Read it very carefully and you will see what Simon is saying that people must 'be able to demonstrate sufficient resources not to become a burden on the French social security system'. It is not automatic. Several articles appear to have misled by giving the impression people just come, after three months get a carte vitale and all is done and dusted. It is not. For that reason I am doing what I can to have a little dribble of work so that I pay my dues to the RSI every so often and do not have to quit being an AE for a while, that way I am not even asked what income I have in that respect.
Yes Liz that's correct but is not relevant to my question.
By the way - you don't 'apply' for a Carte Vitale - that's simply an automatic payment / reimbursement card. You apply to affiliate to the CMU and, if successful, you'll be issued with a CV.
So Denis, back to my original response. Our foncière is around €600, habitation under €400 (although we have children of school age I am over pensionable age and 'exempted', so it is less), electricity is about €640 p.a., water about €340 p.a., house insurance is about €300, we use three refills of gas a year so once the deposits on bottles are paid it is X always, but has gone down and I am not sure any longer what we pay now, we buy around €400 worth of wood a year but supplement and can usually have every third or at worst fourth year off buying. We live here permanently and both either work here or from here so we also have CFE-IFER that belongs to the house I suppose, so about €135 each for two of us.
Again, different from others. Objectively, Andrew's are the only answers you should take seriously and then work on the basis of high outlays but optimistically seeing them as less and being pleasantly surprised when they are.
We are fine being over 65, but I thought the law changed effective January 1st 2016 to allow all residents EU and non-EU to be able to apply for a carte vitale if they have been resident in France for more than 3 months? source: anglophone The article seems to explain that the new "Protection Universelle Malade" will offer at least 70% reimbursement and allow for mutuelle coverage privately on the extra 30%
All OK if it's travel back to the UK in the car but if the car remains here in France...?! :-O
'Our car remains UK registered and insured because we travel home within the 183 days'
Sue - what does that mean ?
'As I am over 60 I can get health care if you're younger you will have to have the correct insurances in place. This measure was introduced a few years ago for foreign residents.'
John - could you elaborate - not entirely sure what you mean?
It's quite important to clarify this point because, if you stay in France for more than 3 months, with the intention of staying longer, you are legally required to have health (and maternity if applicable) insurance, and be able to demonstrate sufficient resources not to become a burden on the French social security system.
We have a holiday home in France which, like you, we spend 5/6 months every year. We go in the spring and leave end aug/beginning Sept. Its value is about the same as yours and it is a three bedroom/1 bathroom village house. We have an unattached garden in the next road and a grange which houses our motorhome which we leave in France all year. We have registered it in France because we discovered that there is nothing similar to Sorn in France. All vehicles that remain there permanently have to be insured whether they are driven or not. Our car remains UK registered and insured because we travel home within the 183 days.
Tax fonciere 552 per year
Tax d'habitation 545 per year
Broadband/internet/phone with orange 37 per month and includes free calls to landlines in UK.
Electricity 35 pm
Water 24 pm
Gas - Cant help you there because there is no gas in our village.
We allow 150 approx for the logs we use.
House insurance is around 200
I normally transfer between £1500 and £2000 (depends on the exchange rate) each year and that has always covered all those expenses and usually there is something left over.
I agree with everyone that airport parking is too expensive. You could go for one of the cheaper options such as parkinglimoges.com who also offer airport pick ups and drop offs. Unfortunately Mike who I've used in the past is no longer trading but he would also turn over the engine once in a while so no flat batteries on return which was great. It's certainly worth researching for a better option than the airport.
When we first bought our house in France, we used Orange France's ligne secondaire for our telephone. You can activate and suspend the service whenever you want, as many times as you want, and you only pay for the connection you use. You just need to remember to phone them before you leave for France so that your line canbe connected for your arrival. However, I'm not sure you can "switch" broadband on and off like this. Maybe worth asking - they have an English speaking helpline. Ligne secondaire was very much cheaper than the standard package.
We've now switched to a package where all our calls to UK landlines are free because we needed to make quite a lot of UK calls.
Just an update with more information that may help to make a rough estimate..thanks.
I don't know a soul in France so no friends to call upon... The cab fare is on average is 33 euros each way so 10 trips to the house a year (10 X 66 = 660) or park at the airport and have unlimited trips for 686 euros...
All gas, elec, water etc based on single person usage...
The plot size is 1500 sq mtrs. House is 3 bed 1 bathroom sous sol type with shutters, Oil central heating. Garage is in basement.
Airport Parking 12 month 686
Tax Fonciere *20% ?
Tax D' Habitat *12% ? * Rate based on the cadastral rental value ( not sure what this means)
Gas ?
