Well we move our belongings in early August to France lock stock and barrel.
We wont know unless we try.
Some may say madness but we will give it a .go
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Hi Stella ,We were going to site it on a local muicipal campsite.
Great - another box ticked.
There used to be a quirk in the French planning system (donât know if it still exists) that you could live in a caravan if it was in a building 
Nearby here in the Charente (16) there is a caravan under a building (frame) with a tiled roof and I guess they are connected to a fosse and have electric and water laid on.
Interesting but prefer said campsite.
Thank you all for your input,I will get back to this later with continued interest.
Unfortunately i have to go to workâŠSlave to money and all thatâŠ
Doubtless true but I donât think that there is a simple âhave this much capital and you are OKâ amount specified anywhere - eg I actually doubt someone with just 60k⏠reserves (12k x 5 years) would be accepted as âenoughâ.
Edit: Also itâs probably better on principle to protect your capital as much as possible.
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I think the way it works for a non EU inactif living on savings is that you get a visitor visa which is valid for 12 months and you keep renewing, so on each renewal they check that you have sufficient savings left for the coming 12 months.
As a âvisitorâ, ie inactif without the right to work in France, AFAIK there isnât a route to qualify for a permanent carte de sĂ©jour but you can keep renewing indefinitely as long as you meet the criteria.
Certainly in my area - there is a major crackdown on Caravans. Only allowed to site one for personal use if renovation/rebuilding makes it necessary. A timescale is agreed and said caravan has to go on the due date.
One chap is in mid-argument with the Mairie and Higher-Up, due to an unapproved caravan. He hid it in his ruins some years ago, tapped into the existing fosse/hole in the ground⊠and hoped no-one would notice he was living in it. 
Now theyâve noticed and asked him to remove it pronto.
Ok Thanks Anna,That clarifies that we can actually reside year by year applying for a long stay visa yearly supplying financial integrity as inactifsâŠ
I have read also it would be advisable to apply for a carte de séjour temporaire
To take the scenario further, If we then decided to start and run a business after 6 months we would be effectively be Tax liable in France and with said carte de séjour temporairewe could in fact have a go at starting a business.
Pfffff - no point in trying to prejudge things - lots of hypothetical stuff being chewed over here - bit pointless until definitive regs are put out!
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ThanksâŠvery helpful
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Youâre welcome Darren! 
Your definitely my go to man !
Do you do financial advise as well ?
Yes, that is what you would need as a non EU citizen.
A visa gets you into France. As soon as you arrive you have to apply for the appropriate carte de sĂ©jour and complete any other immigration formalities. In your case it would be a carte de sĂ©jour temporaire and I donât think there are many OFII formalities.
If France becomes your main place of residence then you will be fiscally resident here regardless of whether you have any income from France or not. Yu will declare worldwide income, which will then be taxed as per the relevant tax treaties.
Coming here as a non EU citizen on a normal non EU visitor visa wouldnât give you the right to start a business in France, in fact most nationalities who come here on this visa have to sign a declaration promising that they wonât seek to work in France. Non EU citizens who want to start a business in France have to apply for a different kind of visa, and there are very stringent criteria to meet - for instance for one type of visa you need to make a minimum investment of many thousands of euros, you need to project how many jobs you will create, etc etc etc. There are other types of visa to attract rare skills and talents.
Thatâs what losing the EU freedoms means in practical terms. But as Simon says, Brexit hasnât happened yet.
Oh heck no Darren - Iâm pretty thick where adding up in concerned! 
,
Hello Darren - welcome to France.
Iâm late to your discussion but I did wonder if you had enough saved to buy somewhere (in the UK?) that you could let out to a tenant, thus generating a stream of revenue through the year which would let you stay in France.
Another thought, donât know about your house but would it be suitable for Chambres dâHote - BnB, in other words. Might you have a longer season?
Regarding Brexit, has anyone advised you about hunting down relatives (Irish is good) that will let you apply for a passport of an EU country? (It took me 2.5 years, but at least Brexit spurred me on to confirm my German citizenship.)
I hope all works out for you- we did our Carte de Sejour interviews last week so waiting to hear from the PrefectureâŠsometime.
And a tip-,bring filing stuff, maybe even a filing cabinet. Everything (nearly) is done on paper. And a scanner/printer/copier- one with a sheet feed will cut down the time you spend copying documents.
There is sound advice elsewhere about registering the car for French plates- some things you can do before you leave UK.
If all else fails, at least the wine is cheap!
F
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As others have said being in France before Brexit will make life easier as after BrexitâŠwho knows.
One thing that has occurred to me. After Brexit and travelling by ferry from the U.K. the ferry company may have to flag you if you donât have a return ticket bought and paid for.
OK - can we just stop this nowâŠmy parents moved to France before the Common Market, the EU, the EEA etc - lived here perfectly happily., no issues, no problems, all sorted - just like it will be in the future. Stop second guessing and chillâŠreact when you actually need to.
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