Renovating agricultural buildings for a home

Tony, We are in a position where my father in law already has a property in France, he is renovating part of a large old house on the land he also has 2 very large barns which he has now said he would like to give us as gift to renovate ourselves obviously we are keen to go with this project but are also concerned about the French laws involved with this.

We would be paying for any of the renovations ourselves, could you please tell us firstly is he allowed to give this to us as a gift do we then have to register change of ownership on this part of the property also we would need to demolish part of this and then do up completley what permits would we need are there any other laws or rules we shuld be aware of in a project like this. Angela

===

Hello Angela

There are a lot of questions here and legal points which must be carefully considered by an independent professional legal expert.

The amount of money or property which can be given as a gift (a donation) is carefully regulated and changes each year. A Notaire can advise and give the necesssary forms fo this.

To transfer a portion of a property will need a plan cadasteral for that piece of property to be drawn up and agreed by a geometre and the local mairie. A value must be established for this and any transfer must reflect this value. If a sale is made at a price considered lower then the mairie has the right to pre-empt the purchase at that price.

To make a barn into habitable accommodation will need full planning permission for change of use from the mairie.

My advice is to talk informally to the local mayor, establish if the services, access, local planned use and other permissions may be available before you do anything.

I recommend Stephen Smith France as a fair independent, fully insured (most important) legally qualified advisor.

Hope this helps

Health services and local taxes for visitors

Hi Tony I wonder if you could help. We have a holiday home in France and we stay for short periods throughout the year. Do we have to register with a doctor, dentist and hospital or do we use as and when? Also do we pay the local taxes at the same rate as a permanent resident of France? Many thanks for your help. Your magazine is great and helps us a great deal Coral

===

Hi Coral

You can use the medical services in France at any time, you pay as you go , a visit to the doctor costs about 21 euro a present. An EEC citizen can claim this back from their own social system - most insurances will cover these costs.

If you own and use a property in France you must pay property taxes - there are no differences for the amount of use you make of the property.

Hope this helps

Tony

What can I buy for 30,000 euro

Hi I’m looking for a small rural property, preferably with 4 good walls and a good roof. The more land the better as I have a horse. Anywhere and I know it’s a tall order but my budget is 30,000 euro Elaine

===

Hello Elaine

For what you describe you need to be thinking of spending a minimum of 200,000 euro - in my region, Languedoc, a sound building (legally habitable) with enough land for a horse starts at 350,000 euro and there are a lot of people looking for this sort of property.

Do you have a preference for an area ?

Best wishes

Tony

If you are a lawyer

Last December I thought I had at last found a strategic partnership which would enable me to develop my rental and realty websites. I sold off most of my company’s assets to a UK company, Fubra Limited and they took over the operation and running of the websites.

Boy-oh-boy did I misjudge that company. Due to them my income this year has been zero and the stress related problems they caused put me, seriously ill, in hospital for months.

I need to take legal action against them, but do not currently have the resources to do this.

If you can assist me to instigate action for breach of contract and compensation, on a shared basis, please contact me tony@nizas.com

The next Google opportunity, own a part of it

Six years ago I started developing an Internet service to revolutionise email and all its related security issues. I copyrighted a lot of new ideas and got a long way towards developing the concept. All I lacked was the time and capital needed to market this product and so I put it on the back-burner.

Probably this was a good thing as, lying in the hospital over the last three months, a flash of inspiration hit me as to why I had a nagging thought about my original ideas and what was now needed to make this a big innovative success.

I still need some help and support to market the ideas to key partners (one of whom I would target is Google). If you are interested in supporting, investing or working with me on this have a look at the outline of the concept at http://2337.com/

Languedoc and Paris,the best regions for property growth

The questions I am asked most are about the best place to live and the best areas for property investment in France.

This article gives my opinions, supported by statistics and information.

Choosing your home can only be a personal decision, but many people describe a dream-like country cottage, outside a quaint village in an area of outstanding beauty, and then buy an apartment in a busy seaside town, or a modern villa in a thriving suburb.

For a vacation, an isolated cottage or a quiet French village house can offer a couple of valuable stress free weeks of calm. But to live permanently, or for a regular visit I recommend that you choose a low-maintainance home where the bakers, some shops and a cafe are all in short walking distance. Wherever you look, make sure you visit at different seasons and certainly make a visit in the winter before you buy.

France is a very big country, each of the 95 departments has an individual character and there are several different climates.

Tourism

Tourism is still the largest industy in France with over 70 million visitors each year, so obviously the popular tourist areas can be crowded in the summer and deserted in the winter. If you are buying to invest in tourism, ignore what the local tourist offices say, not all parts of France are equally popular, so if you are thinking of buying a property which you rent out part of the time, do your homework. Tourism into France has declined since 2001 and accommodation units have increased in the same period so buying to rent to the leisure industry needs to be carefully researched.

