Roosterbooster1

Hello all looking to move to France next year as love the country we go 2 or 3 times a year to the south of France, but we have no clue what legal things we have to do like work visa etc I work in the construction industry as a 360 op here in the UK we plan to find a property with a lake near by we can buy and turn into a fishery and work as a 360 op aswell any advice much appreciated

cyrian

Hi
Welcome to the France forum.
Pre-Brexit you don't need a visa to live and work in France.
However, France is very different from the UK as far as work regulations are concerned.
I have no idea what a 360 op is but you possibly have to show a qualification to a potential employer.
You need to check this out with a prospective employer first.
In France, you cannot just set up a business as you can in the UK.
You cannot just buy a lake and set up a fishing business.
You need to get permission from the local maire and have the necessary insurances in place.
How good is you French to deal with the bureaucracy in France.
This can be a problem for French nationals and even more so for foreigners.
Next time you are in France you should enquire about being a 360 op.
HTH

Tweedpipe

Most important question first, how is you French?
You are obviously setting the bar very high with plans to eventually turn a lakeside property into a fishery, and I should imagine that even for someone completely fluent in French, setting up such an endeavour could be cauchmardesque.
Another thing to realise - and overlooked by many hundreds of Brits moving to France, is that holidays in France and living here are often poles apart in terms of satisfaction.
Holidays are usually, or at least should be - completely stress-free. Living here you will have to deal with all the necessary administration, and the 'delightful' pleasures of French bureaucracy. An adventure in itself, without setting up a business..........

One would assume that you know France reasonably well if you travel here 2-3 times/year. A little puzzled however that you are also asking which areas are popular with Brits and which have a good community.
The best way to find your ideal location is to spend 2-3 weeks touring - during high and 'cold' seasons, to get a far broader picture of France, and especially how cold it can get, not to mention those infernal winds in some areas in the SW. What may completely suit one person could be a terrible location for others. I know of a few Brits who made the plunge without doing the essential research, and regretted it.
Using Google maps and street view extensively can gve a reasonable picture, but obviously nothing like feeling the ambience in real-time during several weeks touring.
Personaly living in an area largely populated with Brits would be a non-starter for us. I say this because a few years back whilst house-hunting we found a superb property in Montazel (department of Aude) which not only price-wise but ticked all the other boxes - except one. In the very pleasant market place there was so much English being spoken that we decided this was not for us, this wasn't the 'real France' we'd been looking for. The weather, the smells, the small butcher's shop and excellent boulangerie were heaven, but those Brits were an immediate turn off, and it wasn't the height of the tourist season either.
Fwiw, one thing which helped my French improve in leaps & bounds was attempting to understand the French being spoken around me in everyday life, and watching French tv. A struggle at first but certainly highly rewarding.
So the key words are 'research' and 'speak reasonable French'.

You should also have big concerns about a looming no-deal Brexit, and currently there are more questions than definitive answers.
On this forum, go to THIS link and read the FAQ, especially the guides to Starting a Business, Healthcare, Partner Status, and French Inheritance Laws.
Good luck if you do make the move, and please keep us updated. Most new posters frequently disappear without any feedback, so we have no way of knowing if they've been highly successful or with buyers remorse and subsequently bitterly disappointed with their French experience.

Roosterbooster1

My French is not too good tbh lol but my wife speaks it perfectly so all good in that respect.. Allot of our time spent in France is mainly fishing at lakes etc so not Been all over the country but most of our time is spent in and near toulouse which we love so hopfully very close to there would be amazing with lots of trips to salou for holidays, I do suppose most of my questions are best asked after brexit because of the uncertainty, great advice from you peeps already tho, we are going over again in October for a tour in and around toullose

Tweedpipe

Sounds good.
We're in a department not too far from Haute Garonne so the relative closeness to Blagnac airport is a definite plus.
A lakeside property to develope in that particular region could be extremely difficult to find, not to mention expensive - but I'm sure you're aware of that.

Roosterbooster1

Yes I can imagine it would be close to there, in reality 50 mile radius from the lake to where we live would be great, going to need a few trips over looking at a few places in the car, heard the Portsmouth to St Malo ferry is good has anyone's used this before?