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Six things to think about before buying a house in France

Moving to France is a dream for many, but if you're buying property there are some things to think about.

Published: 22 July 2020 09:38 CEST
Updated: 22 February 2021 17:36 CET

Six things to think about before buying a house in France

Your dream home may be waiting for you, but don't rush in. Photo: AFP

1. Do you need to buy rather than rent?

For many people the ultimate dream is buying their own place in France. But buying property anywhere can be a risky business, especially in a country where you don't know the system and may not speak the language very well.

So why not rent instead, at least at first?

There's a popular misconception that owning property in France gives you extra rights in terms of residency but in fact that is not true – residency is counted on being a full-time legal resident in France, whether you own or rent your home is immaterial.

Renting gives you time to more thoroughly research your new home and you won't feel the pressure to make a hasty purchase.

Check out places to rent as well as to buy. Photo: AFP

2. Research the area thoroughly

This particularly applies if you are buying in a rural area. Yes, la France profonde is beautiful, but it can also be lonely, isolated and with poor services – especially in the winter.

If you have only ever visited an area in summer you should definitely check it out in the winter to see if you still like it without those evenings sipping rosé on a sun-drenched terrace. Shops, bars and restaurants in tourist areas often close up for the winter so you need to see what will be open during the colder months.

Also think about the boring but practical questions – are there medical services nearby if your health starts to fail? What are the public transport options if you can no longer drive? And will there be people nearby you to help out in an emergency?

If you intend to work from your new home check that your mobile gets a signal and ask locals about the internet connections, which are notoriously poor in some parts of rural France.

3. Research the housing market thoroughly

This applies to buying everywhere of course, but you do need to check that your new home is not a crumbling death trap that will cost you thousands to make habitable.

Surveys are not as common in France as when you buy in the UK, so if you're not an expert, ask a builder or surveyor to look it over for you.

This particularly applies if you want to buy an old place as a renovation project.

If you are not an expert get some advice beforehand on how long the restoration will take and how much it is likely to cost – it's not as easy as Dick Strawbridge makes it look on Escape to the Château.

If your dream place needs a major renovation then think about where you are going to sleep, cook and wash/go to the toilet while you are making your new place habitable.

If you're taking on a renovation project, get a clear idea of the costs in advance. Photo: AFP

4. Be aware of the hidden costs

As mentioned, the cost of renovations can easily end up spiralling, but even if your place is ready to move into straight away there are extra costs to be aware of.

On top of the cost of the house there is also the notaire fee – which can be in the tens of thousands of euro.

This fee is the cause of much confusion for foreign buyers – although it's known as the notaire fee, the notaires themselves only keep a small percentage of it. The rest goes to the French state as a registration fee, so it's really more equivalent to stamp duty or property taxes.

The fee depends on the cost of your house, where you buy and whether it is old or new – find the fee calculator here.

You also need to factor in annual property taxes – taxe foncière is the property owners' tax and taxe d'habitation is the householders' tax. If you own your own home you pay both – although taxe d'habitation is in the process of being phased out.

There will also be a fee payable to the commune for rubbish collection and a TV licence fee, as well as the usual utility bills.

5. Don't trust people just because they're your compatriots

While it's tempting to go with the friendly Brit or American who speaks your language, you need to check out everyone that you are planning on working with or giving money to.

Sad but true, every year newbies to France get conned by plausible sounding British agents, builders or accountants.

If you need the services of a builder, plumber or electrician do as you would elsewhere and get at least three different devis (formal price quotes) as well as asking for the person's SIRET number.

This is a business registration number that allows you to check that the person is registered for the trade they are quoting for and allows you to take legal action against them if it becomes necessary.

As well as checking they have a SIRET number, you need to check what they are registered as – so for example if you want them to install electrics you need to check they are registered as an electrician, not as a builder or a plumber.

You may need to take a long look at your finances first. Photo: AFP

6. Do you have enough money to stay here?

Forgive us for asking such a personal question, but it's something that French authorities will be asking you when you come to make your visa/residency application.

Visas, particularly for those intending to retire to France, have some quite stringent financial requirements and you will need to prove that you have sufficient income (for example a pension) or savings in order to stay in France for the long term.

