Archive

21st December 2021

The rights of homeowners to compensation for subsidence and flooding claims have been substantially strengthened.

All multi-risk house insurance policies in France make provision for damage caused to your property through a natural disaster (catastrophe naturelle), such as a drought, forest fire, avalanche, severe storm, earthquake, or flooding.

17th December 2021

Death and taxes may well be unavoidable, but when they come together it is not surprising that if we cannot cheat death, most of us want to at least be able to cheat the taxman.

Being potentially liable for French inheritance tax is arguably a nice problem to have, for if your successors have a liability it probably means that you have left them to enjoy a reasonably comfortable future.

Tuesday 14th December 2021

With the spread of the Omicron variant travel restrictions have been toughened, as have restrictions within France.

UPDATE 4th Feb 2022:

Friday 12th December 2021

The recent increase in house prices in France has been driven by uncertainty about the future.

Over the past two years house prices in France have risen substantially, by a national average of 6.5% in 2020 and by 6.8% (7.1% in the provinces) in the year to June 2021, according to the French notaires.

Tuesday 7th December 2021

The Dordogne may once have been the destination of choice for most British buyers, but in recent years it has been dethroned by other departments.

Such was the influx of British nationals snapping up property in the Dordogne from the 1960s the department acquired the epithet ‘Dordogneshire’.

Thirty-seven departments in France have re-introduced a 90km/h speed limit on some of their roads.

Since 1st July 2018, a maximum speed limit of 80km/h has been in place on all French highways that have no central barrier, and where road signs indicate no other speed limit applies. The limit on autoroutes remains the same (130km/h) - at least, for the time being.

Improving road safety has been a key priority of most French governments since the early 1970s, when there were around 17,000 deaths each year, one of the worst records in Europe.

As a result of the introduction of safety belts in 1973 and other later safety measures, the number of road deaths is now down to around 3,500 each year (3,289 in 2019), a figure that has remained relatively stable since 2013.

Most business owners and landlords of furnished accommodation in France are liable for local business rates, which are payable this month, although there are exemptions in place.

The system of small business rates in France is called the Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises (CFE).

The tax is payable by all those who pursue a remunerative activity on an habitual basis, whether or not it is a professional activity.

In translation, that means business owners and landlords of furnished accommodation pay it, unless specifically exempt. The letting of unfurnished accommodation is not considered to be a professional activity, so is exempt.

What are the regulations and costs for chimney cleaning in France?

The French term for chimney cleaning is 'ramonage'.

Insurance companies and other vested interests are fond of stating that the law requires a chimney must be cleaned at least twice a year, but this is not a national legal requirement, only a recommendation.

Under Article L2213-26 of the Code général des collectivités territoriales it is the local council who determine the cleaning frequency, which must not be less than once a year, with the clause stating:

A new study identifies those communes where the percentage number of long-term empty homes is highest, in some cases over 20% of the housing stock.

We have previously reported in these pages on the high number of vacant homes in France, around 2.8 million, equivalent to 8% of the housing stock.

The vacancy rate has risen steadily since the late 1990s (6.9% in 1999 and 7.2% in 2010) ending a continuous decline during the 1980s and 1990s (7.6% in 1982 and 7.2% in 1990).

In their latest study of the housing stock, INSEE, the French national statistical office, report a further increase in the number of vacant homes in mainland France to 2.96 million, or 8.2% of the housing stock. The figures are derived from a 2018 population census, supplemented by subsequent local census studies and local property rates information.

Now that the UK has left the EU, what are the customs rules for moving your possessions to a property in France?

As the UK is no longer a member of the European Union, some goods now need to be declared to French customs and customs duties and VAT paid on some items.

The rules differ, depending on whether you are moving goods to your main home to France or you are moving items to a second home in France.

These are also early days with the adoption of customs practices from the UK to France, and the evidence to date indicates that even customs officials are having to learn the ropes.

There are a range of of after-care services available on discharge from hospital in France, but they operate in a somewhat fragmented manner.

The term used for after care support in France is ‘retour à domicile’.

These services should ordinarily be arranged by the hospital, and most are delivered promptly and to a high standard, but reports are not uncommon of patients being left to their own devices. Even where they may be organised, it is important to ensure that they are adapted to your needs. The position is often more complicated for expatriates who may not have an automatic right to certain services.

Karine Finet, who runs the medical support agency ‘Medicial’ states that: “Everyone who enters the hospital has a right to something. But if you don’t plan ahead, you have to do everything in a hurry.”

House prices in Dordogne vary by an average of over 100% between the most and least expensive areas.

A combination of reasonable house prices, striking beauty and tranquillity make the Dordogne a popular choice for prospective international property buyers.

The hub of the department is the idyllic Dordogne River Valley, the main tourism destination, the location of the Bergerac airport, and where many British nationals have settled or own holiday homes.

A map of the department and its position in relation to neighbouring departments is shown below.