Electric ?
Water ?
House insurance ?
Broadband/TV ?
Car tax/insurance ? small economy 1000cc max around 5yrs old
Rubbish Collection ?
Surprised to hear from Liz that you have to be resident for some car insurers?
Thanks everyone .. It has been a great help from your replies so far....Keep them coming please..
Perhaps Euros 250 per annum or house insurance?
Ah the magic 183 days! Is your car going to be French registered? You probably have to be French resident for that; insurers will insure a uk car, happy to take your money but I think that it's illegal and how about uk mot? I am not an expert in this field, can someone who is please comment?
Have sent friend request and message, we are relatively near where you are, (20 mins) so feel free to give us a call - you do have friends now, look how many people responded!! SFN is a wonderful group and online forum. So much useful advice and loads of good comments.
cheers Liz & Phil Prosser
We have done just that, just found a house to buy and still have time left to complete the purchase and do a few adjustments to the property before we have to move from our rental. One tip on renting. Offer to pay for 6 months/one year in advance. This reduced our rent considerably and we did not have to think about payments. We have an excellent lease - this is also essential. Deposit should be one month's rent.
Very, very sound advice on renting for a year, John. If everyone did that I think the numbers buying and living permanantly in France would be halved! Many are still here because they're trapped in a house that they can't sell, or can sell but can't afford to go back :-O
On the brighter/flip side of all that, the other half are more than happy and pleased to be here ;-)
Thanks for this
Purchased from OOGarden Modele LS400 Scie a buches. It has multiple safety features and works like a gem, self-assembly is "fun" but you cannot put anything in the wrong way or make any unsafe mistakes. costs just reduced on oogarden and one free extra blade.
http://www.oogarden.com/prod-20624-Scie-buche-2000W-LS400A-lame-40c...
We have been using it non-stop for the last 8 months.
now €176 - we paid €20 more!
| Scie à bûches électrique 2000W + 1 lame supplémentaire | 1 | 196,99 € | 196,99 € |
| Total TTC : | 242,94 € |
I have had a small holiday house for about 12yrs in the loire 3beds small garden .The cost were very moderate in the begining total running costs about 900 euros then. I installed gas central heating to my nieghbours surprise, as they all have wood burners and costs started to rise.When the government decided to put a surcharge on 2nd homes I tried to sell but prices had gone down by almost 40% in this area, fortunately this plan was abandoned when it was realised that the french themselves had the most 2nd homes.I keep a car here in the summer months driven down from england and use the train and french bus to get here from the scottish borders sncf quote return fares from uk stations now and are very reasonably priced, it takes about 12hrs door to door. However what once was a joy has now become a liability my costs now top 3000 euros and i only come over between april and october to save on heating bills.Extra Expenses such as maintaining the small garden run at about 300 euros having my dust bins emptied costs 140 euros for 4 visits if I use a taxi which are rare in the countryside its a 100 euros to the nearest train station . The threatened removal of the local bus service if it happens will neccesitate this.Once there were 5 uk holiday homes in the village now I am the only one.Saying all this it is still a pleasure to see the spring flowers in the garden when i return in april but costs continue rising food prices are higher than the uk wine is much cheaper as well as eating out fuel is cheaper,howevever a crosaint in the local bakers is 1.10 euro it was 0.30 when I first came .As I am over 60 I can get health care if your younger you will have to have the correct insurances in place.This measure was introduced a few years ago for foriegn residents.I hope this is of some use only when your living here will you be able to discover the true costs,I always tell people to rent for a year before committing to buying some where this allows you time to asses if its right for you and also to find the dream home there are so many lovely houses about and temptingly priced.
Thanks Val, I have tried to give a little more information....
"Airport Parking 12 month 686 Being a skinflint, I have to ask why? "
I don't know a soul in France so no friends to call upon... The cab fare is on average is 33 euros each way so 10 trips to the house a year (10 X 66 = 660) or park at the airport and have unlimited trips...
All gas, elec, water etc based on single person usage...
The plot size is 1500 sq mtrs. House is 3 bed 1 bathroom sous sol type with shutters, Oil central heating. Garage is in basement.
Airport Parking 12 month 686
Tax Fonciere *20% ?
Tax D' Habitat *12% ? * Rate based on the cadastral rental value ( not sure what this means)
Gas ?
Electric ?
Water ?
House insurance ?
Broadband/TV ?
Car tax/insurance ? small economy 1000cc max around 5yrs old
Surprised to hear from Liz that you have to be resident for some car insurers?
Thanks everyone .. It has been a great help from your replies so far....Keep them coming please..
Can you let me know which wood cutter you have? Thanks