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Ten French manors for the price of a London flat

The average property in London is now topping €700,000 (£500,000) - but can you imagine what you can get in rural France for that kind of money? Take a look at these ten rustic paradises in France and try to pretend you're not tempted.

Published: 27 May 2015 15:48 CEST
Ten French manors for the price of a London flat
An idyllic rustic cottage surrounded by spectacular scenery or a 23 metre studio in Mayfair (right).

The average price of a London flat soared over the £500,000 mark in September last year, and shows no signs of stopping. That figure is the equivalent of a touch over €700,000. Shocking, we know.

But across the Channel in France, things are a little brighter. Considering the double whammy of low interest rates and highly favourable exchange rates to the pound, you'd be forgiven for suggesting that now was the time to actually move to France. 

So what can you get for just under €700,000 in France? With the help of estate agents Leggett Immobilier, we've gathered ten French options seriously worth considering… And yes, there's even a chateau.

1) Libourne, Gironde – southwestern France

This renovated home sits on almost one hectare, boasting four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It's five minutes away from the local village, with the charming provincial town of Libourne just ten minutes away and Bordeaux around 30 minutes down the road. 
 
You'll be greeted by an authentic – and electric – gate at the entrance, followed by the sound of running water and chirping birds. Indeed, you have your own stream that could almost pass as a mote (see picture below).
 
Thrown in are a romantic terrace, a huge 47 square metre kitchen, and beautiful beams by the old stone walls. 
 
 
Price: €652,000
 
Read more about this property here.
 
 
2) Eymet, Dordogne – southwestern France
 
 
This home is less than ten minutes walk from the historic town centre, 30 minutes from the Bergeac airport, and ninety minutes from Bordeaux. It has five bedrooms, feature fireplaces, and original ancient colombages.
 
There's an up to date kitchen, four lovely bathrooms, and exposed stone on the inside. 
 
Let's not forget the impressive outdoor features, including a lounge adjacent to the banquet room linked by huge patio doors, as well as the large and well-kept gardens.Not to mention the swimming pool with terraces, lawns for ball games and lots of shady spots for relaxing with a good book and a glass of rosé.

Price: €667,800 

Read more about this property here.

READ ALSO: Ten things to think about when buying in France

3) Le Bar Sur Loup, Alpes Maritimes – southeastern France

This hideaway stone house offers three double bedrooms, three-metre high ceilings, and solid timber floors laid in a herringbone style.

Outside is a large private garden and a number of level terrace areas for outdoor entertaining when the weather is good (and let's face it, it usually is in these parts). There's even a lovely shady terrace off the kitchen (see picture below).

There are superb views towards the gorge from the garden and views back to the historic village from the house itself. And for those who can't get enough of the outdoors, there is alpine skiing just 34 kilometres away at Greollieres les Neiges.

Price: €650,000 
 
Read more about this property here. 
 
 
4) Near Hautefort, Dordogne – southwestern France
 
 
What has five bedrooms, is covered in French doors, and has its own private island? This property!
 
It's situated by a river that has your own private island on the opposite riverbank. The island is literally yours, it belongs to the property. The garden space is incredible, it even has a 167 square metre barn, a 12 by 6 metre swimming pool, and a spacious covered terrace. 
 
The house itself has oil central heating, loads of bedrooms, and would be ideal as a big family home, a holiday house, or a beautiful touristic project. It's just five minutes from a village with restaurants, a school, shops, and pretty much everything else you'd need. The airport of Brive is 49 minutes away.
 
 
Price: €657,200 
 
Read more about this property here.
 
5) St Genis Pouilly, Ain – eastern France
 

 
This charming stone house dates from 1621 and boasts 218 square metres of living space alone. The home has a mezzanine that's used as a library, three bedrooms, and an open fireplace.
 
Outside you've got 481 metres squared of garden space – including fruit trees and a vegetable garden – so let's hope you've got green thumbs. 
 
The location is great too, just minutes from Geneva, skiing in Crozet, and the large shopping center in Val Thoiry.
 
 
Price: €657,000 
 
Read more about this property here.
 
6) Essay, Orne – northwestern France
 
 
Here you have eight main rooms with all the mod cons, together with a spiral oak staircase tower with meutriers, mullioned windows, a monumental fireplace, and a vaulted basement.
 
The property overlooks an old medieval village  and some amazing walled gardens, measuring 7,725 square metres. 
 
Garden experts can appreciate a blend of gardening themes from around Europe, including the French garden with box hedging and topiary, the Italian garden with a theatre of lawns and patio areas and the classic English garden with mixed borders and climbing roses.

 
 
Price: €695,000
 
Read more about this property here. 
 
7) Deauville, Calvados – northwestern France

 
 
Why not buy your own 16th century manor just five minutes from Deauville?
 
The home includes five rooms, two bathrooms, and massive living space – not to mention the dining area and fitted kitchen. It's close to the beach, countryside, and gold courses, with shopping and restaurant options for those who prefer their free time indoors.
 
And if you're itching to get to the UK, then the Saint-Gatien Airport is just a few kilometres east of the Deauville and, of course, flies direct to London. 

 
 
Price: €551,200
 
Read more about this property here.
 
8) Brélidy, Côtes d'Armor – northwestern France
 
 
Here are two hectares of land featuring a manor packed with original features from the 15th to 17th centuries. It has a proven track record as a gîte that can earn up to £4,000 a week. 
 
The property is situated in a beautiful part of Côte d’Armor within easy reach of the northern coast and the sandy beaches of the south.
 
Inside: wood panelling, tiled floors, nine by nine metre banquet room, granite fireplace, large kitchen, and four bedrooms. And a pool. Yes, an indoor pool that's nine by five metres.
 
Outside: Garden with shrubs, fruit trees, lawn, paddocks and plenty of scope for further landscaping or grazing for animals.
 
 
Price: €689,000
 
Read more about this property here.
 
9) Langoelan, Morbihan – northwestern France
 
 
This is a castle. Yes, a castle. Right in the heart of Brittany, this chateau has a pool, two outhouses, and an enormous garden. Follow the path and you'll get to a local lake big enough to sail in (and fish, and swim…)
 
Inside, there are nine bedrooms, five bathrooms, a billiards room, and two enormous dining rooms. And don't worry – the whole place was redone 10 years ago with new geothermal heating. Upstairs, four of the bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms and two of them have private terraces. 
 
Unless you think you'll be happy living there by yourself, you can always do like previous owners have done and rent it out as a “Gite de France” – the potential is as enormous as the castle.

 
 
Price: €689,000
 
Read more about this property here.
 

10) Queaux, Vienne – western France
 

 
And lastly… this millhouse boasts 17 acres of land and views over the river Vienne. Well, let's not underplay it – this place basically sits on the river Vienne. Imagine sitting on your terrace watching the river trickle past your islands (yes, your islands – they belong to the property), while the kingfishers, herons and falcons all pop by. 
 
And if it's a secluded paradise you're after then you're in luck. There are no visible neighbours across the river either.
 
Inside there's a large kitchen with exposed beams, an open stone fireplace, six bedrooms, and four bathrooms.
 
We'll leave you with what could be your view as you enjoy your morning coffee in a rural French paradise. Enjoy.

 
 
Price: €689,000
 
Read more about this property here.

 

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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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