It will depend on the particular building. I’d guess a notaire would be able to advise you.
Hi Steve myself and my husband moved to France 9 wks ago and it isn’t easy lot of red tape paper work and everything takes time and lots of patience,along with the language barrier,we live in the CORREZE area MONTGIBAUD the weather was good in December we was sat outside on numerous days,January quite cold and lots of frost -8 but then yesterday I was sat out in 18 degrees we are quite high up where we are so weather quite good long hot summers,working and registering is a nightmare to get round and can be costly depending on what your doing but it’s possible we are nearly registered now after countless meetings and phone calls and document sending,good idea to have a good interpreter around 20 Euro a hr are 100 Euro for the full day but worth there weight in gold,when registered and have your cerrat number you get health insurance with it but you have to pay a top up if needing a doctor are hospital treatment,back to the weather depends where your thinking putting down roots we have friends 15 mins away from us and it’s a lot colder there hope this information helps this only our experience.
Glad you are getting settled in…
Hearing what you pay for an interpreter makes me realise why folks drop by my place with a bottle of wine or chocolates…
Hi stella yes we are getting settled now still up to our eyes in paper work and red tape:scream:
nearly registered now,just working out the edf bills and water there not looking to bad cheaper than uk at the min but we are careful no wood burner as we are renting at the mo see if we like it first before we buy are build our own home,we actually managed to fill out the forms for a super u card and hey presto she understood us big scary thing to do but you only live once thankyou for the reply
HI Christine…
Everything you tackle… like super U card…will build up your confidence.
and, in the main, you will find that folk do try to understand what you are trying to say or do…
chin up… it will all come together in the end…
Are you sure it’s a warmer climate you want or a dryer one? We are from north Lancs, live in SW Scotland and are moving to eastern France. Although it will be a lot warmer in summer the winters may be cold but they will be dryer, the dampness of the west coast could be the most negative part of the British climate for us.
You make a good point! The cold I can handle and I’m not a sun worshipper. The rain does get so bad here that it stops most things. I’ve never seen puddles on hills before!! It’s doesn’t drain away even with some drainage in. We’ve looked at various places. It’s just seeing the right place. How did you decide on the place you’re moving to?
In brief, we drove to Cannes and back and around Dijon/Beaune we found the climate much more favourable to our needs. Googled climatic areas of France (images) and where there is a continental climate it suits us better. This is very personal to our needs though. Here weather fronts are the problem and east winds are great but rare.
We’ve started drawing up a “Wish” list which we’d like to meet. The main area of concern is the bureaucracy. As an engineer never been into paperwork!
That concerns me too, but other people can do it so I’m sure you can. Are you going to rely on being a small holder to make a living, that could be tricky. Good luck. Perhaps you could try to rent first?
No. The small holding I have doesn’t pay. Its a way of life and compared to the big boys a “hobby”. I’m an electrician / telecoms engineer and my partner is a School Business Manager so we are hoping to supplement our income by working or offering our talents in exchange for other people’s. Also, One of our priorities on our list is to find a property with the possibility of two gites. Hopefully they would help to put some wine on the table.!
Sounds great. I’m thinking electrician if France = LOTS of paperwork. Gites sound great but think about location, will where you choose be summer or all year round (albeit quieter off season but ticking over)
What are you going to do in France?
Tourism, probably chambre d’hote to start with, I do bnb here.
Good idea. Be interesting to hear what you are doing right now.
Climate: yes it can get cold (fortunatly) but you are right in believing that the growing season is longer, perhaps far longer than where you are. Main problem here (2h N Toulouse) is too much heat/sun and lack of water.
I’ve been working 29Ha for ten years here, and still learning of course 
My advice is ‘location location and neighbours’ so take a long time, and manyB&B hloidays finding the village of your dreams.
Oh, I’m considering same, where are you thinking of please when you say long, cold… Normandy perhaps no?
Hi Mary and welcome to the forum…
You have addressed someone who has actually left the forum… which is why it shows as Anonxxxxx…
why not start a New Topic, saying what you are looking for, perhaps… ???
just a thought…
cheers
Ah v thank you Stella, I run small bnb here in Ireland and was perusing mid breakfast and
hadn’t noticed, v thank you I will!
Regards
Mary
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Where do you live in Ireland Mary?
We live in Lower Normandy (not so much lower but further West) and about 30 km in from the coast (Baie Mont St Michel). Over the last five years we’ve been here there has been very little snow, and the winters have been mild. This region, being on the Western seaboard of France is reputedly wetter than some other regions, but not noticeably so. This year has been unusually dry and arid. The weather is comparable to Southern England.
On the whole the climate is equable and congenial all year-round. The region is very agricultural (fruit and vegetables, dairy cattle, maize, barley)TV, milk, butter, cheese and nor overpopulated anywhere. Gardening is simple, things grow well and the soil is good.
Rural living can be lonely and public transport very sparse, so to survive comfortably it is best to live in town unless you are of rural stock yourself and can drive.