The 550,000 Britons owning second homes abroad may have lost up to £1,830,840,000 on exchange rates from banks, according to currency transfer provider Foreign Currency Direct (FCD). It has prompted the group to launch a campaign to raise awareness of competitive exchange rates when buying homes abroad.

There is currently a significant difference between rates being offered by high street banks and those offered by specialist currency providers. FCD alone says it could save buyers £2,774 on the purchase of €100,000 home – which equates to a saving of nearly 4 per cent on the amount transacted.

With 550,000 Britons owning second homes (requiring an average of transaction 120,000), a potential £1.8 billion may have been ‘lost in transaction’ through buyers failing to shop around.

Over 550,000 Britons now own second properties abroad, and government statistics show that in 2002 there were 359,000 people leaving the UK to live abroad. Indeed over a million British pensioners now claim their state pensions abroad.

Estimates suggest that the number of Britons living abroad is likely to double from the current 1.4 million to 3.4 million by 2008, with one in five Britons living abroad by 2020.

Peter Ellis, Managing Director of Foreign Currency Direct comments: ‘Buying a home abroad is a life changing event for most people. However, buyers must consider the impact of exchange rates.’