beachgal21

Hello, does anyone know which area has the largest population of British expats living there permanently?

Novocastrian

London?

beachgal21

lol... good one Maybe I should have been more specific and asked which area of France has the largest population of British living there on a permanent basis?

jvc

Paris, Marseille, Lyon Toulouse and Nice....all the cities. I presume the Dordogne region is saturated with Brits too.

suppleberry

There's some detailed info here, from 2010:

http://www.french-property.com/news/...ing_in_france/

A recent official study shows that around 140,000 British nationals live in France, and the most popular region may surprise many.

According to figures published by INSEE, the French statistical office, the Brits are clustered around four regions – the Ile de France, Midi Pyrénées, Aquitaine and Poitou Charentes.

Despite the fact the Dordogne has acquired the familiar epiphet 'Dordogneshire', because of the number of Brits who are believed to have homes there, in fact the most popular administrative area is the Ile de France, where there are 20,500 British inhabitants.

Dordogne may only have a larger number of British home owners if second homes are included, for which official figures are not currently available.

The second largest region for permanent British residents is Midi Pyrénées (13,500), followed by Aquitaine (13,100), Poitou Charentes (12,972), and Brittany (approx 11,000).

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes come in fourth and fifth respectively. Lower Normandy is also popular, with around 5,000 British inhabitants.

By department, it is Paris which tops the table, with 8,500 Brits having permanent homes within the city boundary.

Outside of the capital, not surprisingly it is Dordogne (6,300) that takes second place as the department with the largest number of Brits, followed by Alpes-Maritime (5,900) and Charente (5,083).

The figures are gleaned from the 2006 population census carried out by INSEE. It shows that nearly 6% of the population of France is of foreign nationality.

Within Aquitaine, the figures show that, after Dordogne, the number within each department is: Lot and Garonne (3,100), Gironde (2,100) Pyrénées-Atlantiques (1,200) and Landes (600).

Over half of those living in the Dordogne reside in rural locations around Périgueux and Bergerac, both of which are served by airports offering low costs flights to the UK.

Within Poitou Charentes, the number of Britons in each department is: Charente (5,083), Charente Maritime (3,044), Deux-Sèvres (2,595) and Vienne (2,251).

A new population census has recently started in France, and an update on these figures should be available within the next two years. By then we will find out whether the so called 'exodus from France' over the past few years has been fact or fiction.

Tweedpipe

Hmm, didn't know that. Guess it's time to move away then and find some authentic France......
Seriously though, in this commune - population of approx 1.4k, over a number of years I've never met another Brit, although I'm sure I'm not alone. Goes to show perhaps that there are others who like to totally immerse themselves into French society and keep a low 'union-jack' profile.
Given that there's no café or especially a bistro here - that in itself may be keeping the hoards at bay. But hey, who's complaining?

jvc

We like some brits nearby, but only one or two. We moved to France to experience France, not to experience a "Little Britain" in France.

beachgal21

Thanks for all the reply's My hubby want's me to consider a move to France and I said I would think about it as long as it was to an area where there were other Brits.

criodain

Why not just move to London, and frequent French bars and restaurants? That way, you get the best of both worlds.

beachgal21

Can't afford London prices

Chatter Static

Nowhere here is like Englishtown-Chinatown you will have to get on with French folk as well and you will find that any area that is over saturated in Brit's will have higher than average house prices as a result of that.

Visit a pueblo in the Costa Del Sol and it's a different matter there you get villages that are more than over inhabited it by Brits and there are lots of bargains to be had.

beachgal21

I don't have a problem with getting along with French folk, but I like British people ..... I'm one myself I just want to live in an area where I can have a circle of British friends.

Chatter Static

Well good luck to you but it seems counterintuitive moving here for those reasons and would probably prove to be a expensive exercise.

Your employment opportunities would be a lot better in the UK it is incredibly difficult for people who speak fluent French to find work, I would certainly spend a few years there first as you may find it's not actually as grim as the portrayed picture that the press present and before you commit to France you have to visit in the summer and winter personally I say a minimum of four trips is needed because communities here change immensely with the seasons.

But if you give us an idea of your occupation house wants income aspirations etc it could influence where you go as some industries are centred in certain areas and some jobs are like rocking horse shit around here.

One of the biggest problems with becoming an Expat is after a while you can't find that home feeling anymore you have been in the USA since around 2000 so it will be tricky, the abundance of English speakers your have in Florida will seem like a goldmine after a year or two here in the countryside. But if you can arrange a swap let me get my coat.....

beachgal21

I'd be happy to settle back in the UK but hubby not so much, and yes I agree we'd need to visit first. I was thinking maybe spend 6 months over there exploring and travelling round to find a suitable location. Fortunately work isn't an issue for either of us, we both work for ourselves and our work is done via the computer so we can work from anywhere in the world.

Ideally a semi rural location with good access to the coast, perhaps an hours drive, also access to an airport so that friends and family can come to visit and of course somewhere where there are other British expats. Any suggestions of suitable areas would be welcome.

EuroTrash

You can work from anywhere in the world, but you are subject to the fiscal law of the country you are physically residing in when you do the work and earn the money. If you want to convince your hubbie to move to the UK and not to France, just demonstrate to him how much of your joint income will vanish in cotisations and business taxes if you live and work in France (about half of it) versus how much will vanish in NICs and business taxes if you live and work in the UK (maybe about a tenth of it). I think you may have a pretty good chance of persuading him