There have been a few topics recently about growing old, homes that might become too large to handle, people trying to sell their house and of course others who are looking to buy.
We bought our first french house back in 1992 and since then have owned 4 here so we are well versed in the French property market. We have renovated each house and enjoyed every minute and its now time to move on, again.
We have also travelled many thousands of kilometres around this beautiful country in our camping car stopping where and when we chose.
I have often read how the pull of grandchildren draws people back to their roots and thought, not us, but its happened., we now have 8!
We put our house on the market 4 weeks ago at a considerably higher price than the immobilier recommended and here we are 4 weeks on with a signed compromis from the first viewer who offered full asking price, so it can happen!
Its going to be a hectic few months ahead but we are always up for a challenge,
This is our choice, our adventure, our lives.
I am happy to post about the many bridges we will need to cross in transferring from France to the UK and know that we will not be the only ones considering such a move.
France has been good to us and after 33 years it has occupied almost half our lives but like most, lets not forget that it was being British that afforded many to buy into France.
Authors warning
Please don’t bother posting if all you want to say is how bad you think the Uk is.
Wow how exciting! I wish you both the best of luck with everything. I don’t envy you the packing. 
I know that’s true for many of our older friends, and I understand it.
There is no one perfect solution, so well done for making the decision that is right for you.
Totally understand your reasons for moving back - hope all goes smoothly - sounds like you are off to a good start with the sale of the house!
(Mind you, you could have offered it to me for €50,000, that would have been nice… 
)
Welcome back Johnboy, ( thought I’d get it in early!). We arrived back for the same reason and same number of grandkids, hardest part for us was finding somewhere without too many neighbours and even that wasn’t too hard. I just treat it the same as when we moved to France, strange place , different people, different way of doing things, I was going to say at least I didn’t have to learn a new language but after 13 years away it seemed like I had to, no idea what people were talking about . Good luck with your move.
Good luck and hope everything falls into place smoothly. The pull of the first grandchild and only seeing him maybe once a year was one of the crucial factors in my decision to move south and downsizing. Will you be on Escape to the Country soon as there seems to be more people returning to the UK on there now?
Congratulations.
When a decision is right, it’s right.. and things will and do fall into place ! as they have for you selling your property.
Wishing you all the best back in the UK… what fun times you have to look forward to with your expanding family.
Bon déménagement. Hope it goes smoothly for you.
I shall be following your progress with interest i.e. please keep posting
We’re in the same situation; moved here nearly 22 years ago with no signs of grandchildren. Two out of the three offspring didn’t even have partners then. We now have five…
Also back then we were naive about how much of a problem inheritance taxation is for step-children. At the time our property was worth very little (it was a veal cattle shed!) but complete renovation has changed that. Even so we are struggling to see how we could afford anywhere decent to buy back in the UK, especially in a location that would make grandchildren visits easier.
That’s most important thing, deciding what’s best for you and then making it happen.
We’ve been talking recently about the possibility of returning to the UK at some point. Many things have changed recently within our family and we’ve realised that we don’t see enough of our family. I have a brother who is seriously ill and I do my best to support him and my sister in law and go to see him several times a year.
I have another brothers and a sister that I know will need our support in the following years. And that’s without thinking of all the youngsters in the family some of whom I don’t get to see much. We’ll have to see what happens but I think we’ll e returning at some point.
Congratulations John. Love that your title is “a new adventure”. And yes please, do keep us posted about your progress. Couldn’t agree more with Stella, that when the time is right things fall into place - happened to us when we moved here 18 years ago.
We too are making plans for the long term (hopefully) future. We are very fortunate in that we sold a flat in the UK in January which had supplemented our income here in France. Some of that money is now going to a small, modern terrace house in the UK, which we both love. We made the offer yesterday and it’s been accepted. It’s so that whoever of us is left can move back to the UK with ease and does not have to sell here in France first (as I say, we are very fortunate we can do that).
Whoever is left, their life in the UK will be very different from here. Unlike Debbie, we have made no attempt to find somewhere that is similar to here, so far from not having neighbours, the UK house has neighbours on both sides and round the corner from the cul de sac is a small corner stores, a butcher, a baker and a candl… (No, a hairdressers!) What’s not to like? It will be for one of us too a whole new adventure.
All the very best to you.
Congrats on your news too, Sue. 
We dont yet know where we shall live so for now we will take up temporary residence in one of our rentals which quite conveniently has just cone empty.
We have been looking at houses for some 9 months now and decided that although the internet is a great source of information it will be far better to se the properties and surroundings in real time.
We are adamant not to go back to our previous area and find a new neck of the woods to explore.
That happened for us when we decided to move to France. We had a house in the UK and one in France that had been on the market for a couple of years with no takers. We put the UK house on the market and lowered the price of the French house. Both had offers accepted about six weeks later within the same week. I went into work to tell them I was retiring and the director of engineering who I knew very well arranged for me to be made redundant instead, with a very generous package. The week after completion on both houses we moved to France.
If we do move back to the UK, I hope it goes the same way 
I love space, bit anti social really, I can and do mix occasionally but I like my own company, I can have an argument without falling out with myself 
. A lovely 20/30 minute walk away is our local town, got 2 excellent butchers, an ok bakery, good fruit & veg shop, plus various other independent retailers. After our jaunt out, drop into our favourite pub for morning coffee and gossip, it’s a lovely, friendly place when you get to know the locals. I can honestly say I know more about people I’ve never met than I do about myself​:rofl:
Best of luck.
I will probably be hot(ish) on your heels so would be most grateful if you could report back on the process of moving (when and how to close French bank accounts, how to get a no-claims bonus transferred from France for new UK car instance, etc).
Hope all goes smoothly for you @JohnBoy . Please do keep us updated with how the move goes!
I think I can answer that one - usually they will take your word for it, but if not just produce a copy of your current insurance info showing the no-claims.
At least that’s what happened when I came back from Turks & Caicos to UK in 2010 - I got UK car insurance with no hassle.
Good luck JohnBoy, we moved back two years ago and the only things we really miss are the children and grandchildren who are spread all over mainland France and beyond.
Unlike you, we moved back to where we used to live so everything is pretty familiar. The biggest problem was finding somewhere to live, whilst we got a good price for our French house the proceeds in sterling only bought us a three bed semi which we’ve already moved from as it was too small, the lesson there is to take your time when buying as it may be your last home so you need to get it right.