Europe’s advantage in the age of mobile wealth

This month, we examine Knight Frank’s new European Lifestyle Report to reveal how shifting patterns of wealth, relocation, and urban demand are reshaping opportunities for owners, buyers, developers, and investors alike.

Wealth on the move

Global wealth is shifting at scale. More than 100,000 HNWIs will relocate cross-border this year, a record driven by geopolitics, tax recalibrations, and the permanence of remote work. Europe has emerged as a chief beneficiary.

Key policy shifts are accelerating wealth movements:

•    The UK’s abolition of non-dom status in April 2025.
•    EU pressure reshaping the Golden Visa landscape.
•    Washington’s refusal to join OECD tax coordination, prompting policy diversification. 
•    Rising public deficits across advanced economies pushing taxes higher.

Macro conditions reinforce Europe’s draw: eight consecutive ECB rate cuts, inflation cooling, and European equities outperforming the S&P 500 by nearly 20% in Q1 2025. Europe now offers not only lifestyle and stable governance, but relative value.

Cities take centre stage

Cities are staging a comeback. The report’s 2025 Relocation Survey shows cities have overtaken coastal, rural and alpine retreats as relocation destinations. Anonymity, connectivity, and cultural depth now outweigh space and seclusion.

Top choices: Lisbon, London, and Madrid. London benefits from a currency advantage and recent price falls; Lisbon from lifestyle and tax treatment; Madrid from its schools and foreign-income incentives. The next wave? Secondary cities such as Bordeaux, Porto, Florence, and Lausanne.

Survey highlights:

•    50% of the HNWIs surveyed would target a city base when relocating.
•    Top relocation drivers: healthcare, international schools, and transport links.
•    Generational split: London for Millennials/Gen Z; Lisbon for Gen X/Boomers.

The four-year horizon

A new pattern is reshaping European residential: the four-year relocation. Nearly half of mobile HNWIs plan temporary stays capped at four years. This is less lifestyle than tax engineering: in many jurisdictions, four years or fewer limits liability to locally sourced income and maximises access to expat-friendly regimes.

The “try-before-you-buy” mentality is rising. In Monaco, 80% of newcomers rent for one to three years before purchasing. Rental demand is strengthening across the continent, particularly in cities with good schools and medical infrastructure.

Key drivers:

•    Tax optimisation across borders.
•    School continuity for children.
•    Flexibility amid geopolitical flux.
•    Testing lifestyle fit before permanent moves.

In other news...

Spain orders the removal of 53,000+ ‘illegal’ holiday rentals from platforms (Spanish Property Insight), analysts expect no more cuts from the ECB this cycle (Bloomberg) and French Budget crisis sees calls for 2% tax on fortunes of €100 million (Bloomberg).

Read the new European Lifestyle report here