Hi all . I will be completing on my french property fingers crossed by the end of Dec . My question is what do I need to do … with regards to getting a bank account to pay household bills .. electric .. property tax etc etc . I will NOT be a permanent resident in france for approx 12 months. After this time I will be applying for a permanent working visa . For the first year It will just be a holiday home . Thanks in advance
That’s a rather wide ranging question🙂
My suggestion is you read this or similar and ask specific advice/clarification questions on here.
BTW, I’m not recommending this book, it’s just the first one that popped up on Amazon, the cover looked nice and at seven quid it didn’t seemed unreasonable. it’s also got very balanced reviews, one 1 star and one 5 star (probably the author’s mum) 
The OP should also remember to get his new property insured as at the date of the final signing, many Notaires will ask if insurance is in place. You should be able to open a bank account quickly but you need to deposit some funds and once that is in place, you can start to arrange direct debit payments for taxes and utilities once you are signed up with them
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Published 2 years ago, so some things may already be out of date.
You need an account with a French IBAN, which doesn’t have to be a physical bank. Although if British then Credit Agricole Britline is an easy option.
You will probably need a French phone number, so a dual sim phone with a cheap french sim card will do. (Many threads on cheap sim cards).
With those and the reference numbers of the supply (PDL - point de livraison) you can sign up for utilities.
The notaire will inform the authorities of your ownership so in due course you will get bills for tax foncière and taxe d’habitation as second home owner. The tax foncière for the rest of this year will be pro-rata’d and sorted out with the purchase. So basically it will be next autumn that you start being charged. If you don’t want rhem to send bills to French address then will need to set up an account online with impôts.
This tells you how to do that.
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I’m not sure you can open a French bank account with a UK address, I’m sure someone will know the answer to that. But you can open a Credit Agricole Britline bank account with a UK address.
Many thanks Janejones … as impots was my next question !!
The OP will have a French address once he owns the house - so thats easy to arrange.
we did the same when buying our house - with CA, uk address first and then moved over to our French address.
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Very true. But IMO not doing one’s own primary research is foolish. I bet you did 
Horses for courses.
Yes, but not by paying amazon for a book.
It’s seven quid Jane, and it has a pretty cover 
Did you do all your research online?
When we first came to live here on assignment in 1981 there were no books on the subject (that we could find), no internet, no nothing, and we did just fine. But my then employer handled all the health, mutuel, tax, accommodation etc. etc. stuff. they did the heavy lifting and we learnt.
So, to be honest, when we finally retired here back in 2011 we didn’t buy a book either. But we both spoke French, my wife superbly, and we understood the system. We knew exactly what we were doing. But nevertheless I wouldn’t have begrudged seven quid, the price of a pint in my local, for a book that might have given us an insight, or even a laugh if it was wrong.
The more information one can garner from no matter what source the better. Then one can road test assumptions here.
No, it was mainly footwork visiting and talking to French people. Plus reading french information in magazines for house-buyers. There wasn’t much online then.
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We were the same in 89, no internet/Amazon stuff then, all legwork and questions. When we decided on the property and went back to the Notaire’s office to sign then first papers, she took us next door to the CA where we opened an account immediately and paid in some traveller’s cheques to get it started and to cover a deposit on the property. Times have certainly changed since those times but info was beginning to form in the shape of French property and Living magazines in which we advertised the business eventually when we moved and got a lot of clients and future friends from them
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France Magazine was a good source of info back then and then Living France also
Even in 2007 much of it was legwork, asking questions and help from those already here (Dutch estate agent and the people who looked after the house we bought for the previous owners). I did discover a forum fairly early on (Total France, now defunct) and the magazines were wonderful for selling the dream.
The previous owners very generously left us some of their furniture (including two beds already made up for us) which was a huge help as the furniture lorry wasn’t arriving until the next day.
They also left us an incredibly useful notebook full of all sorts of info about the house (how to clean the swimming pool, etc) and places to visit and eat out.
It was easier in those days to sit down in front of someone and explain - we had a crazy time with EDF because our property had 2 electricity meters, one in the house and one in the ruined cottage that was still connected. We had several trips to Bergerac, sitting in their offices with photos of the old, rusted meter and the new one in the house, because nobody believed us. A snotty young man on the phone suggested I was reading the water meter!
OH was fluent in French so no need for translated information (I was much less fluent so let him do much of that side of the research).
I would suggest that most who arrive here are not fluent in French which if they are should be a bonus.
Now going back to England and a fluent english speaker I thought it would be easy but after 17 years, the language hasn’t changed but how things are done certainly has and it isnt as easy as I thought!
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The book which prepared us for much of French life was “ A year in Provence” 
a Christmas present from friends.
That book and the TV series (which we have on dvd) have given us so much pleasure over the years.
Every character exists in real life and we’ve met ‘em all
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Yes, the same degree of urgency in completing building or garden or whatever projects is still displayed in our neck of the Provence woods. One guy half competed a major job on our drive and disappeared for eight months leaving piles of sand and tout-venant so that we couldn’t access the rear of the house for. He was amazed, in fact outraged when I then told him to sod off.
One thing I would highly recommend is getting a good plumber, good electrician, good builder (preferably a roofer too) and gardener that are responsive and you can trust to do a good job. It took us years to build up our TAP (Trusted Artisan Portfolio ), with many expensive disappointments along the way. I dread any of them retiring.
Firstly tolerance for the French system ; they adore paperwork.
Secondly, get the Google Translate app on your mobile phone.
Thirdly, when the house purchase is completed, then introduce yourself and family to the Marie.
I recall AYIP well, although it didn’t tempt me to move here. We considered moving to Italy in 1989, and there seemed to be a lot of books around to help people move countries in those pre-internet days. Going to a bookshop or a library was our google search. 