Financial advisers say they have been busy as more people bring forward plans to emigrate.
British pensioners are pushing forward moves to Europe to beat Brexit, financial advisers say.
Companies who help with moves to the continent say many Britons are rushing to set up home in Spain, Portugal and France before resettling potentially becomes more difficult.
One company said the number of monthly inquiries to their website had doubled in a year, with actual business up by 25 per cent.
The Government have insisted free movement will end with Brexit , meaning there will be no automatic right for Britons to relocate to sunnier climes.
About 900,000 Britons already live in EU nations, while about 3.2million Europeans are based in the UK .
Roger Boaden, founder member of Expat Citizen Rights in EU, who have almost 10,00 members, said he had seen “a number of additional Brits on the scene buying property in France”.
Chris Burke, a partner at the Spectrum group of independent financial advisers, whose clients are largely British expats in Spain, said one client had even taken early retirement to beat the deadline.
He added: “People looking to retire to Spain are bringing it forward and moving now.”
Migration expert John Springford, of the Centre for European Reform, warned the “golden age of British retirees heading to the Costas is probably over”.
He said: “There is no way Spain would allow lots of Brits to retire there and use their health system unless young Spanish people could come and work in the UK.
“If we don’t have free movement, it is very unlikely we would have retirement rights.”
Jason Porter, of Blevins Franks, who give financial and tax advice to expats, believes a deal will be struck so Britons can continue seeking a retirement on the Costas.
But he admitted there had been a surge in interest.
“The feeling we are getting from our clients is that it is better to be in the country before Brexit than looking to do this after,” he said.
“The main concerns that people thinking about retiring to Europe have are around three issues: residence, healthcare and the UK state pension triple lock,”
An estimated 300,000 UK citizens were living in Spain in 2016, with 40% (121,000) aged over 65.
Other top destinations for British expats in the EU are Ireland with 249,000 and France with 171,000.
SOURCE: Daily Record
