MNandMN

Hello everyone,
My husband has wanted to move to France for years, I've always been reluctant. We've come to a compromise, now to find out if it's possible. We'd like a long term rental, at least six months to start, with a view to keeping it as our rented house for the foreseeable future. We can then find out if France is for us, if we use the house enough to warrant the cost and to really get to know an area first hand and not spend out on buying a house, at least for a year.

Is it possible to get a rental as an English couple based in the UK, a house that will be ours without it being something that someone is trying to sell as we don't want to keep moving around. We'd be using the house for the summer and visiting back and forth the rest of the year. We've got dogs and a cat.

We are thinking of renting south of Paris, about two hours drive south, as we have friends near there.

Any views from anyone please? Is it possible?

cyrian

Yes it is possible and that is exactly what the majority of the members here would advise.
It would probably help if you were a bit more specific than about 2 hours from Paris - what departement are you looking at?
You can expect to be asked to provide proof of income (3 x rental) or perhaps a french guarantor or a bank guarantee (french) unless you find someone e.g. a Brit gite owner or perhaps french not wanting to declare the income.
For a rental you would need a) to have a written agreement to rent you a property b) a french bank account c) insurance to cover the property.
When I did it we needed the agreement to rent to open a bank account but we couldn't complete the rental until we had both the bank account and the insurance. Therefore we did a bit of back-and-fro-ing between the 3 offices.
Do you need to consider a local airport to get back to the UK or for family to visit?
Have a look at this site. I am not sure if it offers rental advice and I can't open it at the mo. www.notaires.fr/notaires/en/jsp/site/Portal.jsp
Come back with more questions.

EuroTrash

Renting first is an excellent idea, more people should do it if they're not totally sure whereabouts in France to buy, or whether France at all.

The issue you might have if you try to get long-term let through the traditional French channels, is that renting in France is surrounded by a lot of legislation. Far fewer people in France own their own houses, many families live permanently in rented properties - not because they can't afford to buy, but because they don't see the point. Tenants are better protected by law. Long-term rental contracts are always for 3 years minimum on the landlord's side, although the tenant can give notice sooner if they wish. It is hard to evict a tenant, even a bad one. So, landlords generally want solid guarantees to ensure that the rent will be paid. People who don't work in France are often asked to lodge a large deposit with a notaire before the rental starts. Agencies would normally insist on this, as would most professional landlords.

But you might find someone (probably non-French, who is either not au fait with the system or who understands the problem from your side) who won't insist on this.

As long-term tenants you would pay the annual taxe d'habitation (property tax payable by the occupier) and the rental contract would normally require you to be responsible for certain things that in the UK a landlord would do, like having the chimney swept and the boiler serviced and minor maintenance. Again, this is because many French families consider the rented property to be their long-term home, the only difference being that they pay rent to a landlord instead of mortgage payments to a bank.

Alternatively you might be able to come to a long-term rental arrangement on a gite but this would be fairly unusual.

Hope this helps you understand the renting ethos in France, hope you find somewhere that suits, and enjoy.

MNandMN

Thank you for the helpful replies.

Our friends live in Sermages (58), it would make sense for us to be close to them for reciprocal dog sitting/ house sitting, and help to start a social life/local knowledge help. We are there next week for a week.

I've been put off moving because of the cost of buying, in case I don't settle. I picture hubby living the ride on mower scenario and me wondering what on earth to do with myself all day. This will negate the outlay of a purchase, and give us time to learn about the reality of living in France, rather than holiday perspective. I know hubby will like it, not sure if missing family and friends will send me back to the UK pretty often, but nice to have that option.

cyrian

What sort of car do you drive?
Sermages is coming up at 3.5 hours on my gps.
Like you, I was concerned about moving part-time to France.
My wife was fluent in French and I was not.
We chose a small town just outside a large one where we can walk into town or take a choice of local buses.
Being out in the sticks would not have worked for us.
In addition, we have a choice of autoroutes and a TGV service to Paris (1 hour) and easy access to flights to the uk.
You should spend your time during your visit looking at the area as a resident rather than as a tourist.
Happy hunting

MNandMN

We've got a Mazda CX5, quite a big car, so room for dogs and 'stuff', and yes hubby does drive too fast!! Friends told us two hours from Paris, but maybe they drive even faster.

Think I'd become addicted to the vide greniers (? Spelling). We want to make the house very comfortable, to make it feel more permanent than holiday.