Holiday Rental Vs Tenant Rental

Property & Home
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Hi I am in the process of purchasing my first house in France and I am excited to be starting my visa application soon.
I have decided that rather than do my time and then look for some work as I am too young to fully retire yet, that I would look to invest in a few other 1 and 2 bedroom properties.

I was wondering if anyone here had any experience of both the holiday rental market and the tenant rental markets in France.
I have had a few properties in the UK and I think been a good landlord but the Tenancy laws in the UK made it very difficult as a landlord .

I was lucky with my tenants and never had nay real issues, but I know a few people that had bad tenants and lost lots of money due to refusal to pay the rent and staying in the property with lots of court cases to try and get them out and this could take a year or longer so I am skeptical about renting to Tenants again.

So as I said anyone that has any experience of either would be great to hear your story.

My French property is just south of Limoges and I am looking around this area for my other properties to invest in and make a business of this then I can semi-retire and enjoy the nice weather and amazing wines on offer :smiley: :smiling_face:

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Good luck with your plans!

I have no personal experience of this, but all that I have read about tenancy agreements in France (both on SF and elsewhere) suggests that the tenant is heavily protected - probably more so than in the UK.

Holiday lets probably easier but obviously those tend to be seasonal not year-round.

@SuePJ among others can no doubt tell you more about the gite business?

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More cider than wine there.

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We used to have one of each. For a visa you might well be better off opting for long term rental properties as easier to develop a business plan to show you make the financial threshold.

Choice of property, and choice of tenant are absolutely critical. If you think UK tenancy law is strict France will just make your jaw drop. We have a UK rental as well which is just so easy! Lots of things to consider, such as age of tenant (can’t evict old people) and so on. And you need to be on top of the financial side.

We rented for about 10 years with no problems at all, but had the tenants vetted very thoroughly.

We sold that property but still have our gîte. Which we enjoy as a hands on activity. You can do it at arm’s length but that will eat your profits. But you have to be prepared for ‘special’ people with habits that are strange! And be prepared to clean toilets. The financial perks that used to be available for gîtes have just been squeezed, so you will have to work to get a profit. And absolutely keep control of your costs!

Do you speak French? Pretty essential unless you want to restrict yourself quite a bit.

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We too have had both here in France.
We had to take both of our tenants to court and in the end finished up selling the place because of the stress.
There may be things to learn from our story.
The returns are good on tenanted properties, better than the UK and in some ways we had an ideal scenario. We bought a 3 storey property - ground floor beauticians (she had owned the whole place) and she always paid on time and kept an eye on the place for us and kept us up to date with building issues etc.
The top two floors were an excellent 4 bed 2 bathroom plus study apartment and there was a family living in it when we bought, which we thought was great. Unfortunately they gave notice (they are entitled to) and we took on a large empty place which we struggled to get suitable tenants for. Also, we were new to the area and the estate agents did not know us and we were badly treated to begin with (also language difficulties) - he put a friend in the flat while she waited for somewhere else and took our fees for no more than a 3 month occupancy.
The flat finally was let to a young single mother on the social, which, when she stopped paying her rent, to some extent helped us as we still had the beautician and the social money which was paid straight to us and in fact probably gave us a better return or at least as good as the UK.
In the end, we appointed huissiers and took her to court. We were told we would never get her out over the winter period but in fact we did because (a) she did not come to court and (b) she had never taken out contents insurance which is an obligation in France. So the judge issued her with an immediate eviction notice (I think it was January). Just to reassure, she had family in the area and already had another place lined up. In theory we were owed her back rent but since the list of creditors included the tax man, the electricity company, the phone company, and so on we have never seen and never will see a penny. She had a violent boyfriend and we had to replace the front door which he tried to kick in.
Also, she left the place a mess, including having painted the lounge a ghastly dark brown, so we spent a fair amount of money on painters and decorators getting it back to marketability.
The second tenant, a lovely middle aged lady who taught English, became ill, stopped working and stopped paying us. So again, we were back in court.
Each time we went to court we had a French friend with us to help translate and support us.
We should have divided the flat into two smaller ones - one per floor - as there would have been a chance that at any given time at least one tenant would have been paying us.
Also, the market (at least in our part of the world) has changed radically. Families want a bungalow on a lotissment with a garden. Small one/two bed flats are still needed for younger singles and couples and are easier to let.
I would endorse Jane’s view that good vetting and good management is essential - we should never have taken the young single mum.
If it goes wrong the process thereafter is very stressful for the landlord as it is very difficult to get people out. Landlords are the devil’s spawn (however good you are) much as in the UK.
In many ways, running a gite is a doddle - but as Jane says, difficult to put together a business plan unless you are taking over an existing business and can show history.
You’ll make more money from a tenancy than a gite unless you are very lucky and find a way to make a margin on the shoulders of the gite seasons - summer is easy and if you market yourself well you can cover 2 months and make a lot during those two months and possibly extend to 4. Outside that, you need to be somewhere where people come for other reasons - walking /skiing etc etc.
Like Jane, we make the money because we do it all ourselves (it’s only a 2-bed 4 /5 adults place) and we keep it spotless and put lots of love into it and smother them in generosity - so people come back - 4/5 times is not uncommon. But then I’m not trying to make a business of it - just cover my costs and have a bit more for emergencies like car repairs.
I target the UK market, so language is never an issue though during Covid I had Dutch, French German and Belgian guests. I speak no German and the couple spoke no English or French and we got on famously with Google translate!
The English love that I take the exchange rate hit and we’re happy to have them pay into our UK bank a/c.
A service company / professional cleaners, lovely though they may be will never match your own standards. I will always have the edge in terms of how pristine my place looks (and I do not have a single housewife gene in my body!)
Hope this helps. Sorry I’ve gone on a bit.

