We had been hoping to move to France in 2020, we have a house in the Gironde already which we currently use as a holiday home. We are not yet old enough, or have sufficient money, to retire so will be do some work to support a “back to basics” lifestyle.
We intend to keep a house in the UK to rent out for income, and maybe a second house in the UK or a gite in France also for rental income.
I am very interested to know what people who have already made the move currently feel.
Bearing in mind the Brexit vote, would you:
Move to France earlier, whilst GB is still part of EU
Continue to wait until 2020
Stay in the UK (which would be very sad after so many years dreaming!)
I don’t see any problem with moving out, as long as you leave the door open so you can move back if necessary. Since you’re planning on keeping a UK property, and since AFAIK it’s quite easy to kick tenants out in the UK, why not? A move doesn’t have to mean for ever, provided you keep your options open - it could be for 4 years if Brexit bites hard, or for the foreseeable future if it doesn’t.
My main concern would be, will a rental income in £ be sufficient to fund the two of you in France through to retirement, including paying for healthcare etc.
We don’t yet rent the house as it is normally in use by us, family or friends, in a couple of years this may be different - or we may even be living there.
Since we moved to France ten years ago, I have become more fatalist. We both worked in IT, are excellent planners and problem solvers, however I have learned that you can’t plan for all eventualities: life is for living now. We could have put off our move until my parents had both died, by which time our own renovation would have been beyond us (and probably unaffordable). We could have gone back to the UK when Phil’s diabetes and cancer were diagnosed, or when our UK-based son’s sight started to deteriorate, but we have stayed put, our only concession being to retain late Mum’s South London flat rather than sleep on family floors, and store enough kit, clothes and food there to make travelling simple and life comfortable. France is our home, our future is here, come what may. Ask yourself what you are waiting for and check you really want to move over. What are you putting off?
I knew that I was going to move to France for about 25 years but put off the move until I knew that I could do it and be financially secure. I had a good job that allowed me to live comfortably, visit my holiday home in France frequently and for long periods every year but most important of all to prepare for the ‘dream’. I am so glad that I structured my plans that way. I know it would not be ideal for everyone but it worked for me. You obviously have a good income in the UK, you own a house there and a holiday home in south west France. You write confidently about having the ability to buy a second rental property. Do some research and see how difficult it will be to have a similar income if you move to France now. I have a close friends who live here on the income from a rented house in a UK town and a small gite in their garden. They have a great quality of life but they have no money. They manage their enviable lifestyle because they are practical and are not afraid to take on large projects themselves. I have seen many others return to the UK after discovering that life anywhere was always more expensive that they’d imagined or that being close to family and friends is more important than sunshine and uncrowded roads. From what you have written a move to France would be a huge change for you, make sure that you really want to leave what you have (the best of both worlds?) before making your choice. Only you can make that decision, everyone here can give their opinion and share their experiences but nobody else will have been in exactly your position.
We have just pulled out of our planned move to France. We can’t afford to keep a base in the UK and it would have been a ‘lock stock and barrel’ move. I am dependent on my pension which has dropped by 20% since Brexit and have an ongoing medical problem which needs treatment. I can’t risk losing reciprocal health care rights than one has as an EU citizen. Private health care is much too expensive in France. For these reasons we have reluctantly pulled out of our house purchase. I am really sad about this and feel defeated by Brexit . Furious this decision has been forced upon me by people, many of whom have no real idea what they were voting for.
