Letting an unfurnished property in France

Legal Advice
1

HI All.


Can anyone here assist me please.


My wife and I have recently returned to UK from France after 5 years in France.


Some french friends wish to buy our French house however due to their self employed employment status they have issues raising a mortgage.


As a result we have agreed a price which we will hold for 2 years to allow they to save the necessary money to buy the house however in the short term we have agreed to rent it to them and refund 50% of the rent paid if they purchase within 2 years (thought it would keep them on the hook!)


However this does now leave us in the French landlord situation which frankly we didn't really want to get involved in.


Researching this leads me to believe that their are different schemes available to unfurnished properties as opposed to furnished ones.


Can i declare my French income in the UK rather than France? If not which is the best scheme to be in.


I must keep this 100% legitimate as the tenants receive various French benefits which means the rental income is disclosed to the authorities. I had considered even offering 100% reimbursement and classing the income as payment installments rather than income but I don't suppose the authorities would accept that.



2

Dear Brian,

Please accept my apologies for the late reply.

I am not sure to understand what you mean by scheme but if you mean tax schemes, it is doubtful that any would be open to you if you are back as a UK resident.

Although this largely depends on the details of your situation and your project, it seems a furnished let would be preferable as the term (1 year) is more manageable than the 3-year term of unfurnished tenancy agreements.

There are other ways to sell with payment of the price set at a future date after completion (indexed or not), part payments, etc.

Generally speaking you may remain within a sale contract without having to add a tenancy agreement and while allowing the buyers to occupy the property. There is no easy solution however because of the latter point (occupation) which can become a sticky point if the sale does not go through.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Guillaume