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Brits still buying in France despite post-Brexit fall in property sales

New data on property sales revealed a post-Brexit fall in the number of Brits buying second homes in France - but estate agents say that UK buyers are still a big force, but now they're more likely to move to France than buy a holiday home here.

Published: 22 April 2024 09:30 CEST
Brits still buying in France despite post-Brexit fall in property sales
British buyers are still a big part of the French property market. Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP

The number of Britons buying second homes in France has been falling over the past few years, according to a report from Notaires de France.

While second homes in France remain popular purchases and a significant number of buyers are foreign, the number of Britons buying property in France has fallen steadily and continuously in recent years, according to the Notaires de France report.

Revealed: Where foreigners are buying second homes in France

The data showed that Brits have fallen to fewer than 20 percent of all foreign non-resident purchasers in 2022.

But real estate agents who specialise in helping Brits find properties in France say that the market remains buoyant – but these days people are more likely to make the move permanently.

Joanna Leggett, marketing director at Leggett Immobilier, told The Local: “Where we used to be 50-50 second homes and main residences, it seems to be more like 75 percent to 25 percent now towards permanent homes.”

Brexit has complicated life for British second-home owners in France, who must now either limit their visits to 90 days in every 180 or go through the time-consuming process of getting a short-stay visitor visa. 

But Chloe Williams, sales director with Beaux Villages Immobilier, said that France was still proving a popular market with Britons. 

READ ALSO French property: How to get a mortgage in France

“Comparing the number of enquiries in the first four months of 2024 with 2023, we haven’t seen any reduction in the number of British buyers wanting to know more about buying a property in France,” she said. “In fact, the number of enquiries via our website is higher than this time last year.

“We are still seeing lots of Brits looking to buy a second home to enjoy for holidays and then move permanently for retirement.”

Joanna Leggett, agreed. “There was a massive peak in 2020 where [website hits] went right up. That was the Covid time. But then it dropped right down in 2021. In 2022 it went right back up again. And in 2023, it’s gone back to what the average was [prior to the pandemic]. We’re expecting it to be the same again [in 2024].”

Leggett said that the biggest shift in the market was that Britons were moving away from second homes in favour of moving to France permanently, thanks in part to the rise in remote working.

And Britons entering the second homes market tended to be younger. “We find that the people buying holiday homes through us aren’t retirees that can spend six months in any one go in France,” she said.

“When we look at the average age of our clients, the biggest bulk of them is between 41 and 60. 

“That age group doesn’t get three-month holidays. They probably get five weeks, whenever they can, unless they can work from anywhere – which a lot of people can do, now.”

READ ALSO Explained: How to convert a French second home into your main residence

And post-Brexit bureaucracy is not as off-putting as it could be. Williams explained: “The change in the visa rules post-Brexit has made some buyers hesitate and we have found it helpful to be able to point people towards professional services who can advise on visas.  

“In our experience, the French government is very helpful and welcoming to people wanting to move to France. We also have an expert adviser to whom we can direct people for full support and assistance.”

Leggett, meanwhile, sees hope in efforts to convince the UK and EU parliaments to move ahead with proposals that would allow British second homeowners to stay for longer periods visa-free.

“We’ve seen a huge drop since 2020 … but it’s levelled out again and [interest in French property] doesn’t seem to be going down. If anything, it’s probably going up.”

Both Leggett and Williams agreed that the south-western Nouvelle Aquitaine region was the popular choice among Britons moving to France. 

“Brittany is always popular, but it does seem to have gone down a little bit. And Nouvelle-Aquitaine is definitely the highest. I’m not sure if that’s the influence of TV programmes in the UK though. A Place in the Sun is on every day at different times, and I’m wondering if it’s because they tend to concentrate on those areas that they’re pushing more people there.

“We’ve done quite a few TV shows and we noticed the increase. Even when the Chateau DIY programme came out, it increased the hits to our website by 800 percent. 

“They didn’t all buy chateaux. The increase on looking at chateaux and then looking at something else. It’s just the power of TV.”

READ ALSO Where in France are locals protesting about second-home owners?

Williams, too, said that her experience was that Britons were particularly interested in properties in the warm southwest of the country – tallying with the Notaires’ report which revealed that Britons accounted for 45 percent of all non-French non-resident purchases in Nouvelle Aquitaine region.

“The Dordogne continues to be a very sought after area,” she said, “only a day’s drive from the northern ports and tunnel, it is perfect for a second home in France.   However many people are attracted to value-for-money property in the Haute Vienne and Charente.”

Leggett added: “I would have thought that the Cote d’Azur would have been higher, you know? But it’s too expensive, and Brits don’t have the highest funds. The Americans are actually the highest spend. Their average spend is nearer €600,000, whereas the Brits are coming in at just over €200,000 on average.”

Notaires de France said American buyers tended to focus their French property search on Paris, she said. But they also loved chateaux. “They just love the history which they don’t have in the States,” she said.

