I’m glad that you are now beginning to think in the way that I suggested a few days ago, the way that you turned down flat as being impossible. Good luck.
Hi, along the lines of this topic, if you are British whose partner is an EU citizen living in the UK - can you both relocate to France (me as the partner of the EU citizen)? Or do you you have to be married?
There is a website called Lay My Hat which is about Gites and Chambres d’Hote. It might be able to help you, also information on here .
You have to be married. Pacs might count, I don’t know. But it has to be an “official” relationship wih legal paperwork to confirm it.
Gîtes are oversubscribed in some regions of France, and not in others. In our area the tourist people were very pleased to have incoming Brits setting up a new gîte, as they don’t have enough. If you are heading to Brittany (?) this may not be the same.
Unless it’s just one room every now and then and only B&B, not full chambre d’hôtes with evening meal, then it is hard work! I compare notes with a friend who has 3 ChD’h rooms versus our main 3 bedroom gîte. She earns more of course, but much much more work. The ironing is relentless…
With our main gîte we reckon that our investment is earning us 7% not counting for our time (would be more but was a complete renovation project so investment slightly more than buying off the shelf). We also have a long term let that is earning around 12% a year, but would be hard to replicate than now with current prices. The long term let is a perpetual headache despite earning more, and the gîte is generally fun. This year we have 6 returning clients, three of whom are now friends.
If you like people, and find their quirks interesting rather than frustrating, and don’t mind cleaning toilets then running a gîte is quite a sociable activity. It does restrict you tho’, as from May to October we have to be here to do the change-overs every week, rest of the year less so.
The general advice seems to be that you would need to establish “legal residency” under French rules before 31/12/2020. After that date, whilst the EU partner of a “durable” relationship (no civil partnership, no marriage) will still have freedom of movement, the British half of that durable partnership, will nor, nor will any children born of that partnership unless the EU parent has exclusive ward over the children. At least, that is my take from the recently published British in Europe PDF.
We were in a “durable” relationship for 20+ years in the UK and would have stayed so. All the advice (tax / financial) in 2007 when we planned to move here was “marry”. So we did. I would suggest that advice is as valid today as it was 13 years ago, especially if one half has the advantage of EU citizenship.
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Hi Anna, you seem to have lots of knowledge, if I rented for a year as you advise would I then be able to buy a Gite and run it even if I had declared myself as self-supporting and not looking for work, or does that just apply to non-EU which if I move before late 2020 wouldn’t refer to me, as I would already be in France? Or as I wouldn’t actually be working for someone else it wouldn’t count anyway?
That would certainly give me the chance to close up my house here and either sell or rent it out, generating income for a purchase or more income to live on.
Thank you
Caroline
That’s something I don’t know. Others such as Jane are better placed to advise you on that.
But as a general rule - if you “declare” yourself as one status, and after examining your paperwork they decide that you are in fact a different status, they will overrule you.
I have a vague feeling that there is or used to be a rule about what proportion of your income is earned and what proportion is unearned, which decides whether you would have to register the gite as a business or not.
I think you can change your status in any case though, so if you start off as inactif and change to active before you get your permanent residence card, that shouldn’t be a problem. But I’m not totally sure.
There are plenty of Americans who own rental properties in France. They are not EU passport holders.
There aren’t as many Americans who are allowed to live in France and earn an income here though.
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@CNRanderia The following page gives an indication of what will probably be required for British nationals in order to be able to work as an independent, and thereby obtain residency rights, as a self-employed person once the withdrawal agreement kicks in.
https://brexit.gouv.fr/sites/brexit/accueil/vous-etes-britannique-en/conditions-d-emploi.html
British citizens who carry on a self-employed profession prior to 31 December 2020 will have to provide proof, by any means, that they do so on a lawful, actual and long-term basis. The supporting documents required are the same as those listed on the www.service-public.gouv.fr website for issuing residence permits to EU citizens carrying on a self-employed activity.
The question then is whether running a gîte is considered self-employment. Probably, given the fiscal regime attached to such an activity if it is the sole source of revenue.
If you intend to run this yourself, independently of your partner, as a non-EU citizen not claiming the benefit of legal residency in France before December 31st, 2020, then you will probably fall under the 3rd party national status and have to meet the requirements with regard to independent employment as set out on the Ministry of the Interior’s website.
My ha’penneth’s worth:
- quickly get married ou PACSed (or whatever the UK equivalent is now “civil partnership” for all?
- move to France as soon as possible, and preferably before the summer
- create a business structure as soon as possible in France
- start earning money from your business as soon as possible
- the longer you are in France and earning money in France before 31/12/2020, the better your chances of being able to prove the combination of partner of an EU(GB) citizen and “lawful, actual long term basis” for self-employment.
Some or all of the above may not correspond to the reality of where you are today in your quest.
Thank you for those responses,
I am married to an EU national (Irish).
The earliest I could move would be July, I’m a teacher and although legally only required to give a half-term’s notice it would cause my colleagues problems.
Hence looking for gites already up and running
That would potentially give 5 months active business and living in France. Husband wouldn’t be coming on a permanent basis initially due to his job but potentially commuting at weekends, holidays etc.
As I said before I never actually expected BREXIT to become a reality and now feel if I am to realise a long held dream of living in France relatively easily, I’ve got to act quickly which is going to take some of my family some getting used to.
@PeterJ But the article you produce as evidence for us not leaving the Erasmus project isn’t a fact. It says that the government has an ‘ambition’ to stay in while it suits them. Coming from the twirling Tories, I wouldn’t put money on it. What was good 3 years ago, is bad now, they are capable of volte face from week to week. They’ve spent 3 years telling gullible voters that everything will stay the same when we leave, we’ll have all the same benefits, business will be booming.
Frankly anyone who believes anything the Tories say, must be more than a little naive, have a short memory, be a Daily Mail reader and probably voted to leave the EU too because the Tories and the Mail told them we would have the upper hand, we get to call the shots, save loads of money which will be used for the NHS while retaining most of the benefits we’ve got used to.
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Caroline, I think you need to look into the income tax situation.
Normaĺly in France, married couples fill in a joint income declaration and are taxed as a household. It’s possible to be taxed as individuals but you would need to ask the tax office upfront and get them to agree. Otherwise as a married person you can’t simply leave the spouse’s side of the form blank, even if he’s living and working outside of France, you would be required to declare both your total worldwide incomes.
Not a problem as such but a potential complication, so I suggest you find out how it will work before it arises.
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Thank you for that, I’m trying to get as much financial information as possible. I have signed up for some guides about moving to France, buying property and potentially running a business. My tax return in the UK is a nightmare without the added bonus of moving to France. Apparently, according to Gov.uk I would still have to pay tax in the UK on my property earnings in the UK even if I live in France so it sounds like two tax returns 
.
Yes, you do two. But it’s really not an issue…HMRC send you a slimmed down paper form just for the property income and you declare everything else in France (including the UK property earnings but you get credited for the tax paid). HMRC also do webinars specifically on property income, where you can ask questions. Remarkably helpful. And french tax offices are usually great.
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it’s a ‘fact check’ article from Channel4. It states the governments position on Erasmus+
I am not interested about Tory voters, the Daily Mail or who voted what in the referendum, merely the truth about statements made by politicians.
I can tell you (as someone who is involved in Erasmus+) that all projects involving the UK are frozen or remain unfunded, until further notice, at the UK’s request. It means the de facto end of Erasmus+ for the UK because the rest of us want mobility to English speaking countries now and the UK is only one of several, so we shall go elsewhere.
That is what the facts are at the moment, whatever the UK government is saying in the press.
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