Offer Accepted

We are glad to announce that after viewing properties around Carcassonne, we’ve had our offer accepted.

Just have some general questions,

The annual property tax, does this rise every financial year as like Council Tax in the UK, and to your knowledge by what percentage?

Is it also easy to swap utilities providers to get better deals, any weblinks?

Are water rates metered if so any website which we will find useful?

Solar energy, any initiatives bar saving money?

Thank you in advance,

Martin

The annual property tax depends on the status of principal residence or secondary, which is more expensive in France.
So far I have not received a tax bill and the habitation tax has undergone changes in 2019!

For Utility services, there is EDF, which has an English speaking service, however their accounting is fishy, especially if they start estimating you. This experience is not comfortable and will require a lot of nerves and writing. Keeping a weekly meter reading including pictures of heures creuses and heures pleines will help you, when they start playing their games including putting a collection agency on your tracks!
Besides EDF there is Total Direct Energie, who also provide utility services, a pity only in French, but with a Translation program you can figure out, what they want! Do not rely only on Google, but see how the other programs translate and choose the one that used the right vocabulary!
The water is regulated in France, so you cannot change the provider, but the prices are humane unless you have a swimming pool! Again keeping usage records are something, that will help you should problems arise and you can catch unusual usage right away like broken waterpipe! Every property has a water meter, which is either near the front of the property or in the garden somewhere! It is easy to identify, because it is in a green plastic box and the seller should show you the place!
Good Luck !

Just to say that we have not experienced a bad EDF service in the five years we have been getting supply from them. Any overpayment at the end of the year usually appears within a week or two back into our account.
Water meters are sometimes in green boxes, concrete boxes under the ground with a concrete lid or similar. Best to ask the seller where it is as they are often different between old and newer properties.