So while it's tempting to retire early or scale back your work so you can make the move now, you do need a long hard look at your finances first.

Member comments

Anonymous - 22 July 2020 at 10:24 CEST

The question of pre purchase surveys here as mentioned is often, sadly, overlooked with sometimes dire consequences. It is all well and good suggesting the local electrician, builder, surveyor, plumber etc to give the property a “look over”, but this is, as stated, invariably, cursory and often not backed up by professional insurance guarantee and hedged in “t & c’s”. There are some professional French registered British qualified and insured quantity surveyors operating in France who carry our full comprehensive British style surveys and I would recommend using them even if their service might be pricey.
Anonymous - 22 July 2020 at 11:17 CEST

When choosing a location it is also a good idea to check out the commune in which you will be living. Some are much more welcoming and active than others. Attending local functions including the mayor’s annual address is a good way of assessing the area.
Anonymous - 27 July 2020 at 21:36 CEST

Excellent advice here. As well as being cautious about using British builders etc. be very careful if you are buying from Brits. They know what you don’t know as do British Estate agents. Sadly, they are not all to be trusted.

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9 things Brits need to know about moving to France since Brexit

Brits who want to move to France now face a radically different process from those who took advantage of EU freedom of movement to make the move before Brexit.

It’s a more complicated process – but it’s still possible and 8,700 UK nationals moved to France in 2023.

Here are some of the big things you need to know before making the move.

1 Visa

The biggest post-Brexit change is that Brits moving to France now require a visa (unless they have dual nationality with an EU country).

The visa must be applied for first, and only when it is granted can you make the move – you cannot come to France and then apply for residency (unless you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, more on that below).

There are various different types of visas depending on what you intend to do in France – work, study, retire etc – and many of them contain conditions eg people on a ‘visitor’ visa are not permitted to work in France.

It makes things less flexible as it’s harder to change your plans once you have arrived. It also means that it’s harder to have a ‘half and half’ lifestyle – eg retire from your day job and move to France to run a gîte or B&B.

Explained: What type of French visa do you need

The best visa type is undoubtedly the ‘Talent Passport’, so it’s worth checking whether you fit any of the criteria for this visa type.

2 Residency card

Once you have your visa and have moved to France this is very far from being the end of the process.

You will need to apply for a residency card after a certain period (usually three months but different visa types have different rules) and according to your personal situation you may also be required to attend a compulsory medical, language classes and ‘integration’ classes through the French office of immigration and integration (OFII) – more on that here.

3 Health cover

When it comes to health there is some good news – Brits have retained many of their pre-Brexit rights to healthcare.

While you may need to provide proof of private health cover for your visa (depending on the visa type) once you have been resident in France for three months you are entitled to register in the French health system, which covers most of your medical costs.

Full details on how to register HERE.

Brits who are retired and have reached UK pension age also retain their right to an S1 – the status which entitles you to register in the French health system, while the UK continues to pay your medical costs.

4 Remote working

The rise in remote working means that the dream of moving abroad seems much closer for working-age people – since you will be able to work remotely in your native language, maybe even keep your existing job and simply relocate.

While this is possible, you need to do careful research in advance to ensure that work is compliant with your visa and tax situation. Unlike some countries, France does not have a ‘digital nomad visa’ or other visa types aimed at remote workers, in fact the visa rules were written before remote working became widespread, which is why there are some grey areas.

Most lawyers advise getting a working visa (salarié if you are working remotely for a French company as an employee, or auto-entrepreneur for freelancers) and paying social contributions in France. Find full details on visa and tax implications.

You also need to be aware that being a remote working can have an effect on your long-term plans in France – for example if after five years of residence you intend to apply for French citizenship you will need to prove that the ‘centre of your economic activity’ in in France. If all your work is done remotely for foreign companies then this could be a reason to have citizenship refused.

5 Working restrictions

If you want to work in France (remotely or not) you first need to check if there are any restrictions on your profession – certain types of work are ‘regulated professions’ in France, which means you will need specific French qualifications and/or registration within a French guild or professional organisation. The number of professions that are ‘regulated’ is surprisingly wide – taking in everything from chimney sweeping to hairdressing.

