OneWildAndPreciousLife

Hi,

My husband and I have been researching various ways we could make a permanent move to France. We are considering purchasing a bike hire franchise but would not be in a position to buy a house immediately. I've searched on the forum for advice on rentals and it appears it may be difficult to get a rental without having payslips or a French guarantor. Would we still struggle if we could show that we have the funds to pay rent for 3 years? Also, would we run into problems persuading a landlord to let us run a business from the property that would include being able to store 50-100 bikes plus equipment on the property? We would not be having customers visit the house, we would only deliver the bikes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

EuroTrash

Hello, welcome to the forum.

You've obviously read what's been said before, and the answers haven't changed. I'd love to say "no it'll be easy to rent without payslips" but unfortunately, it won't. It's going to be all up to you, your powers of persuasion and how good you are at lateral thinking. FWIW a poster on another forum found this company and seems to have high hopes, personally I'm a bit dubious but you could always enquire
https://www.garantme.fr/en.

Likewise with storing bikes, you would have to ask the landlord, but if you need a property with an available barn to keep them in then it restricts your choice a bit. Obviously you need the landlord's permission to register his property as the head office of your business but legally he can't refuse without a good reason.

Good luck with it all, and make sure you've done your sums on what business structure you'll use and specifically how much you expect to pay in social contributions, because that's where Brits who haven't done their homework in enough detail usually get their first shock.

dmu

If the landlord agrees, there would have to be a "commercial use" clause in the lease (no doubt with increased rent to cover his insurance, tax, ...), as a normal rental lease prohibits use of premises for commercial purposes.
Can't over-emphasize the crippling côtisations (social contributions) that you'd have to pay before putting any income in your pockets.... They must be paid even if nothing is coming in during the lean months.
Also, find out exactly why the type of franchise you're seeking is for sale.
Research, research, research, is the keyword!
Good luck!

OneWildAndPreciousLife

Thank you for clarifying the situation, EuroTrash and dmu.

EuroTrash

I thought normally the tenant was reponsible for insurance? I've never rented but I've translated many rental contracts and normally, proof of insurance is one of the justificatifs that the tenant has to produce.

dmu

I was thinking along the lines of insurance against non-payment of rent, in addition to the landlord's normal "landlord insurance", which might be higher for a commercial rental, but I may be wrong.

EuroTrash

Oh right I see what you mean - I misunderstood and thought you were referring to tenants'/contents insurance.
I don't think landlord insurance is going to come into it here, that's the OP's problem, because without proof of regular secure income, ie payslips or pension, landlord insurance won't accept them.
Needs careful thought because for the business, location is obviously going to be very important. What part of France do you have in mind, Wild&Precious?

OneWildAndPreciousLife

There are a number of departments that are available which we are currently researching. We might be able to come up with funds to purchase a house in a cheaper area but the tourism trade doesn't seem large enough to sustain us in those areas. So renting seemed like the viable option but I feel we may come up against insurmountable problems in our search for a landlord that will accept us without payslips.

We lived in Australia for a number of years where we studied and we had similar problems with not having payslips but eventually found a landlord who would accept us based on our savings. We were hoping the same might occur in France but it doesn't look very likely.

EuroTrash

It happens but you need persistence and a bit of good luck. Agencies are very unlikely to consider you and so are private landlords who have a portfolio of properties and rely on landlord insurance, but if you look outside the mainstream, on leboncoin at the non-pro adverts or even better on expat forums, you have a chance of finding a flexible, good-natured person who has a property they want to rent out and who is sympathetic to how difficult it is for expats.
Have you looked at the garant website?

OneWildAndPreciousLife

And then of course, we need to explain our situation to the landlord in French. Hmmm. I've been keeping on eye on leboncoin but hadn't thought about looking on expat forums. Worth a shot. I looked at the Garant link you mentioned earlier, thanks.

It's been really helpful to talk to someone already based in France. I appreciate you and dmu taking the time to reply.

scrubbedexpat056

I think I mentioned in another thread about renting a bedsit for 6 months in Port St Louis in 2005. Having been refused by all the agents in town we asked around in the bars and ended up speaking to some ladies who wanted to rent out a bedsit. They first approached their agent who still refused and so they took a chance on us. It helped that Port St Louis is, or was, a pretty dead end town and that they had failed to rent it out for eons. We showed them what we had available concerning savings and income, but it really came down to convincing them that we were honest and reliable.
Obviously you would have to sort this out, if it's at all possible, before setting up the business since it really would be in the lap of the gods, though not impossible. I should also point out that it was easier for us to pay them, bills included. Maybe for your greater and longer adventure this would prove too difficult.
My advice would be to listen to all the good advice here and anywhere else you can then ask yourself 'what's the worst that can happen?'. If you still feel positive, then go for it.
Good luck with it all.

OneWildAndPreciousLife

Thank you for sharing your experience, Alianco. We'll be sure to weigh everything up before taking the plunge.

dmu

IMO, your average French landlord wouldn't consider a healthy bank balance, as the potential tenant could empty the account from one day to the next, and not pay the rent. It's very difficult to evict non-payers here...
You might strike lucky and find a good-natured non-French person who understands expats' renting problems and doesn't bother with insurance, but you'd have to make sure that the lease is legal in order to register your business at their address.
Does "we need to explain our situation to the landlord in French. Hmmm" mean that your level of French isn't very high? Sorry if I've misinterpreted, but running a business in France without being able to communicate with the Administrations and clients wouldn't be for the faint-hearted....

OneWildAndPreciousLife

I see we're going to run into many problems trying to rent. We may have to alter our plans.

We've been taking lessons for some time and practise daily. I wouldn't consider our level to be high but we are getting there. We won't be leaving until the end of summer. We realise there is an element of risk to our plans but we are happy with that. We've made similar choices in the past and those have been the best times of our lives. Life is stagnating for us in the UK. We're prepared to risk what we have.

dmu

A few points:
If you purchase an already-existing franchise, surely provision is already made for storing the bikes? You would only need to rent accommodation for yourselves, and a 3-month rental of a furnished gîte might suit while you're settling in and looking around. You don't have to show payslips for such rentals, but their duration is limited. Be aware that long-term rentals are usually unfurnished.
If you're only arriving at the end of this summer, you aren't going to have much time to get your business up and running before winter sets in, with few clients around to start you off.
Fore-warned is fore-armed!
All the best!