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Sorry, but this really made me chuckle. Tenancy laws are a world apart in France.

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In my experience there are far more British residents in France who get a passive income from owning rental property in the U.K. than in France. If you want the income your current properties managed by an agent might be the way forward. If you want to run your properties as a business that is completely different and far more complex as it will mean applying for a different visa with financial strings attached. I am sure you are well aware of that as it’s advice you were given when you first posted about moving to France.

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We have done holiday lets and long term lets in France in rhe area you are considering. Also have a UK property portfolio. As others have said the letting business in France is poles apart from the UK and not in a good way if you want a stress free life.
We all read horror stories of nightmare tenants and slum landlords in the UK but never the flip side.
For us the golden rule is don’t let a property that you wouldn’t live in yourself.
Properties are generally cheaper to buy in France but the rental return is lower too so there isnt a pot of gold to be had here.
A renter here, a holiday let there will provide an income but not one that you can live on without other income sources.
I wish you luck in your new venture but beware, it takes a long time to establish a property portfolio that will support you. It doesn’t need much repair and maintenance issues to make a big hole in your income and establishing a reliable maintenance team in an adopted country like France will take time and effort that can test the patience of a saint let alone a newbie on the block.
I offer my experience and advice in good faith and wish you well in your proposed venture.

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Yes, always on news reports where owners can’tt get their properties back for years sometimes and then in bits as tenants are so heavily protected here especially in the six months of winter when they cannot be evicted even for non-payment of rent. After having tenants from hell for a couple of years back in the UK and these were professionals (nurses, estate agent etc) they wrecked our lovely home and we said never ever again. Not something I would do with such a valuable asset and even less so here in France.

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I think there’s something different (safer), if one rents out a partially-furnished property… rather than empty.
I’m sure someone will have the appropriate link… something about it being easier for the Owner to cancel the Lease (if necessary) … ??? :crossed_fingers:

( we found out the hard way… and vowed never to be landlords ever again. We lost a lot of money and almost lost our faith in the decency of fellow human beings.)

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The lowest risk is bail mobilité in a University town 10 month lets

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I’m surprised you say that John, unless you are talking about the total amount of rental as opposed to the % return against original investment in the property. Even with the problems we had with our tenants we were making 8%-10%. We weren’t making anything like that in the UK.

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Percentage rental return against property investment varies greatly depending where in the Uk you are a landlord and isn’t the be all and end all.
A regular fair rent income is far better than high tenant turnover.

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Holiday rentals depend very much on the area - you either need to be nearby or have somebody manage the property for a fee, and whilst you might make good money in the holiday season, it can be tough out of season, especially somewhere near Limoges as opposed to the coast for example.

Unfurnished long-term rentals are easier in some respects, and you’re more likely to get a tenant that stays beyond a year or two. You must meet the DPE energy diagnostics (rated A-G). You can no longer rent an F or a G, so make sure they conform, and you’ll have to pay to have the diagnostics done, but the rating should last 10 years.

There’s always a risk involved. Having rented a house near the coast to a tenant who was making 5-6 times more than the average wage, and had several businesses in the area. After two years they stopped paying, and said they’d watched a TV show about DPE’s and accused us of falsifying the DPE report, which was pretty insane! Long story short, a lawyer told them we didn’t create the DPE report ourselves, and if they took issue with it they were free to take the diagnostic company to court.

Once a lawyer was involved they would pay, but it was sporadic - they just paid when they felt they could be bothered to. They also sent some really off the wall messages to the lawyer. Somebody who knew him told us he was an alcoholic. At one point he told the lawyer he was going to leave in January (we had it in writing), so confirmed his exit date, but they never did and said they’d stay for another year unless we got the lawyer off their back, so we took further legal action against them on that basis. It took over a year to get the court date and decision. They never turned up, but left about 3 days before it was due to take place, which was just as well as we couldn’t have kicked them out during the winter months. It’s been well over a year since it all started, and the huissier is still pursuing him for some of the legal fees, and some fees due to us.

Very stressful experience, and we were lucky not to be too much out of pocket, and for the house being handed back in a pretty good condition. Much of the legal costs (albeit not everything) were covered by the protection juridique we took out with an insurance company (specifically for the rented house), although the insurance company isn’t happy now, because the legal fees took us close to the threshold, and if we need their services one more time, they’re liable to kick us out and we’d have to approach another insurance company, which is pretty crazy as the whole point of taking the insurance is in case of unforeseen scenarios like this (we’d been paying for some time before needing to use it and had obviously hoped never to need it). A lot of company’s are tightening up their belts a lot in 2025; insurance is definitely one of those sectors.

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Thank you I have had several UK properties and had no issues but the law is on the side of the Tenant.

My French is limited but I am the sort of person that spending time in a country I start to get better so I expect at the end of Year 1 I will be good enough fingers crossed

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Compared to France the UK tenancy protection is like a piece of tissue! It is a very different cultural and legal set up. So great that you have experience, but please spend time reading about the French way.

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Thank you long but very informative

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Thank you this income will be something I will rely on later in life if i needed too. I have a passive income in the UK so that will be my main source of income
I will be intending to build the properties as an investment for the future,

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I agree the 2 properties I am looking at are 8% and 9.4% return so better than the 4%-6% i got in the UK

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I agree If I go down the rental route then its the long term return I am looking at