elvina63

Hi All

Thanks for letting me join you. We have done it, we have had an offer accepted on our new home in France and will be moving before the 31st December from the UK. I have so many questions and dont know where to start! I think a good place is - what are the most important things that we need to do to start with please?

Thinking ahead to moving in we are going to be doing work to our new home and want advice on best places for buying things like paint, furniture and white goods please?

Any suggestions on clothing stores please?

I am sure that this is a long shot but are there any English people living in and around Saint Gaudens in the Haute Garonne?

Thank you

Elvina

Listen Very Carefully

IMO in this order think about healthcare, taxation, car , then looking at what I need to do when Brexit comes along ie are you both Brits then sort out wills etc Are you married It makes a difference in France
If you are doing work on your house and employing people then make sure they are registered and insured to do the work
There are lots of Bricos around but you may get a shock with the prices and french paint is like coloured water frankly

EuroTrash

Hello and welcome to the forum
It rather depends on your situation.
Are you bringing UK cars with you? If so, you will need to sort out French insurance (your UK insurance probably won't cover you after you cease being UK resident), and register them in France. You should start that process within a month of arriving.
Are you in receipt of UK state pensions or benefits, and if so have you requested your S1 forms to cover your healthcare in France? Have you looked into healthcare and got a plan in place to cover your healthcare for the first few months, and after that for mutuelle cover?
It might be a good idea to get on top of this kind of basic admin before you start pimping your place, because once you start on that you'll probably find it takes your life over for the duration and there are certain red tape things that shouldn't be put off. Specially if you're Brits and therefore you need to have all your ducks in a row before the end of December.

Paint, furniture etc can be bought online, but if you prefer to buy instore it will depend what stores you have near you. Most places are within reach of a branch of chains such as Mr Bricolage, LeRoy Melin, Darty etc. Same applies to clothing.

Exciting times

EuroTrash

I keep hearing people say this, but I don't know where they buy their paint. Maybe they buy the expensive stuff
I buy cheap (for France) paint from my local Jumbo, which is one up from a pound shop, and it's extraordinarily thick. One coat is all you need and towards the end of the tin you have to dilute it or it's like tar. Lovely colours too. I'm more than happy with it.

EuroTrash

A sudden thought, crossing over with this thread British bank accounts for expats - if you don't already have a French bank account set up, do it pronto. You don't want to end up with no banking facilities at all if your UK bank closes your account when you leave the UK!

Listen Very Carefully

Now off to my local Jumbo then!!!!
With utilities I suggest that you take over the current owners

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
+1 for all the above replies, and I would add:
Who are "we"? and are you retired, pre-retired ("inactifs"), intending to work from home (in which case you must set up a French business structure), or looking for salaried work? Your employment status will govern your healthcare coverage. Do "we" include children or elderly parents? The latters' healthcare wouldn't be covered by yours. As said, your matrimonial status is also important - France isn't a "partner-friendly" country....
Bear in mind that electricity and plumbing must be signed off by a registered artisan, you shouldn't do it yourselves, as the French standards differ from the UK ones. As said above, make sure that all artisans are registered and insured....
Can't comment on the quality of French paint - my French OH was always satisfied, but then, like me, he had nothing to compare with!
If there are any BE members actually in St Gaudens, then they are keeping very coy about their location, but there are a good few in the Toulouse area.
Which brings me to ask how your respective French is, to cope with all the Administrations, Banks, Utilities, etc...? It isn't really recommended to rely on newly-found English-speaking neighbours to accompany you, unless you don't mind strangers knowing all your private life...
Les Pages Jaunes give 39 results for clothes shops (magasins de vêtements) in St Gaudens and neighbourhood. You can check furniture (magasin de meubles) and white goods (électroménager)...
Take a look in the pertinent threads of the Read-Me: Moving to France FAQs above - some aren't quite up-to-date, but don't hesitate to ask more questions!
HTH

elvina63

Hi All

Thanks for your replies. Yes we are taking our car with us. "We" are myself, husband, 14 year old daughter and 18 year old son. Son will be coming out for at least 9 months before starting uni in the UK. I am a stay at home Mum and my husband has just take redundancy from his job. We are intending to convert part of our property into two gites to provide our income. My daughter has special needs and in the UK is eligible for disability living allowance and I get carers allowance for her. I know that we wouldnt be entitled to either of these from the UK government, do the French government have anything similar please?

