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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

PROPERTY

Paris 18th: Budget prices with a bohemian vibe

Last week there was good news for those trying to get on Paris's housing ladder with reports that property prices are on the way down. For the first installment of our Neighbourhood Watch series, we explore Paris’s atmospheric 18th Arrondissement.

Published: 7 March 2013 12:00 CET
Paris 18th: Budget prices with a bohemian vibe
A view of the 18th arrondissement with the iconic Sacre Coeur towering above. Photo: Bill Hails

What's the vibe in the 18th? 

If your impression of the 18th is based entirely on the blockbusters ‘Amélie’ set in touristy Montmartre and ‘Moulin Rouge’ in the red light district Pigalle, then think again!

What tourists often don’t know is that the dix-huitième, as it’s called in French, is in fact one of the largest, most culturally diverse – and yet most quintessentially Parisian – of neighbourhoods. In 2005, 37 percent of children under the age of 18 in the area were of North African, Sub-Saharan and Turkish descent. 

Attracted by the reasonable apartment prices and convenient transport links, an influx of youthful artistic residents gives it a bohemian vibe.

What's there to do?

A lot! If you've been to Paris you've probably already heard of the Sacré Coeur and the Moulin Rouge. But that's not all the district has to offer. If you're an Amélie fan why not take a walk around the area of Abbesses metro where it was filmed, or climb up to the very top of the hill for fantastic views of the whole of Paris. If you're interested in local history you can pop into the Musée de Montmartre. Most things tend to be closed on Sundays but you can spend all day rifling for bargains at the famous flea market, held every Sunday in St Ouen.

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So, just how cheap is cheap in the 18th?

Well, obviously it depends on the size of the apartment you're looking for and the location. In France, housing is measured in square metres. According to statistics published in February this year, the average price per square metre in the 18th is €7,773. The lowest is €5,553 and the highest is €10,308.

Looking for a house in France? Check out The Local's property and rental sections.

What about if I want to rent?

It varies considerably but on average, the monthly rent per square metre is €26.45. The lowest rent per square metre is currently €16.17 and the highest €38.48.

How much space will I have?

Put it this way: you'd be lucky to find a decent-sized cupboard for rent in Paris. In other words, small. Almost half of all properties are less than 40 square metres, 46 percent are between 49 and 90 square metres and only three percent of properties are larger. It's extremely rare – even for families – to have more than three bedrooms in Paris. According to statistics, 24 percent of properties in the area have just one bedroom, 38 percent have two, 23 percent have three and just 11 percent have more. 

What are the buildings like?

With 69 percent of housing built before 1949, you're almost guaranteed beautiful architecture and high ceilings. Around 15 percent were built between 1949 and 1974 and eight percent between 1975 and 1989. Five percent of properties were built in the last 20 or so years.

What are the people like?

As mentioned above, the area has a young, bohemian vibe. With a population of 191,524, it's among one of the most populated parts of the city. Bearing in mind that many Parisians live alone, the average income per household in the 18th is currently €24,229 per year.

Anyone famous?

Yes, but chances are you've never heard of them or they died years ago. The 18th is currently home to Academy Award-winning filmmaker Claude Lelouch (you can find his cinema on Avenue Junot near the metro Lamarck-Caulaincourt), actor Alain Chabat and comedian Jean-François Balmer.

Poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert and singer-actress Dalida (whose grave can be found in Montmartre cemetery) also used to live here.

Check out our gallery to view some properties and attractions in the area.

Are there any hospitals in the area?

There are two: the Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard is located at 46 Rue Henri Huchard and the Hôpital Bretonneau at 23 Rue Joseph de Maistre.

I have children; what are the schools like?

You can find a list of primary schools here and the latest league tables for high schools here. 

What about transport?

The area has excellent transport links and is served by lines 4, 12 and 13 on the Metro, as well as numerous bus lines. The RER stops at St Ouen.

Get the latest exchange rates and transfer money on The Local's Currency page.

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PROPERTY

French property: What is buying ‘en tontine’?