The next step is whether your qualifications will be recognised in France – EU countries generally recognise most of each other’s qualifications apart from in certain specific areas like medicine, but this is no longer the case for qualifications gained in the UK – more details here.

There are also certain jobs that are restricted to French citizens only, while others – including working in the public sector in positions including being a librarian – are limited to EU citizens only.

In visa terms, the simplest way for working-age people to come to France is as a salarié (employee) but to do this you will need a job already in place and your new employers will have to act as sponsors for your visa and may also be required to get a work permit for you. All of which means that Brits are less attractive as employees than EU citizens, which makes getting a job harder.

The other option is to be self-employed as either a freelancer, contractor or running a small business – this is a more complicated visa to get, requiring a detailed business plan. Once in France you need to register yourself as a small business/self-employed and register with Urssaf.

6 Tax

If you are living in France, then you will need to do the annual income tax declaration – even if all your income comes from abroad and you are retired/not working in France.

Full details on that HERE.

This was in fact the case before Brexit as well but previously there was a little more flexibility for people who split their time between France and the UK. These days if you want to be here for the majority of the year then you will need a visa/residency card, which removes much of the ambiguity about who is a ‘resident’.

The main post-Brexit difference is the rate at which prélèvements sociaux (social charges, similar to National Insurance) are charged on overseas income (eg earnings from work in the UK or income from renting out a UK property).

The rate is 7.5 percent for income from an EU country and 17.2 percent for income from a non-EU country – after Brexit, UK income switched to the non-EU rate.

7 Driving licence

Foreigners who make France their home will sooner or later need to swap their driving licence for a French one. This too was the case even before Brexit, but many UK or NI licence holders never got round to making the switch, and there wasn’t a lot of enforcement of the rule.

This has now been tightened up and UK/NI licence holders will need to swap their licences for a French one – the exact details of when you make the swap are slightly different for Brits than from other non-EU nationals due to a specific UK-France deal. Find full details HERE.

If you want to bring a car with you from the UK to France, you will also need to re-register it as French – full details HERE.

8 Banks

Most people moving to France will want to set up a French bank account for daily life, but you may also need a UK account, especially if you are a pensioner as some pensions will only pay into a UK account.

However since Brexit some of the biggest UK high street banks have been closing the accounts of their customers who do not live in the UK.

Alternatives include specific ‘expat’ accounts or internet banks – more details HERE.

9 The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement

It’s worth mentioning the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement even though most of it will not apply to newcomers. In brief, the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement covered people who moved to France prior to December 31st 2020, and intended to give them an easy way to remain in France and retain at least some of their pre-Brexit rights.

In general it does not apply to newcomers unless you are a close family member of someone who is covered by the Withdrawal Agreement – either a spouse or civil partner (in which case you must have married/ registered your partnership prior to December 31st 2020) or child. These people have a different path to residency, and can arrive in France and then request residency via the local préfecture of the family member who is already living here.

It’s also worth mentioning because of how different it is to the situation for new arrivals. It’s normal to ask Brits already living in France how they found the whole process – but if someone starts to tell you that getting residency is easy, the first question that you need to ask is when they moved here.

Those here prior to 2021 did indeed get an easy process – they had a special website to apply online for (free) residency cards and received straight away either a 5-year or 10-year card. This is a totally difference process to the one for Brits moving to France now.

If you’re asking around you would be better talking to Americans, Canadians or other non-EU nationals since their process is much more similar to that now in place for Brits.

. . . And new deals/visas/residency permits for Brits

Every now and again UK media will report which great excitement the possibility of a ‘new deal’ for Brits that will make moving to France, or buying a second home here, easier.

These reports should all be taken with a pinch of salt – there are currently no negotiations underway that would affect the process of Brits moving to France, and even if something is proposed in the near future it will likely take years to come into effect because these types of international agreements usually happen slowly.

A proposal for a ‘youth mobility scheme’ from the EU was rejected out of hand by British politicians before it had even been formally offered.

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