READ ALSO 7 tips for finding an apartment in Paris

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

Now that the dust has settled from the somewhat chaotic post-Brexit period, the system for swapping a UK driving licence for a French one seems to be running fairly smoothly. There are, however, some things that UK licence holders need to know.

Published: 3 May 2024 17:20 CEST
5 things Brits in France need to know about swapping driving licences

This article is aimed at holders of a UK or Northern Ireland driving licence who are living in France – tourists, visitors and second-home owners can continue to drive in France on a UK licence and do not need an international driving permit.

British students who are studying in France on a student visa can continue to drive on their UK licence during their studies – if however they settle in France afterwards, they need to follow the below process for swapping their licence. 

1 You’re special

Well, maybe special is over-stating it, but the system for holders of UK and NI licence holders is different to that of other non-EU nationals, and also different to the system for EU licence holders.

The reason for this is that a pragmatic post-Brexit agreement was (finally) reached between France and the UK, in order to avoid the chaos that was triggered when thousands of Brits in France all tried to swap their driving licences at once.

Unlike almost all other post-Brexit agreements, this one applies both to people who moved to France before the end of Brexit transition period in 2021 and those who have moved here since. 

The below terms apply to everyone who has a UK or NI licence, regardless of their nationality or when they moved to France. 

2 But you still have to swap

It was technically always the case that Brits who were living in France should have swapped their licence for a French one, just as other EU licence holders do now, but in reality many people lived here for years or decades without ever exchanging their licence and there was little or no enforcement of the rule.

That has now changed and you must swap according to the following timetable;

If your UK licence was issued after January 1st, 2021 – you must swap within one year of moving to France.

If your UK licence was issued before January 1st 2021 – you only swap when you meet one of the following conditions;

  • The licence itself or the photocard is within six months of its expiry date. For more people the photocard expiry will come around first, but UK licences also require renewal when the holder reaches the age of 70
  • Your licence has been lost or stolen
  • You have been ordered to exchange your licence by a gendarme after committing a driving offence

For people who are exchanging because the licence is about to expire, it is important that you don’t start the process until your licence is within six months of the expiry date – early applications will simply be rejected.

3 It might not be as much of a nightmare as you think 

Unlike the old days when licence swaps were done by préfectures, the whole process has now moved online and is run through a single, central system.

The online portal for requesting a swap is known as ANTS and you can find it HERE.

If you haven’t used it before you will need to create an online account, or if you already have online accounts for French government services such as Ameli or tax declarations you can login by clicking on the France Connect button.

Once logged in, select Je demande l’échange ou l’enregistrement de mon permis de conduire étranger (I request the exchange or registration of a foreign driving licence) and fill in the details requested on the form such as name, address etc.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the fact the form itself is relatively straightforward (as French admin forms go), asking basic questions such as your personal details and the details of your driving licence.

You will have to upload supporting documents, but these are likely to be things that you already have to hand including

  • Proof of ID (passport or carte de séjour)
  • Proof of address (a recent utility bill or attestation from your utility provider)
  • If your driver’s licence is in a different name to your passport, you will need to supply your full birth certificate

You will also need to supply a photo – you can either use the internet-enabled Photomaton booths – find your nearest here – to create a digital photo with the required security code, or you can use the normal photo booths to print out a physical photo and send it by post after you have made your application. 

Once completed, you can use the ANTS site to track the progress of your application and upload any other documents that are requested.

4 But don’t leave it too late 

If you’re applying because your licence is about to expire then you cannot apply until you are within six months of the expiry date.

But it’s a good idea not to leave it until the last minute as the whole process does take time – things have improved massively since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 when people were waiting for years and their licences expired while they waited.

But it still takes time – the current average for a straightforward application with no extra documents required seems to be between four and five months, although processing times can vary, especially over holiday periods.

It’s therefore a good idea to make the application fairly soon after you enter that magic six-month window.

Once you make the application you should get an automated response acknowledging receipt – this is usually sent by SMS and/or email, it’s a good idea to check your spam folder if you don’t get the email.

Don’t panic if you don’t then hear anything for the next few weeks or even months, this appears to be normal. If your application is complete and there are no outstanding queries or other documents required, the next step will be a request to send in your old UK licence.

You send this by post (recorded delivery with a signature is strongly recommended) and at the same time you can download an Attestation de Depot de Permis de Conduire (certificate of deposit of driving licence) – you can use this to prove your continued entitled to drive in the period between sending in your old licence and receiving your new one.

Your French licence is then sent by registered post, and the window between posting the old licence and receiving the new one is usually not more than a month, you 

5 Help is out there 

If your application runs into problems or you have an untypical situation or find the ANTS website hard to use, don’t panic – help is available.

The Facebook group Driving in France – French Licence Applications is a good place to start with comprehensive guides and knowledgeable admins who are quick to respond to questions.

You can also chat to others in your situation and get updates on how long processing times seem to be.

If you have problems using the online system, your local France Services office may be able to help.

You can also head to The Local’s reader questions section, or email us at [email protected] if you have questions.

Digital licences

You might have heard about France’s new digital driving licence – unfortunately this is only available to people who have French citizenship (including dual nationals).

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