wants to further increase her tourists numbers. Unusually it’s not just the numbers overall she wants to improve on, impressive though they are already – but one categoty in particular.
And it’s a category of tourist that Monaco is particularly well placed to attract compared to almost every other country in the world – URI’s.
URI’s could almost have been a class of tourist specially designed for Monaco and all that she offers – and it stands for Ultra Rich Individuals.
One URI could spend more in a week in Monaco than several hundred average tourists, with the casino in Monte Square quite capable of taking a few hundred thousand Euros off the ultra rich in an evening or two. One URI from Italy was recently reported in a British newspaper as cashing up 700,000 Euros for one evening on the tables!
Monaco has the most expensive street in the world, and looks like she intends to keep at the top of the real estate league with London, Hong Kong and New York for some time.

Prime London property prices have risen again, and have overtaken tax haven Monaco property prices, according to a report recently.
While the future of London property prices remain good, there are some doubts if the increases can be sustained.
Interest rates in the UK have been rising recently, and there is a danger of UK property prices generally falling, which could have an impact on the top end London market.
But Monaco property prices are almost certain to rise in the short and medium term according to a Monaco travel guide, and possibly to the level where the cost per square foot will exceed that of London.
‘Three years ago there were around six hundred properties to rent or buy in Monaco – that has declined since then to two hundred – but demand is as high as ever, pushing prices up more.’, explain the travel guide.
With property prices in Monaco the second highest in Europe and one bedroom apartments after closing costs starting at around a million Euros, longer term the shortage of property in Monaco will be helped a new island being built off Monte Carlo.
It’s thought unlikely that the new island will reduce prices much overall though, despite the increase in the number of property units available as Monaco property is always in demand.
Monaco property specialists believe that most new apartments will be sold to investors off plan well in advance of any building work starting.
‘The problem with property in Monaco is not the lack of buyers’, they say, ‘but more the lack of good properties for buyers to choose from. Hopefully the new island will address that. Everyone in Monaco is aware of how important the environment is thanks to Prince Albert’s initiatives in pushing it up the political agenda, and any new developments will be low rise. With the good weather in Monaco expect to see plenty of solar panels on the roofs to make the buildings energy efficient’.
It is possible that the new island will be incorporated into future Monaco Grand Prix, which could give more overtaking opportunities.
One Monaco property company reports that new enquiries are running at a high rate, with many buyers keen to buy now in case prices go up more, either for residency, or more commonly than before for investment.
In recent years the UK market has accounted for much of Monaco’s property price rises, as the number of buyers has increased to 40 per cent of the total market, but in recent months buyers from other European countries and from further afield, Australia and Canada in particular have been noticeable.

The number of British people moving to the tax haven of Monaco has increased dramatically in recent years, with some estate agents in the Principality claiming that four in ten of their buyers are now from the UK, compared to just one in ten a few years ago.

And if recent surveys are an accuate indication of the future, then Monaco estate agents might be seeing an even higher percentage of Brits buying with them in the near future.

A survey by the Centre For Economics and Business Research suggests that the number of British millionaires will rise dramitacally from 376,000 to 1,700,000 – an increase of over four hundred per cent.

Commenting on the findings a local travel guide say that the number of British people in Monaco has increased noticeably, but that property price inflation will temper any increase in new residents.

‘While we do expect to see an even higher proportion of British residents in Monaco, the fact that there is going to be four times the number of millionaires doesn’t mean to say there will be four times the number of people looking to buy in Monaco.

At the moment the cheapest one bedroom apartments are around 850,000 Euros. After taking closing costs into account it’s close to a million Euros. Given the demand for property in Monaco in five years that figure could rise to between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 Euros for a one bedroom apartment’.

A UK company specialising in Monaco property agree.

‘Given the cost of property in Monaco, simply being a millionaire won’t cut it for Monaco for much longer. Today’s millionaire won’t see much change out of his or her million at the moment, and how many will want to live in a one bedroom apartment? To have a half decent two or three bedroom apartment in Monaco you need to be a multi-millionaire rather than just a millionaire’.

Monaco has long been known as Europe’s number one tax haven, and for the Monaco Grand Prix, held each May around the streets of Monte Carlo.

Property prices in Monaco are already high due to the lack of land – in the past one of the districts, Fontvieille, had much of its area reclaimed from the Mediterranean, but property prices there equal those of the better known Monte Carlo.

