Headlines have been made this week by the transfer of Eurostar services from Waterloo to St.Pancras, but property specialists have claimed that the quicker journey time will not boost French housing demand at the expense of other locations.

Real estate portal Property-abroad.com said that a location like Spain had its own established housing demand and did not need to worry about the increased access to France.

Spain and France were recently identified by Country Life Magazine as the top two locations for British second homes, but Property-abroad.com said that the two were not in direct competition.

Les Calvert, site director, said: "People who want to buy in France don’t necessarily want to buy in Spain and vice versa."

He affirmed that Spain "still accounts for more than double of any other country that we sell. The searches and enquiries about Spain are also more than double that of any other country we sell".

While some have forecast gains for France at the expense of other UK buyer markets, others have even hailed the Eurostar improvements as a boost for Spain and other locations, with the UK-Spain rail option via Paris now more viable.