If you're buying property in France, you might be thinking about buying 'en tontine' - this has advantages especially when it comes to France's strict inheritance laws, but can also have tax implications.

Published: 25 March 2024 11:17 CET
French property: What is buying 'en tontine'?

What is it?

The ‘clause de tontine’ sometimes also known as a ‘clause d’accroissement’ is a clause that is inserted into the property deeds when you are buying a house or apartment.

It can only be inserted during the purchase, and cannot be added later.

It’s basically a ‘group purchase’. It’s most commonly used by unmarried couples who are buying together but it can be used by larger groups too – for example a group of friends buying a holiday home together.

You will have to ask a notaire to draw up the tontine clause during the property purchase and it can only be used if 

  • the parties are equally involved in the financing of the purchase
  • the parties involved have a roughly equal life expectancy (for this reason tontine clauses may be rejected if there is a significant difference in age between the purchasers)

What’s the point of it?

The main reason that people use it is to sidestep France’s strict inheritance laws, which assign that a certain portion of every estate must go to children, at the expense of a partner. 

READ ALSO How France’s strict inheritance laws work

For this reason it is particularly used by couples who have children from previous relationships.

On a property with a tontine clause in effect, when one owner dies their share of the property passes in its entirely to the other member/members of the tontine.

This cuts out children from inheritance, but means that a surviving partner is not evicted from their home in favour of the children of the deceased. 

It also has the advantage of making the intentions of the deceased clear, to avoid arguments among heirs after their death.

It should be noted, however, that the tontine clause only takes in the property that it covers – other assets may be subject to French inheritance law so it’s therefore probably wise to arrange a will, to ensure your wishes for your estate are met.

The surviving party can ask a notaire to update the property deeds to show that they are the sole owner, if they want. Be aware there will be a fee, which could reach four figures for the privilege – and it doesn’t actually involve any change to the property title.

Drawbacks

The advantages of the system are clear, especially for blended families, but there are some potential drawbacks too, which mean that anyone considering buying in this way would be well advised to take proper legal advice before they start.

Inheritance tax – while a tontine will help you to avoid restrictions on inheritance, it does not exempt you from inheritance tax. French inheritance tax is structured according to your relationship to the deceased, and people who are neither married nor related to the deceased pay an eye-watering inheritance tax rate of 60 percent.

The only exception to this top rate of inheritance tax is if the property is your main residence and it is valued at under €76,000 – in that case, tax is paid at a rate of 5.8 percent.

Married couples and family members pay a much lower rate or not tax, but if you’re not married to your tontine co-purchaser, be careful that you’re not lining yourself up for a massive tax bill in future years.

Wealth tax – depending on the value of the property, it could tip you over into the ‘wealth tax’ category when you inherit. France’s wealth tax is a real estate based tax and is levied on anyone who has real estate assets (property and land) worth €1.3 million or more.

The calculation includes property held en tontine.

Tax savings – you might hear tontines being advised as a way to limit your French tax liability.

While this used to be true, changes to tax laws means there are no no significant tax advantages to buying this way – the same is true for buying a property via an SCI, which used to represent a tax saving until the law was tightened up.

Disinheriting family members – One side effect of the tontine clause on mixed families is to effectively disinherit any children of the first person to die.

Because the property passed to the survivor, under French law, only their direct descendants – rather than any family by marriage – are entitled to automatic inheritance.

That means that the children of the surviving partner will be entitled to the statutory share of the entire asset (between 25 and 30 percent depending on the number of children), but the children of the first person to die will be entitled to nothing. Obviously you can choose to leave them something in your will, but you can only leave them some or all of the estate which is not automatically given to the children on the survivor.

Divorce/dispute – if the members of the tontine split up or (in the case of friends) fall out, then they can either sell the whole property or agree to buy each other out.

However, if one party refuses to sell, then you have very limited legal options – unlike a standard property purchase a tontine is not regarded as joint ownership, so one partner cannot be forced to sell as part of a divorce procedings, for example.

Basically the tontine can only be ended or changed with the agreement of all parties – so if you can’t agree between yourselves then you may be stuck with it.

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