We are happy to online shop for white goods etc, which are the best websites for this sort of thing please?

Thanks very much.

Elvina

EuroTrash

Amazon?
I've found Darty pretty good.

Re DLA, have you checked on this because I thought some elements of it were exportable? You need to check because if it's an exportable benefit then the UK must keep paying it. France won't consider any applications for benefits that another country should be paying.

Assuming you are Brits (since you mentioned 31st Dec in your first post) and you don't have other EU passports, it might be a good idea to have a look around the RIFT (Remain In France Together) website and especially this page https://c8524531-f5de-4401-a342-0e3a...241a42c474.pdf to make sure that you will have all the paperwork you need in order to apply for your residence permits after Brexit. Specifically, if you're not economically active, a family of two adults and two children will be expected to have a monthly income of 1 186,04 € in order to be considered self-supporting. You will probably be asked to about your income when you apply for healthcare, and again when you apply for your residence permits so you need to make sure you collect all your paperwork together and keep it safely. You'll also need recent copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates etc, because again you have to start by producing these to prove your identity pretty much every time you start dealings with the various authorities.

dmu

I always buy from a local shop - not all that much more expensive than the big stores that sell on-line, and if you need SAV (service après-vente), they're on the spot and will come more quickly...
Since no one will be working, you'll be considered as "inactifs" and will need to take out private healthcare coverage for you all until you apply to enter the French System and apply for Résidence after 3 months' residence. Your son who is of age and an "inactif", may have to sort out his own healthcare insurance before returning to the UK, unless he finds a job which would get him into the French System straight away...
You'd have to research the DLA and Carer's allowance - French equivalents do exist, but your daughter would have to be assessed by the French Authorities. How is her French? And what about schooling? Sorry to say that it's a bad age at the best of times to be thrown in at the deep end in a French Collège (Secondary school) without a thorough knowledge of French Grammar and French Culture. A School Commission might allow a pupil who hasn't passed the Brevet (O-levels) at the end of Collège to go up to Lycée to prepare for the Bac, but only on the basis of good marks over the years.... You haven't mentioned her schooling up to the present, - schools for pupils with special needs do exist - a google search for "établissements d'éducation spécialisée" shows several possibilities in Gaudens, and you would have to see on the spot. If you intend to home-school your daughter, bear in mind that it is "tolerated" in France, provided that all the FRENCH curriculum is taught by the parents. Inspectors come regularly to check that the pupils are at the same level as their peers....
Sorry for this negative aspect concerning your daughter, but you must be aware of what to expect. Fore-warned is fore-armed!

Listen Very Carefully

I suggest you make contact with the assistante sociale for your commune in respect of your daughter They can be contacted via the Mairie

cyrian

You will need to speak to the local Mairie regarding setting up gites.
You will also have to register a business structure for running them.
Hopefully others will point you in the right direction for setting this up

SanDiegogirl

Do you speak French fluently....?

Helen1964

Or stay below the radar and don’t tell your bank you’re leaving the UK. Am wishing I’d done this!

dmu

@elvina63 - you haven't answered this question - hopefully your collective French is sufficient to cope with the Assistante Sociale and subsequent Administrations concerning benefits and special schooling.
Setting up a business structure to run your gîtes can come later when they are operative, but before you even start work to convert part of the property into gîtes, you must first get planning permission. This involves a separate visit to the Mairie to consult the Maire-adjoint dealing with "urbanisme".
How is your son intending to spend the 9 months in France? The thought occurred to me that he might be helping with working on the property during that time, in which case you should make sure your House/Civil Liability Insurance covers accidents to and by family working on your property. All companies offer the compulsory insurance coverage for both the property and your civil liability, but you should mention your son's status of "inactif" working on your property. Take no notice of the last phrase if I'm assuming wrongly, but you must insure your property/civil liability as soon as you are legally owners....