You might like to post a link to such a reference which the OP might find useful.
We all speak from our own experiences and thus is clear that not all Mairies are alike in many ways…
My own small Mairie is exceptional and there are definitely others almost equally so in several departments… as I know from my own experiences… they can point one in the right direction…
But I am not surprised that some/many Mairies are being (or appearing to be) unhelpful and in some cases downright obstructive… it’s been mentioned again and again here on the forum.
Certainly, I would not discuss anything sensitive with someone I was not confident of…
It still seems to me that obtaining the right to work in France has to be the first step if your plans involve working in France.
So I think you should start by researching how a UK company can apply to France for work authorisation.
I do not see how a portage salarial company could obtain this for you since they do not advertise jobs for people to apply for and so how could they meet the requirement to have tried without success to recruit a French or EU candidate before requesting permission to employ a TCN.
Without work authorisation firstly you cannot apply for a visa to be an employee and secondly your employer cannot start the embauche process.
You do not need prior work authorisation to set up a business or a freelance consultanty but you do need a viable business plan and normally the visa authorities ask for this to be either approved by the ministry or signed off by a French accountant. Your business plan would show what products or services you will offer and who your clients will be. This sounds as if it would require a major change to your plans.
So I think that obtaining work authorisation is the key because I do not see how you can proceed without it.
But I do think you should take professional advice.
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I have seem examples (which of course I can’t find now) that the essence is the relationship, and if you do not have an employer-employee relationship then that “may” be acceptable. A bit like an embedded contractor.
I have also read that and the example I have seen is of an IT consultant who takes on a project to design and install a complex system for firm A which he devotes all of his time to for a year or so during which time firm A is his only client. But there is no employer-employee relationship. The client knows nothing about designing IT system and is fully dependent on the consultant’s expertise, and consultant is completely in charge of how he carries out the work as long as he has the agreed functionalities in place by the agreed deadline. His business existed before he signed the contract with firm A and it will continue after the project is completed.
If the work being done here can be packaged as a stand alone service and offered to other charities and organisations you could make a case for it. For somebody living in France on a WARP card for instance it ought to be possible but the trouble is that if it is for a visa application the business plan will be scrutinised and if the main client, is the same company that is currently the full time employer, that might raise a red flag. So in this case although having only one client is acceptable in theory I think other clients would be needed to stop it looking like salariat déguisé.
WARP card holders have the right to work in France, of course, which is one of the hurdles solved, at least for them.
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Just wanted to chip in some more thanks here: it’s a busy working day (which, of course, I shouldn’t be having) but I’m very grateful to the time you’re all devoting to this. I’m familiar with the scrutiny that HMRC gives to freelance arrangements, so I’m not surprised to find something similar here. As I’m in my 20-something year with the same charity, and my working life allows hardly any time to devote to getting the right visa, I don’t think I’ll be adding any other clients. So finding detailed info for how my charity can negotiate the French system seems the priority
If you use F***book, I can recommend this group, the Admins are very knowledgeable, and have very likely had similiar enquiries in the past.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/248686685795058/
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Yes, worth looking at their guides. But if you post a question be prepared for a lot of low quality replies (not the admins…).
This may be helpful going forward
You employ staff in France while located abroad - Urssaf.fr
however the work permit needs to be in place first and that is a separate process as it is not part of URSSAF’s remit.
Just so Paul knows, it’s the same as I posted at No 17, above, but in English not French so perhaps more helpful.
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So it is.
Sorry I did not realise.
@PaulH I’m sure this has already been exhaustively looked into by you as a potential longer term solution, so advance apologies if you have done so…Do you or your wife happen to have a spare Irish parent/grandparent (or some other EU citizens) stashed away by any chance?
Probably like many others here, I’ve come across several Brits who have ‘discovered’ helpful family ancestral links with all sorts of likely (and unlikely!) EU countries. That’s obviously then enabled them to apply for, and receive the famous burgundy EU passport, with the right to live and work here etc…Thought I’d just ask…
Would setting up a UK Ltd work with the charity paying the company and not the OP, the OP would then pay himself dividends? I say this as a friend here works remotely and travels back to the UK once a month for meetings, he declares the income on his French tax return.
Either someone with a withdrawal agreement carte de séjour, or a visa that allows him to remote work here.
If you have a UK Ltd and work remotely in France, as compared to being a frontalier travelling each week to do all their working week physically in the UK, then your UK Ltd that employs you, must pay all the various employers’ social security/ contributions/taxes that are due in France, to France, as well as you as an employee having to pay normal employee contributions / social security taxes as an employee. These costs may turn out to be very significant. I suspect getting to grips with this will also take some admin effort
The fact of it being a UK Ltd won’t exclude you and your Ltd. both having to pay these amounts.
Ah Brexit, the gift that keeps on biting…
Some thoughts as an amateur (France) immigration counsellor…
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Go and see an immigration counsellor - or pay for an immigration lawyer - if one wants assurance.
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Don’t overcomplicate - e.g.
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@PaulH is pretty much doing the frontalier thing, if it looks like a duck…?
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Can one assume the job in the UK was discussed during the visa application process - if so what would be the problem? If not then perhaps that would be the problem!
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The France address must be registered with HMRC and the rental income will be declared - presumably self assessment has been requested.
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Therefore HMRC will / should already be up to speed - and should surely be accommodating for S1 etc, as why would they unnecessarily give up the UK tax income - they will apply the frontalier ‘rules’ - which after all are self-declared.
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So perhaps it’s all down to whether the type of visa obtained does allow someone to be a ‘frontalier’ ?
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And if not then @johnscully 's suggestion does look very worth considering?
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And with no income taxable in France, the Impot won’t be rushing to set the OP up in the system (after all they lost Madames first 2020 declaration and still haven’t processed her 2021 declaration - why would they, there’s no tax to pay and bigger fish etc…
Just some thoughts…
Also notes from unqualified immigration adviser…. But with time and careful step by step approach these things can be resolved happily.
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We all do hope so 
And hopefully Paul will also come back and update us sometime as SF crowdsourced knowledge and experience is invaluable! (Apart from the bots perhaps).
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Social charges though, if declared ( incorrectly but what other option is there) as “foreign income”.