One of the best known buildings in Fontvieille, Seaside Plaza, has average prices of three to four million Euros for a three bedroom apartment, and a four bedroom four bathroom one is currently on the market at close to ten million Euros.

In recent years the British economy has consistently been one of the strongest in Europe, and with a top rate of income tax cut a decade ago to forty per cent the wealthy have become wealthier – and want to stay that way.

‘Despite the top rate of tax coming down to forty per cent’, comment the Monaco guide, ‘By the time other direct taxes such as National Insurance are taken into account around half of top earners salaries are – as many of the Monaco property buyers from Britain see it – being lost to the Inland Revenue. By moving to Monaco they effectively double their disposable income.

When you go to hotels in Monaco and see a couple with estate agent details on the table and a map of Monte Carlo with various places highlighted, there’s an almost even chance that they will be British. A lot more than just a couple of years ago. They like Monaco, the security, the tax advantages and the closeness to London’.

In the 1990’s Russians brought suitcases of cash to the South of France and Monaco to buy real estate , but now it’s the British – using conventional banking methods and with it a degree of respectability – who are investing in Europe’s top tax haven.

While the British have been players in the region for nearly two hundred years, with Nice just along the coast being a favourite resort of the genteel Victorian English – in recent years the British have held a presence in Monaco, but now they’re back in numbers not seen for over a hundred years.

The new wave of British buyers is welcomed by Monte Carlo realtors as their funds are more likely to be legitimately earned, while some of the 90’s Russian cash was often a little suspect.

‘Things have changed since the 90’s when the Russian mafia were the main players in town’, explains Roger Munns, Managing Director of Monaco property specialists Tribune Properties, ‘Then it was easy to put a few million cash down for a property and not have questions asked. In the last few years the banks have really tightened up due to government pressure because of the ‘war on terror’ and tracking money from illegitimate sources. Estate agents in Monaco know that the chances of a British buyer being able to show the source of their money as legitimate is very high’.

With standard one bedroom apartments at just under a million Euros, and a typical three bedroom apartment at over three million Euros, property prices have more than doubled in Monaco in the last ten years.

In the past Monaco property buyers have often been retired sixty-somethings, staying away from their home country to avoid the taxes that come with selling their business. But today’s Monaco buyer is just as likely to be in his mid thirties or forties as they are in their sixties, with the middle age British leading the way.

‘A few years ago around one in ten enquiries we were receiving were from the UK’, say Tribune, ‘but now it’s virtually four in ten – a significant shift in the nationality of Monte Carlo property buyers.

The buyers have often made their money from one of three sources. The traditional company owner with a bricks and mortar business who has sold up, but also younger entrepreneurs, some of whom have made money in e-commerce. A significant number of buyers from the UK have worked in the financial sector, invariably in the City of London. We see a lot of futures and commodity brokers who are on high million pound and more salaries with annual bonues to match.

Some British buyers continue to trade or run their businesses from Monaco. Nice Airport is a ten minute helicopter ride away, and the City of London can be just three hours away from their Monaco property with the right connections. With some clever accounting thrown in, today’s technology enables people to manage their UK business from Monaco in a tax free environment’.

Hotels in Monaco

Henri Boulanger of independent Monaco travel guide YourMonaco has also noticed more Brits on the streets of Monte Carlo.

‘The British have arrived in Monaco in numbers recently. The ones I have spoken to have recently sold their business or are on very high salaries with million pound and more annual bonuses. I would like to think they are coming here for the weather in Monaco, but of course it is for the tax environment we offer – and of course the Monaco Grand Prix.’

In recent years the British economy has consistently been one of the strongest in Europe, and with a top rate of income tax cut a decade ago to forty per cent the wealthy have become wealthier – and want to stay that way.

‘Despite the top rate of tax coming down to forty per cent’, says Henri, ‘By the time other direct taxes such as National Insurance are taken into account around half of top earners salaries are – as many of the Monaco property buyers from Britain see it – being lost to the Inland Revenue. By moving to Monaco they effectively double their disposable income.

When you go the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo and see a couple with real estate details on the table and a map of Monaco with various places highlighted, there’s an almost even chance that they will be British. A lot more than just a couple of years ago. They like Monaco, the security, the tax advantages and the closeness to London’.

Monaco it seems likes the British too.