Planning a move to brittany
Sep 7th 2018, 4:49 pm
#1
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 11
Planning a move to brittany
Hello
we are looking into moving to Brittany in the next 12-18months, having ruled out Spain due to weather (too hot), language (we studied French not Spanish at school) and not finding an area we loved.
now the focus is on Brittany and we wondered which areas would be best for us to explore. We don’t need to live on the coast, but would like to live in an area within driving distance to local amenities. We are looking for a detached property with a large garden (ie more than 300m2). Having an area with some expats would be very useful for our social life! We are retiring early (in our early 50s) and so have a relatively limited monthly budget but would be buying the property cash.
any suggestions for places for us to look at would be really appreciated.
thanks in advance
we are looking into moving to Brittany in the next 12-18months, having ruled out Spain due to weather (too hot), language (we studied French not Spanish at school) and not finding an area we loved.
now the focus is on Brittany and we wondered which areas would be best for us to explore. We don’t need to live on the coast, but would like to live in an area within driving distance to local amenities. We are looking for a detached property with a large garden (ie more than 300m2). Having an area with some expats would be very useful for our social life! We are retiring early (in our early 50s) and so have a relatively limited monthly budget but would be buying the property cash.
any suggestions for places for us to look at would be really appreciated.
thanks in advance
Sep 7th 2018, 5:52 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2012
Location: Dépt 61
Posts: 5,254
Re: Planning a move to brittany
Hi, welcome to the forum!
Brittany is very easy to fall in love with, in my opinion at least. You'll find Brits in most parts of Brittany, and several expat hotspots - places like Carhaix, Huelgoat, Josselin spring to mind, but it should be quite easy to identify the Brit areas by the concentration of properties for sale by the Brit estate agents. Have a trawl through the infamous L*****t's website.
Be sure you work the economics out so that your monthly income is high enough to qualify you for state healthcare and "legal" residence as inactifs (and also cover any top up health insurance you feel the need for, because the state system only reimburses around 70 per cent of most medical costs). Assuming you move before Brexit messes things up, the official minimum income threshold isn't high but if your income is all in GBP you would need to leave a cushion in case the £/€ heads south.
I'm absolutely not trying to put you off France and back onto Spain - but I have heard that Spain has recently started providing free healthcare for all residents, which it's a bit hard to imagine France ever doing, and that might be important if you're on a tightish budget.
Brittany is very easy to fall in love with, in my opinion at least. You'll find Brits in most parts of Brittany, and several expat hotspots - places like Carhaix, Huelgoat, Josselin spring to mind, but it should be quite easy to identify the Brit areas by the concentration of properties for sale by the Brit estate agents. Have a trawl through the infamous L*****t's website.
Be sure you work the economics out so that your monthly income is high enough to qualify you for state healthcare and "legal" residence as inactifs (and also cover any top up health insurance you feel the need for, because the state system only reimburses around 70 per cent of most medical costs). Assuming you move before Brexit messes things up, the official minimum income threshold isn't high but if your income is all in GBP you would need to leave a cushion in case the £/€ heads south.
I'm absolutely not trying to put you off France and back onto Spain - but I have heard that Spain has recently started providing free healthcare for all residents, which it's a bit hard to imagine France ever doing, and that might be important if you're on a tightish budget.
Sep 7th 2018, 6:33 pm
#3
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Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Scotland & Touraine [37]
Posts: 3,019
Re: Planning a move to brittany
Hi,
Rather than diving in and buying somewhere, why don't you consider renting initially.
This would allow you to explore your chosen area in detail and give you a better feel for property etc.
If you keep your property in the UK and rent it out then that would supplement your income.
On a limited income your could be affected by changes in the exchange rate which could have an adverse impact on your lifestyle.
If you find that France really doesn't work for you then you would not have burnt your bridges.
Houses in France can take several years to sell depending on location and you should not consider a property as an investment because you may not get your money back on the eventual sale.
Renting in France is much more common than in the UK.
HTH
Rather than diving in and buying somewhere, why don't you consider renting initially.
This would allow you to explore your chosen area in detail and give you a better feel for property etc.
If you keep your property in the UK and rent it out then that would supplement your income.
On a limited income your could be affected by changes in the exchange rate which could have an adverse impact on your lifestyle.
If you find that France really doesn't work for you then you would not have burnt your bridges.
Houses in France can take several years to sell depending on location and you should not consider a property as an investment because you may not get your money back on the eventual sale.
Renting in France is much more common than in the UK.
HTH
Sep 7th 2018, 7:18 pm
#4
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 11
Re: Planning a move to brittany
Thank you for those replies, we do intend to rent while looking for a property to buy but want to know which area to base ourselves in while we explore. However, we have 3 very small dogs...will this be a problem getting a rental that will allow dogs?
one of us works in housing in the uk presently and is very against renting out our British property (fingers burnt in past years!)
we are aware that Spain has recently changed the access to healthcare but tbh it doesn’t make up for the factors that are putting us off Spain!
one of us works in housing in the uk presently and is very against renting out our British property (fingers burnt in past years!)
we are aware that Spain has recently changed the access to healthcare but tbh it doesn’t make up for the factors that are putting us off Spain!
Sep 7th 2018, 7:27 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2012
Location: Dépt 61
Posts: 5,254
Re: Planning a move to brittany
Rather than base yourself in one place, why not come out of season and rent a succession of gites in different areas so you can explore a wider area? A lot of gites do accept pets, and I think you'd probably find that easier to arrange, than getting a long term rental contract - not because of the dogs, but because of the problem ticking the boxes for the rental agencies and professional landlords (they tend to prefer people with French payslips).
Sep 7th 2018, 8:46 pm
#6
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Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 11
Re: Planning a move to brittany
Eurotrash...that’s a cracking idea! Something we hadn’t thought about but will certainly look into this. Thank you!
