All-round package: extra flights to the Austrian Alps and new ski-in ski-out homes from £270k tempt London buyers

New additional flights from London to Innsbruck are proof of our continuing passion for the Austrian Alps. From December BA will increase the frequency of flights from Heathrow to Innsbruck to eight times a week.

“Austria remains the all-round package for buyers,” confirms Thomas Joyce of Pure International (pureintl.com). “It takes pride in offering warm hospitality, their ski resorts are efficiently run, the skiing is superb and overall affordability remains good. Austrians really do take it to a different level.”

The western state of Vorarlberg has plenty of mountain villages that fit the bill for skiers and home owners. Some are long established and world famous — Lech, for example, where European royal families have skied for generations — while others are less starry but rammed with Austrian charm.

Schröcken-Nesslegg am Arlberg: The Skiers’ Choice

Arlberg is the largest connected ski area in Austria, including Lech and Zurs and offering 190 miles of piste.

Schröcken-Nesslegg is a traditional ski village 20 minutes from Lech where Pure International is selling The Heimat, new-build one- to four-bedroom apartments on a plateau with wide mountain views, due for completion in 2020.

These well-designed homes are available in three styles priced from £270,000.

As is usual in the Austrian Alps, owners have eight weeks personal use each year and otherwise must rent out their homes but a few apartments are being sold with no rental obligation at all, a true rarity.

An existing hotel is being refurbished to create a 160-room Hilton Hotel with two restaurants and a large wellness centre with pool and gym.

The Heimat shares the same slopes as Lech yet prices are around half in Nesslegg. The nearest lift is one mile away by regular bus service and skiers can ski directly back to the apartments.

Lech: The International Choice

Ninety minutes from Innsbruck, Lech is an understated but elegant resort with a blue-blooded pedigree. Princess Diana took Wills and Harry on winter holidays there.

“Lech is a premium resort and prices remain among the highest in Austria,” says Pure’s Thomas Joyce. The PURE Lech Resort is an existing hotel that is being gutted and turned into 14 two- to four-bedroom apartments.

Prices start from £1.1 million for 861sq ft, about 60 per cent of the average price point in Lech. These flats are close to the piste in the centre of Lech, an easy walk from shops, lifts and the resort’s bars and restaurants.

Apartments will share a wellness centre with pool and gym and are due for completion in December next year.

Montafon: The Multi-Generational Choice

The second-largest ski area in the Vorarlberg is Montafon, where £88 million has been invested in the ski area in the past 10 years.

Beside a river in the town of Schruns, Pure International is selling Chesa Schirun, 30 off-plan one- to three-bedroom apartments priced from £318,000 to £662,000 for 581sq ft to 1,377sq ft.

Chesa Schirun will operate as a hotel with owners given six weeks use of their homes and 70 per cent of rental income. Furniture packages start from £48,000 and buying costs are 6.2 per cent.

The scenic but central location, convenient for skiers and non-skiers, and the large ski area make this an attractive offer. Year-round Schruns is within two hours of Zurich and Innsbruck.

Completion is planned for March 2020 and 13 homes are sold.