The number of European and in particular UK people moving to the tax haven of Monaco has increased dramatically in recent years, with some estate agents in the Principality claiming that four in ten of their buyers are now from the UK, compared to just one in ten a few years ago.

And if recent surveys are an accuate indication of the future, then Monaco estate agents might be seeing an even higher percentage of Brits buying with them in the near future.

A survey by the Centre For Economics and Business Research suggests that the number of British millionaires will rise dramatically from 376,000 to 1,700,000 - an increase of over four hundred per cent.

Commenting on the findings a local travel guide says that the number of British people in Monaco has increased noticeably, but that property price inflation will temper any increase in new residents.

'While we do expect to see an even higher proportion of British residents in Monaco, the fact that there is going to be four times the number of millionaires doesn't mean to say there will be four times the number of people looking to buy in Monaco.

At the moment the cheapest one bedroom apartments are around 850,000 Euros. After taking closing costs into account it's close to a million Euros. Given the demand for property in Monaco in five years that figure could rise to between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 Euros for a one bedroom apartment'.

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A real estate company specialising in Monaco property agree.

'Given the cost of property in Monaco, simply being a millionaire won't cut it for Monaco for much longer. Today's millionaire won't see much change out of his or her million at the moment, and how many will want to live in a one bedroom apartment. To have a half decent two or three bedroom apartment in Monaco you need to be a multi-millionaire rather than just a millionaire'.

Monaco has long been known as Europe's number one tax haven, and for the Monaco Grand Prix, held each May around the streets of Monte Carlo.

Property prices in Monaco are already high due to the lack of land - in the past one of the districts, Fontvieille, had much of its area reclaimed from the sea, but property prices there equal those of the better known Monte Carlo.

One of the best known buildings in Fontvieille, Seaside Plaza, has average prices of three to four million Euros for a three bedroom apartment, and a four bedroom four bathroom one is currently on the market at close to ten million Euros.

In recent years the British economy has consistently been one of the strongest in Europe, and with a top rate of income tax cut a decade ago to forty per cent the wealthy have become wealthier - and want to stay that way.

'Despite the top rate of tax coming down to forty per cent', comment the travel guide, 'By the time other direct taxes such as National Insurance are taken into account around half of top earners salaries are - as many of the Monaco property buyers from Britain see it - being lost to the Inland Revenue. By moving to Monaco they effectively double their disposable income.

When you go to hotels in Monaco and see a couple with estate agent details on the table and a map of Monte Carlo with various places highlighted, there's an almost even chance that they will be British. A lot more than just a couple of years ago. They like Monaco, the security, the tax advantages and the closeness to London'.

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