Most UK citizens who obtain houses in Bulgaria’s Stara Planina buy the property only from their fellow countrymen, Bulgarian-language Monitor reported on March 27.

Pleven real estate agency Yavlena-Kora director Krassimira Voinova said that most English people who purchase village houses sell the properties very soon after. Sometimes they have arranged the next sale before the original deal is signed by a notary. Voinova said they prefer real estate costing between 5000 and 10 000 euro so that they could re-sell it more easily and at a higher price. The reason, according to her, is that English people prefer to buy land only from their fellow countrymen to reduce the risk of fraud.

British people living in Bulgaria are dealing with the entire process of preparation of documents and property checks. In the past seven to eight months, only foreign real estate brokers were calling the Yavlena-Kora agency, and they were mainly interested in old village houses, Voinova said.

Bulgarian-language Kapital published the number of permits issued for building in Bansko for the period 2002 to 2006. In sum, permits for 35 768 bed spaces totalling than 752 658 sq m were issued in the past four years. In 2002 seven permits were issued for residential buildings and eight for hotels. In 2003 to 2004, permits numbered 149. In 2005, there were 171 licences, 23 of which were for hotels, with the rest for residential buildings. In 2006, 347 permits were issued. The number of permits for hotels and living buildings was lower, most having been for additional buildings and infrastructure – water mains, electricity and heating systems, swimming pools, ski rental and car washes.