I found this and wondered how many of us already know about it? Scroll down to the highlighted bit.

Purchasing Property in Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a popular destination for British Nationals looking to retire overseas or buy a holiday-home.

Whilst the majority of property brokers and companies are honest, we have received numerous reports of buyers being defrauded or facing protracted legal delays in completing their purchase. The British Government does not interfere in Bulgarian legal proceedings arising from property disputes, nor do we become involved in steps to recover any capital outlay in respect of individual property deals.

We advise that you proceed with caution and seek comprehensive advice, including legal advice from a lawyer who is experienced in property conveyancing and fully independent of anyone else involved in the transaction e.g. the estate agent, vendor and developer. British nationals purchasing property in Bulgaria are strongly recommended to deal only with established and reputable real estate agents or with other contacts whom they know to be reliable and genuine. It is in your interests to research all aspects of your prospective purchase thoroughly before entering in to any contracts.



The Bulgarian legal system is not the same as the UK’s and the process of achieving legal redress in Bulgaria can be very protracted in comparison.

You should take at least the same steps to protect your interests as you would do at home, and instruct an experienced, reputable lawyer who is totally independent to act on your behalf and ensure that your interests are adequately safeguarded. Attempting to save money on professional fees by cutting corners, or by using the seller’s lawyers, is a false economy that can result in severe problems later.

Our Ambassador in Bulgaria has personally raised problems with the property sector with Bulgarian Government Ministers, including the Prime Minister. Although we are unable to take up individual cases, the Embassy will continue to work for improvements in the regulation of this sector, including clearer and simpler remedy procedures in the event of property disputes. Your best defence against property related legal problems is to follow the advice of an independent and experienced lawyer before you enter in to a contract.

The Embassy has recently become aware that the personal details of property owners have been made publicly available via the BulgarianTrade Register. We are in contact with the Bulgarian government to push for urgent and appropriate protection of personal data for British Nationals who own property in Bulgaria.

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I have been told by our gardener that a large village near Balchik (Sokolovo) use to have 42 properties occupied by British personal, now there are only a couple of families left, the rest have gone for good. I had noticed as I passed that the village bar is never busy any more

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On driving through the village I see that a number of properties are up for sale and some must be pretty desperate as they have painted on the outside wall FOR SALE in big print and a contact telephone number

people may be leaving , but many are moving over, I have just spent nearly a month in Bulgaria and on the way I met 3 groups of people moving to Bulgaria ( 2 English and one German ) , on the way back I met another 5 driving into Bulgaria , all from the UK

The people moving over had all ( apart from 2 groups ) bought houses under £4000 off ebay ( most under £2000 ) and most had never been to Bulgaria apart from a trip to buy the house earlier in the year, one group had never left the UK before and still had to see the house, the Germans had paid 15000 Euros and another english family had paid about £8000 for a house

Every group were planning to stay in Bulgaria full time , the ebay house buyers all planned to renovate and planned to grow things in the garden to live on , most had saved up for a couple of years to make the move and had money for a few years or so

Im not sure how many will stay.....but it looks like cheap property is selling fine ,

The UK is so bad for a lot of people right now , for example, In Liverpool were I live ( quite a good area ) there are people living in vans parked on the side of the local park about 10 minutes walk away , a few in tents in the park all year long , another road that has been boarded up for years has been taken over by people who cant afford to rent....it would be a far better life for them in Bulgaria

Will666,
I understand what you are saying, but if those people can't put or get or put a roof over their heads within the UK welfare system then how will they earn a living in BG to support themselves, so no, that just would not work.

With regards to people moving in and people moving out, I dare say that has and always will continue to happen.

Obviously there are many reasons why people move back to the UK, failing health or frightened of what will happen if they fall ill, lack of money because the money they originally brought with them no-longer goes as far as it used to mainly because people lived to their means and can't seem to downsize to the extent they can't even afford to 'live' just of their UK state pension, not i said 'Live' and not survive, as there is a big difference.

As for people moving to BG, well one major fact is that as I call it' new money' seems to go a lot further and most people to start with have a lot more than most people moving out, the fact is nowadays some people can save more in 6 months than what used to take people 10 years to save, although here in the UK the actual value of it remains a mute point.

And this scenario will continue until the end of time.