Holiday home

[Output Flange]

The wife and I are starting to think a bit more seriously about a holiday home in France. I last looked into this a good three or four years ago, but have lost touch a bit with the changes in taxation etc since then.

Are there any good recent guides around that outline what's what these days?

One of the requirements of where we look is going to be the ability to work remotely, and so decent broadband is a must. What's the best way to work out which areas have decent connections?

TIA

[Doofus]

France is generally well served for rural broadband. Mine is fast enough to stream tv, although Orange say it shouldn't be, so they won't give me a tv package. Not sure how you find specific coverage, except to decide where you want to be, and ask the sellers.

I pay around €500pa insurance, €435pa Tax Foncière, €110pa Ordures Menageres (dustbins), and around €50 per month for electricity and broadband, because I leave them on all the time.. Water is around €90pa. The taxes are reduced by 50% from standard because it's a maison secondaire. This is all for a very rural property (hamlet of 15 houses, 20km from the nearest town)

Orange do this thing whereby you can turn the broadband on and off so that you're not paying for it when you're not in France, but it costs about €20 or €30 each time, so if you are in france more than about three times per year, you're probably better off leaving it on.

My house is actualy for sale.

[leyorkie]

Towns = good
Rural areas = poor.
There is a web site that indicates what you should get but I've forgotten where it is found, it was 10 years back when we set up.
Basically we are 7 kilometres from the exchange and no chance of fibre. Some people use satellite.
What region are you thinking of?

Try this site
http://www.ariase.com/fr/haut-debit/

[Output Flange]

Thanks both.

I think we're looking in the vicinity of Saumur, although that's yet to be finalised. The idea being that it's within reasonable striking distance of Blighty, has (slightly) better weather than we tend to here and there's plenty to do in the area.

[mikey77]

That's a nice choice.
Broadband in Limousin (where I live) towns is poor and in rural areas it's rubbish. I've just had a 50 per cent performance upgrade - to .7mb.

[Doofus]

mikey77 said:

That's a nice choice.
Broadband in Limousin (where I live) towns is poor and in rural areas it's rubbish. I've just had a 50 per cent performance upgrade - to .7mb.

I'm in Limousin too (Haute Vienne), and I get about 15Mb.

[Rushjob]

I'm over in Puy de Dome living in a hamlet 5km from the nearest village with a boulangerie and get 2.4mb on Orange, Netflix steams well enough, it's rare to get any buffering.

Edited by Rushjob on Monday 18th April 13:46

[Output Flange]

Just to move away from broadband speeds for a moment, does anyone know of any all-encompassing guides that cover the costs (taxes etc) of a second home abroad?

[Doofus]

Output Flange said:

Just to move away from broadband speeds for a moment, does anyone know of any all-encompassing guides that cover the costs (taxes etc) of a second home abroad?

No, because they vary by departement and by commune. I listed my main running costs for a four bed 19c farmhouse in dept 87.

[rdjohn]

Output Flange said:

Thanks both.

I think we're looking in the vicinity of Saumur, although that's yet to be finalised. The idea being that it's within reasonable striking distance of Blighty, has (slightly) better weather than we tend to here and there's plenty to do in the area.

I live just south of Saumur, if you want any advice, please ask. The economy is not vibrant so I would describe house prices as suppressed.The location is superb IMHO.

In Breze, our broadband is 2-3Mb and not special for watching TV especially if a VPN is involved. Close to Saumur is obviously better.

[Output Flange]

Thanks, that's a kind offer. I think at the moment I don't know what I don't know!

I guess my first question is were to find the different taxation rates for the different areas - using Saumur as an example?

[leyorkie]

There are two taxes payable on a house in France
Taxe Habitation and Taxe Fonciere
These are based on the individual property, I am not aware of any guide to different regions.
Generally houses are more individual in France than the UK so you can't compare with your neighbours.
It depends on land area etc. A in ground swimming pool attracts tax a above ground pool is exempt so you can see the complications in trying to guess the taxes
I don't think houses are in tax bands as in the UK
You need to look at properties and ask questions

[AndrewCrown]

Hi OF

Just trying to put myself in your shoes... I would not worry so much about property tax etc.... Yes you have to pay it, but I'm not so sure there is so much variability between areas for that to be a deciding factor on where you choose, its more to do with the size of the property and its notional rentable value.

What I would be fussy about is transport links to UK and how easy it is to get there practically and regularly.. e.g. having a choice of airline... regularity of service.. distance from the airport/station/ port on both sides.... This can become important factor when you just want to do a weekend or get back to Blightly quickly.. or get away quickly..

On choosing property, there are so many apparently cheap properties.. restoration costs are deceptively high and there isn't the speculative market to rely on any future returns... and that is when taxation becomes important...

But get it right and its a fun,rewarding and a nice way to live between two countries...

Cheers
A