Thank you great insight
Thank you all for the advice very much appreciated. You have given me lots of questions to ask the agent when I view the properties I have selected to view on my next trip out
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The tales of bad rentals and renters are legion, but in nearly twenty years of renting nine apartments and two lineside cottages we have not had even one experience to cause us any pain. Like everything else, you take a chance.
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Very, very true !
Our Commune has several village properties (Council Houses) which are rented to young families (keeps the school going 
)ā¦
only had one really bad familyā¦ took several years to get them sortedā¦ and we (the commune/council) had to grit our teeth and bear it in the meantime.
The others have been a joy and a source of income for the commune.
I believe itās important not to be Pollyanna-ish about certain aspects of French life and this is one of them. Better to go into this with no illusions. (We, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way.)
We had a drunk woman with a wayward daughter rent an HLM in the village when I was on council. She was voted out of her home unanimously by us, the council after dozens of complaints about her comportment, letting dogs roam and her daughter out of control too. Its normal for council to vote out undesirable renters of commune property and give it to someone who acts civily.
I can assure you that if the council could have moved 'em on, they would have done so. Sadly, the family involved knew how to work the system 
I agree totally as I said I had a good size rental portfolio in the UK for years and never had a problem tenant but I know a few that did and the TV show slum landlords / slum tenants did not do any justice.
Get insurance if going for tenant rental. āAssurance loyer impayĆ©sā worth all the expense. The law in France practically pushes tenants into not paying their rent. Have had three experiences, two went bad. Contracts are three years long as well so be careful.
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Thank you I had read about the insurance and it will be a must.
One person said there insurance company was close to refusing them as the value was close to the upper limits.
Iād echo what others have said about tenant laws UK vs France.
The UK is easier (donāt know if thatās completely the right word) for the landlord when compared to France.
The other thing to think about, if itās important to you, is the increase in value of said property.
Although we rent out a place in the UK, the yield is pathetic! Concidering how much equity is in that property, the monthly returns after everything, is pants! The potential increase value in the property is what sets it apart, in my opinion. The potential increase in value of the property in the UK will almost certainly not be matched by anything here in France.
There are always acceptions, of course. Property on the coast for example.
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Or Northern Ireland. The house cost me Ā£230 k and I rent it out for Ā£1400 per month. Iāve always had fantastic tenants and the letting agent is honest and reliable and very efficient.
Wow, that is a good return! 
Yes, house prices are low by UK standards (this house is in Helens Bay, which is a lovely wooded area minutes from a clean sandy beach and just 15 minutesā on the train into Belfast) but rents are on a par with many other parts of the UK.
If everything includes a buy to let mortgage or indeed any borrowing repayments against the property then obviously it will eat into your rental return.
I havenāt looked back to see if anyone else has already made this point and I realise the original question related to the choice between long-term and holiday rentals, not between whether to have rentals in the UK or France, but donāt forget, UK rental income isnāt subject to tax or social charges jn France.
Itās only taxable in the UK.
So - if you already have other income that is taxable in France and takes you over the threshold below which you pay zero tax in France - then having UK rental income can be a way to make use of your personal allowance in the UK.
It can potentially push your French taxable income into a higher tax bracket, though, so you would need to do your sums.
Thank you. I have been talking with my accountant about investing in UK property and he has thrown a spanner about Tax in this way as you need to declare where you are tax resident and that would mean that for my 1st year I have to declare all my income to the UK tax man and pay UK tax on it all.
He is going to double check some items and come back to me with a full explanation so will wait to get that before I make any decisions.
@RobertLT Tax is tax, if you donāt earn enough you donāt pay it.
As there is a double tax treaty between France and the UK then you will only pay tax once.
Even when living in France earnings from UK rentals are taxable in the UK, not France.
However the amount of UK income received does form part of the calculation of your world wide income which dictates the tax band levied on world wide income when resident in France.
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OK. So just to reiterate, once youāre tax resident in France, any UK rental income will always have to be declared & taxed in the UK.
And also declared (but not taxed) in France.
Yes thatās my understanding its that having to declare your world wide earnings to the UK tax man is a bite and grind teeth very hard thing to do 