Offshore move inquiries 'up 20%'

There has been a 20% increase in people looking to move offshore to places like Guernsey, a UK property agent has said.

Peter Edwards, of Knight Frank's country house department said: "The main reason is probably [because] income tax will rise to 50% from 40%."

He said there were always more inquiries before Christmas but this year had seen more than usual.

He said the "quality of life" Guernsey offers makes it attractive as well as being an English-speaking island.

Not all these inquiries will translate into sales, but Mr Edwards said he had a realistic hope about a quarter of all the inquiries will end up with people buying offshore.

He said Guernsey was competing for those sales with other offshore centres including the Isle of Man and Monaco.

Mr Edwards said: "It is an English speaking island, the quality of life is very, very high there, it's got fantastic beaches, it's only a few miles off the French coast so it's very accessible to Europe as well.

"I think all those factors really give Guernsey a significant advantage."