Importantly, the huge numbers of visitors to France are not as relevant as the actual revenue from tourism, France is in fact no longer number one having lost this position to Spain, a weaker dollar and cheap flights to new and novel destinations suggest that there is unlikely to be growth in tourism to France. There is some useful information on World Tourism Rankings

Investing in any tourist related business in France can still a potentially rewarding enterprise, but, as with any business or investment, good market research and due diligence for any business must be throrough.

Real-Estate

Since the early 1990s there has been a stready increase in property prices in France. Historically prices have been (and still are) lower than other West European countries. Reasons for this include the controls and taxations discouraging property speculation and the large number of old properties in attractive town and villages which were pushed into the market from the mid 1990s.

Property appreciation on year-to-year basis in France (This data is taken from 513 urban centers throughout the country.) Source FNAIM

1 quarter 2006 - +8.3%

4 quarter 2005 - +10.3%

3 quarter 2005 - +10.4%

2 quarter 2005 - +9.5%

1 quarter 2005 - +13.6%

4 quarter 2004 - +15.5%

The main reason for the recent real-estate market slowing down in France is the general feeling that the high investment returns are a matter of past. This is translated into lower motivation in buying homes for investment only. The interest is still there but the mood is not so optimistic, and thus the demand is not as high, especially when compared with the boom of 2003-2004.

So, where should you be thinking of buying a home.

As I have said, all I can give is my personal opinion and preferences and quote the statistics published. Not all the 20 regions of France are tourist areas. Some which have traditionally been popular are declining in popularity and price, others are remote, bland and have few facilities.

When we first moved to France I was fortunate to be able to have some time to spend over three years driving and using the excellent rail transport to explore hundreds of towns all over France, searching for our permanent home. In 1994 we made the move from Trevoux, a village north of Lyon on the edge of the Beaujolais, to Nizas, in the department of Herault and Languedoc region ( \a href="http://nizas.com/nizas.html">NIZAS ), we made the choice based on many things, the climate, local facilities, the "openness" of the friendly people and the sheer beauty and charm of the region with rich agricultural land, near the Mediterranean and views of the mountains of the Massif Central.

My reasons for recommending Languedoc and suggesting that, as an investment, it has strong growth potential are...

1. Officially the government is investing and encouraging so that the population increases by at least 50% by 2020. This is creating a rapid development of services, already among the best in France for health, education and sports. Montpellier is voted year after year as the town in France that French people would most like to live in.

2. There is plenty of space, Languedoc has been an ignored "backwater" for over eight centuries, since the Cathar Crusade. Unlike Provence-Alpes Maritimes-Cote Dazur (PACA) the land is rich and fertile and the coastal plain has plenty of room for expansion (also the beaches are golden sand not pebbles).

3. Property prices in Languedoc have increased substantially over the last ten years, but this was from a very low base, prices are still excellent value and there are bargains - for example, I can offer you a group of three historic houses, with a pool, garden, wonderful views and lots of space for under 150,000 pounds sterling, this is for all three.

4. A massive investment in communications and transport is being made. The new fast Autoroute from Paris, the A75 is finished and the last short piece joining it to the road to Barcelona is now under construction. This, mostly free road, includes the highest viaduct in the world at Millau.

The high speed Rail link from Nimes to Barcelona is planned, some parts includingthe tunnel under the Pyrenees are under construction. This will make a trip to Barcelona from Beziers or Narbonne possible in not much over an hour. The new special TGV stations for Montpellier, Beziers, Narbonne and Perpignan will make the areas nearby prime residentail locations and only three hours to Paris.

Airports are now being widened and extended to take bigger and more efficient jets. This gives us the choice of Carcassonne, Perpignan, Beziers, Montpellier and Nimes airports all from 30 to 90 minutes from our home and Toulouse a little further.

5. Private investment in hotels, leisure centers, golf courses, sailing and marinas, is planned, approved and underway throughout the region.

6. Some of the best wine in the world is grown in the region.

Add to this the Mediterranean climate, over two thousand years of culture and history, medieval buildings and traditions going back centuries and you have a magic formula - this is why we love the region and it is our home.

Paris.

There is nothing like Paris - most people who visit Paris will dream of living there one day. It is as simple as that. For a major capital city the property prices are amazingly realistic. I am only thinking of the "Town" of Paris, the 20 arrondissments inside La Peripherique. Not all arrondissments are equal, but by walking the streets and exploring, it is still possible to find "something special".

We are shortly launching some investment and buying initiatives and can certainly help you.

Other Regions

I am certainly not saying the rest of France is not worth looking at - but I personally do not find any other places that suits me or has the advantage of services, weather and stimulation which we get in Languedoc. I could write about all other 18 regions, but the only other significant tourism region, second only to Paris, is PACA (Provence Alpes-Maritimes Cote dAzur). Personally I do not wish to live there as I consider it crowded, pretentious and restritive - but it is hugely popular (and expensive).

