Seeking sound legal advice is essential for consumers looking to buy property abroad, one financial services provider has advised.

According to HSBC spokesperson Karen Garner, "when you're buying abroad, the legal side of it is completely different to over here and you need to ensure you have good advice behind you to help you through it".

She added that people considering an overseas purchase have the option of releasing equity on a UK property to buy the residence in cash.

An alternative option is to take out a foreign currency mortgage, she added.

"If you have a foreign currency mortgage, you do have that conversion element of turning sterling into currency," Ms Garner explained.

"Paying in cash is more simplistic, but you've got to rely on having enough equity or surplus cash over here to do that," she added.

The spokesperson went on to suggest releasing equity in the UK "but using as big a deposit as possible", remembering that loan-to-value ratios on overseas property would be smaller than in Britain.

The BuyAssociation recently commented that retiring abroad is an increasingly common option for elderly people.