Why house buyers are choosing to live the Caribbean dream in St Lucia

Our St Lucia office is seeing a rise in demand for properties and self-build plots on the island - which, in turn, could give the local economy a boost.

Our firm has been operating in the Eastern Caribbean since initial operations with the 1997 Barbados Physical Development Plan.

This was followed by valuations, agricultural and land projects in St Vincent & the Grenadines and St Lucia - where we opened our office in 2005, which is managed by Asnia Ste Marie.

St Lucia has spectacular scenery, much with the Pitons, two mountainous volcanic 'spires,' dominating the landscape. Picture: Graeme Taplin Drone Photography www.dronephotgraphy.co.uk

Among St Lucia's many attractions to a UK house buyer is the fact the main language spoken is English, it has an average temperature of almost 30 degrees all year round and has a time difference enabling remote working.

St Lucia also has a simpler planning system if you are considering building your own home as well as no council tax surcharge on second homes.

A popular choice for UK buyers is the bustling area around Rodney Bay which has a pretty marina, plenty of shops, hotels and restaurants. Picture: Brown&Co.

For some it is simply the idea of a calmer way of life which is appealing.

However, our St Lucia office does not just market to overseas buyers but has a successful track record of selling locally too – and needs more stock across the price ranges.

St Lucia boasts blue sea, golden sandy beaches and hot weather - what's not to like? Picture: Graeme Taplin Drone Photography www.dronephotography.co.uk

Our Managing Partner Charles Whitaker said: "What's not to like about the Caribbean?

"We won a project in Barbados in 1997 which was a big project, half a million US dollars for input to the Physical Development Plan. Having done that, we bid for other work and won the national revaluation exercise in St Lucia in 2002 and having looked at around 60,000 houses, it gave us a lot of knowledge about house values.

"We felt we could offer some additional professionalism to real estate services in St Lucia, so we opened an office there. Since then, we've also undertaken big contracts elsewhere around agriculture, land use and land title in Dominica, property tax and revaluation work in the Grenadines and Mustique.

"We are now reinvigorating our presence in St Lucia; we have capacity and capability to bring and I feel passionate about doing good for the region.

“We are seeking to widen the market appeal of St Lucia to benefit the local economy and attract new investment and new building as well as help create new jobs in home construction and services as well as the sectors of business and tourism.”

The Hill, a fabulous property for sale with our St Lucia office for a price on application, is situated in Cap Estate, another popular area with UK buyers, in the north of the island. Picture: Brown&Co.

Recent sales include a self-build plot priced at offers in the region of £83,950 in Cas En Bas, near Gros Ilet, a four-bedroom house in Reduit Park for £132,000 and a three-bedroom house for £122,000 in Babonneau.

If you are interested in buying in St Lucia or have a property to sell there, please contact Asnia Ste Marie, Brown&Co St Lucia by emailing Asnia@brown-co.com or calling +1 (758) 716 7133.

Buy a dream home in St Lucia