What costs are involved when buying a house in Crete.

Currency Fluctuations - One of your biggest costs (and possibly one of your biggest savings) could be the value of the pound against the euro. The pound generally trades around the 1.45 mark, so every pound is worth 1.45 euros. However, we have seen the value go as high as 1.51 and as low as 1.33. If you consider that you will probably need over £100,000 to buy off-plan, for instance, every 10th of a percent change in the exchange rate is the equivalent of 1,000 euros. Keep an eye on the exchange rate, it might be your best friend or your worst enemy!

Lawyers fee - about 1% of the purchase price

Public Notary fee - about 1.2% of the contract amount.

Ownership fee - Minimal amount paid when you get your AφM number (pronounced 'AFEEMEE'). This is your Greek tax number. You need not pay Greek taxes unless or until you have an annual income in Greece.

Architect's fee and planning permission - depends on size and complexity of the building or extension. Ask if these items are included in the quotation, some builders include them, some don't.

Taxes - The taxes paid depend on what you are buying and where.

VAT - VAT at 19% is only paid if you purchase a ready-built house direct from the builder and the planning permission for the house was granted AFTER 1st January 2006, You need to check if the price includes or excludes VAT. If an individual purchases the land then contracts a builder to build the house, no VAT is applicable.

Transfer tax - Transfer tax is applied whenever an existing house or plot of land is bought. The transfer tax is a percentage of what is called the Assessed Price. Think of council tax and property bands - the price the government places on your house for council tax assessment is not the same price as it is actually worth. The same goes with the assessed price in Greece - even though they have raised the bands by 50% this year, it is still considerably lower than the actual cost. The transfer tax percentage varies depending on where you buy. If you buy in the municipality pf Chania, you pay 11%, if it is within the boundaries of any other town of village in West Crete, you will pay 9% and if it is classed as rural land, you will pay 7%.

Registration fee - equal to approximately 4.75% of the contract amount.