Here are some web pages with useful statistics for PACA

Article 186

Article 185

Article 184

Today is the first time I have been able to use a keyboard for nearly a month. The reason has something to do with my wild and reckless youth when I was a film stunt man and crashed motorbikes and drove cars for films and television, great fun then but there is no such thing as a free lunch

Now I am paying for the gorgeous girls and fast cars with a damaged spine which seems to be deteriorating and leaves me flat on my back. By rigging up planks and suspending screens and keyboards like some sort of crazy-house in a funfair, I can keep my neck in traction which releases the nerves so I can type

The worst thing about the last month has been the painkillers, living in France we have the good fortune to have doctors and specialists on call 24/7 and half a forest must have been cut down just to provide the prescriptions for a seemingly endless list of drugs. After weeks of living in never never land with the fairies I though it better to simply lie still and stop the injections and pills.

All this has given me time to read and keep up with the news. We get English newspapers in the village shop - well the Daily Mail and the Daily Express which have dropped to the level of the Sunday Sport or National Enquirer of ten years ago, but with Google I can get some "feel" for what is happening - interestingly health, or rather the lack of the UK health service, seems to be a big issue in the UK press. I have often praised the French system for health care, but from what I hear and read I would be very worried to have had the same back problem in the UK.

In the last few weeks I have had three MRI scans, two sets of X-rays and countless meetings with specialists to sort me out. I have never had to wait more than 30 minutes, often an appointment is exactly on-time. The local GP will come to the house within an hour of being called and a nurse will come three times a day if I need injections. We pay much less for our social service and health insurance than in the UK.

Two years ago my Mother suffered with a hip which left her in agony for months, living in the UK she was told she had to wait up to nine months for a scan, or pay £1,200 to have it done privately in three weeks. She came to live with us in France and had a successful operation the day she chose. Here, in the middle ofthe French countryside, I have at least three scanners within ten minutes of where we live, can arrange for a scan within three days and if I wanted to pay privately it would cost under £80. I get the results immediately and can look at my insides from the CD they give me as soon as I get home.

I know the Brits like to complain all the time, but from the tabloid press I am absorbing it seems there is good reason - can it be really true that in the UK refuse collection will only be every two weeks (here we get refuse cleared three times a week) - are people really fined if their child drops a sweet on the pavement - are there really schools where English is never spoken. Please, someone write to me and tell me this is all part of the morphine dreams I have been having otherwise I will think that anyone wanting to go to live the UK must be raving barking mad.

One of the frequent questions I am asked is about getting a mortgage to buy a home, or a second home, in France. We have put a page online to help you find the best deal at...

http://www.nizas.com/french_property/French-Mortgages.html

You can calculate you mortgage rates from our site from this link...

http://www.nizas.com/mortgagecalculator/index.html

You can download your own mortgage calculator to keep on your laptop when you are looking round from this site - there is no charge for this software.

http://www.onlinemortgageplace.com/calculator.html

Hi Tony

I understand that there are exemptions for taxe d’habitation for people over the age of 60. Could you please give me some further information about this. We are not resident in France but have a holiday home in Nice.

Many thanks Val

===

Hi Val

No, this is a myth - if you have a property which is used then you pay the tax - no exemptions for non residents.

This tax is explained on the official government site at

Taxe D’Habitation

Tony

Hi Tony

Do have any official info on this new Capital Gains Tax change on primary residences with gite accommodation or know someone I call about it so my accountant can get on the case. cheers Nick

===

Hi Nick

All I have at present is feedback from forums, news items and some websites about the way mixed gite and residential properties will be treated for business and CGT - to get a clear and professional opinion I recommend you consult an expert in this field, I am copying someone who has give advice on similar matters and I attach his business terms (no such thing as a free lunch and free advice is the worst sort).

My understanding is that, in France, if a property, or a part of a property, is now let out in any way then the whole property will be treated as a "second home" for CGT purposes when it is sold. That is there is a CGT tax of 16%, reducing by 10% a year after the fifth full year (i.e. zero after 16 years). This is all very recent stuff.

My thoughts are that this is channeling rentals into a more controllable registration "business" model for taxation purposes - encouraging people to form a company SCI or SARL to manage the affairs and to make the income much more accountable.

Tony

===

Dear Tony

One needs to be extremely careful about French tax matters generally where part or whole of the property has been let, either to tourists or to businessmen/farmers etc.

The practical problem usually is that for many years the French authorities may do nothing about it and then after a number of years (when it becomes economically worthwhile then pursuing a matter) they invite the client for a cozy cup of coffee which turns out to be less than a cozy encounter and there are tears before bed time!

Best regards

Stephen http://stephensmithfranceltd.com/