smudge09

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to move to somewhere where the weather is good and the quality of life a lot better than here in the UK.

Our choices are Southern France or Portugal (ideally somewhere not too far from the sea).

Our plan is to set up a small B&B/Gite complex/Chalets etc business.

I have a million questions, as everywhere on the net there seems to be 100 answers per question, so will just chuck them up and see where this thread leads.

I am really just trying to get an understanding of the Costs, Health and Social life of making this move.

What are the conditions of having building work done and if anyone has experience of how long it takes and how much it costs that would be useful.

Where would you advise to look for the property we want, as in near a city, near a supermarket, expat community, crime rate, friendliness of the people.

What is the cost of living compared to the UK, food, utilities, health

What costs are involved in running the business described above, as in tax, getting connected to gas/electric, business permits etc.

Any basic info that you can think of that i need to find out about

I am just starting to really look into this, so any info would be useful.

thanks for your time

dmu

Wow, so many questions to answer in one go! You don't say what level of French you have and whether you've got children.
I'd take a look at Val's FAQs which are full of useful info, and make a search among the old threads on all the subjects you've asked about, which have all been discussed in detail before.

treskillard

Done by French qualified people building work is costly but you are (generally) assured quality. Cheaper is to use Brit jobbing builders but there you are risking getting ripped off unless you know your way round the work yourself and can run the chantier. How long is a piece of string? Generally twice as long as you think.

where do you want to go? there are so many places that meet your criteria. remember that if you find all those things so will other people and that makes your product/service less original. Pretty much anywhere on the northern flanks/foothills of the Pyrenees would do as would the Gers.

cost of living: depends how you earn your income? Food: I find it much the same - you can live cheaply in both places. Overall I'd say that the UK is cheaper but the sun makes up for less money! Utilities: search for this as people have done detailed answers elsewhere. But its not cheap in France. Health: great health service that's for sure but the tax system is punitive especially if self employed. if an employer at all in fact, so it is paid for somewhere.

Beware of the tax/social security/unemployment/pension payments - they can cripple many business ideas. France is very bureacratic still. don't imagine that the UK is difficult in comparison. Things are much more based on filling forms, the right forms, in the right way, for the right people. It is a maze and easy to get lost and then it gets more costly.

As the previous poster said - search for threads that deal with these issues. There are many responses. The main one however is to be cautious and prepared. The quality of life can be much better in some cases but if you need to earn money then you will be struggling unless you are well prepared. The rural areas in France are depopulated for a reason: there's no work.

Ka Ora!

As both DMU and Tres have said, Search there are some very recent threads on the cost of Living HERE and some where between 10 and 20 page back.

France is like Spain Don't use British Builders unless you get very good references and take a look at previous work. As you could find your self in a world full of <Snip>. When using any Tradesmen don't sign the Quote (Divy)(I Know I have spelt that wrong) until you are truly happy with it as once signed it is legally binding.

Think carefully when considering setting up a Gite or B&B in France as you will be competing against about a third of the population for business. And think even more carefully about relying on building something to start a enterprise as getting the green light ( Certificate du Urbanism) and Permis de Constructie can be very hard work the French like the Green ness of France and work hard at keeping that way. Currently there is quite a strict Urbanization Plan in place. I nearly forget to say if you build chalets then you will be taxed on each building at a reduced rate habitable structure. Can't give you the exact rate yet but I have a friend just sorting that out. But I know the cost will add up.

Please don't let me put you off France is a loverly place once you have worn down the rough edges. Best thing you can do is visit pick a place then before you buy it start roughing out the costs based on somewhere solid.