Bill

Rabbie   I was only complaining about the cost, because at one point it was suggested the uplift for a holiday home was going to be 7 times that of a resident, and I misunderstood the  posting... since then  every man and his dog has been having a go at what I can and can't afford ...    as I said earlier, I am happy to  pay more or less what everyone else pays..   There isn't an issue..   Bill  

[quote user="Rabbie"]IMO if you can afford a second home then you can afford to pay the relevant property taxes. While everyone has a right to a first home, a second home comes into the category of  " nice to have " rather than "must have".[/quote]   Nice to see there are still  plenty of people who know what I can afford, and just an odd one which answered my original question..  

thanks  euro trash, that's fine..   rgds B

Thanks pickles reductions noted, but not for me, nor expected.. .       Basics,  the link doesn't open,  doesn't matter to much, contacted the  French tax people and they will no doubt tell us in  due course.. If i'm more or less basic, that's fine.. no arguments !   rgds Bill

And that is just how it is.

I understood from Pickles post  that  non-residents paid 1.7 percent and residents 0.2 percent, hence the multiple actually of 7 or 8  times as much.  That may be the wrong conclusion , yet it is how I understood his post. Idun,  No problem with paying for 12 months, and using it for  four, but find it odd that  the demand is to  pay extra if it’s a holiday home  and as a result use  less services . Euro trash see below re your comment about cost and rolls Royce, For the local community I employed French labour at French rates  for British  owners. As for Sue’s comment, I am sorry for your circumstances, but to get an answer to my question , I had to give two bits of information, one it’s a holiday home and two the size,  & that  has kicked off an offensive  diatribe from you , and one diatribe deserves another.. J  edit.   My French  house cost very much less than a two bedroomed flat in parts of Essex . Certainly not a million although the French artisans, certainly tried to push the cost up !!! we didn’t extend it, we repaired what was there, that’s all.  French houses are incredible cheap compared to the UK and seem to be getting cheaper as each day goes by.      I understood from the messages, that I had to pay 7 times as much as others, and if so, I think that’s too much..  . I just have a big place, but it was dirt cheap..  & I need to worry about how much tax we are going to be hit with, as that wasn't clear , for what ever reason, when we bought it..  rgds   Bill  

ouch,   the implication is, holiday home pays 7 times as much as a local, uses 1/12th of the services,  and that could be a mighty sum of money !     rgds  Bill

is it different for non residents, we  have a holiday home..     rgds Bill

[quote user="sid"]As far as I can see it penalises those people who have made improvements. You make the place more comfortable, you pay more; you live in a hovel, you pay less. Very much like the old "rateable value" we had in UK, a finger-in-the-air assessment of worth. There's going to be a huge workforce needed surely, in order to get the initial valuations done? I appreciate that there has to be some system in place to raise local taxes, but I've never understood how the value of your home makes it a fair system; just because you save and invest doesn't mean that you can necessarily afford higher charges. Which brings up the "Poll tax" versus "rates" argument once again. I have to admit to being in favour of Maggie's Poll-tax, where everybody paid!   [/quote]   Bring back Maggie , all is forgiven !!!!    thanks everyone for the replies ..  

[quote user="idun"]There was quite a lot about it on french news tonight and I'm sure that there will be much in many papers in the next few days. Too many anomalies in the system. I can see friends of mine getting a huge bill in the future, never mind the new rules, all they'd have to do is  they check how much is habitable in their place, because when they bought it only half the place was declared. As you said HSD, could be the last straw for many. [/quote]   Hello Idun,   I think the same may just be happening to me.. not quite sure yet !!! ie half declared.   what happened to your friends ?   is there a maximum that can be paid ??  we have about 250sqm all in . Plus garages ,   realise may be different from area to area, ball park figures would be helpful from anyone.. B

Hello,   yes 7 percent now, but I have a feeling its going up again in the autumn, maybe someone can confirm that is the case. not sure if you just have to get the devis or the final invoice done by the  change over date. rgds Bill

thanks chaps..seems plan a would not work so went to plan b and  had long chat with the nice man from hsbc, seems they can double the amounts, so thats fine..   bill

might help , can anyway phone them. rgds bill   http://www.besthoods.co.uk/2011/12/island-cooker-hoods-for-high-ceilings-%E2%80%93-what-are-the-options/   http://www.besthoods.co.uk/2012/04/island-extractors-%E2%80%93-8-essential-questions-before-buying-an-island-extractor-fan/

Good Morning all.   I assumed I was alone  as the only person with  a major headache with my thieving barsteward of a bank  HSBC , limit to 1000 cash withdrawal a week and 3000 spend per month on the card carte bleu ,  of course I can buy the infinity option which is 5k and 30k , but no way  I want to give them 350 quid for the ability to spend my own..   my thought was to open a second bank account with a local bank, and if I need lots of cash for any reason , I can bowl in and get some.. with a cheque .  Hoping that system will work I have the following four banks with branches in my local town Villedieux credit agrcole banque  populairede l'ouest CIC BNP paribas casse 'Epergne  ( cannot read wifes writing !)   any thoughts or experiences about which one is best, no intention of having a card with them , just a cash cow in rare times of need. intend to keep hsbc only because the standing orders for the utilities are set up.   thanks for any further input ..   rgds Bill (not so alone !)   

thankyou   Power  very handy, thanks also  No moss..   Bill  

[quote user="Pommier"]You've got to shop around! Recently in Leclerc they were selling low energy bulbs for two or three euro each, BUT with the whole cost refunded onto the fidelity card. You can't get cheaper than that![/quote]     thats super cheap !  LED is a step apart from the regular long life bulbs., My electrician gave me one for a tenner , as up to now hadnt been willing to shell out for one. He has a customer, he rewired who untill the discovery of ebay was going to shell out 800 quid on LEDs     rgds  Bill   sorry for spelling punctuation mistakes,  unable to correct at  the moment

Im gobsmacked at the prices of light bulbs in France,  and rather fed up that having to save the world has pushd the price of a light bulb up from sterling 0.19 to a quid or two.   there are some new LED  light bulbs on the market,  and they are between 10 and twenty quid each, possibly more in belle france, but take a look on e bay and u can find them for a couple of quid.   sold direcftly from china,  just make sure that  you dont order more than sterling 15.00 in one go , then its a personal import andd free of duty and tax in to the Uk, im sure it should be the same for france, but there has to be another rule doesnt there !     please give me a clue.... whats the going rate for a bag of  good quality pellets  15 kilo or similar.  if bought  twenty or thirty at a time,  just want a clue.. thanks..     unable to correct any spelling mistakes as the forum and my computer are not seeing ey e to eye at the moment..   rgds   Bill

thanks one and all,  just  thinking there is some sort of payback going on , and there shouldnt be under the arrangements we had.. thats all..     from the sound of what u are saying , it s highly likely..   rgds Bill

[quote user="Anton Redman"]Le Conte without a town or post code pulls nothing as a builders merchants in France[/quote]   ETS  Le Conte SAS  St Lo other divisions are  called  catena extra  toutefaire..      rgds  

all of those and more I suspect.. but  wondering if anyone has experience of le conte..       o happy days in belle france..    

Hi   we  were asked to open an account at Le conte for the builder to obtain  building supplies..   am I right in saying there  will be a discount handed to the builder by the Builders merchant ?   In my case its Le Conte..  Does  any one know for sure ??   Contractually obliged to pass those discounts back to us.. thats all.       rgds   Bill

hello   my short experience has been everything has cost me about double my estimate on our renovation.   how about a log cabin, that might work for you.. they can be quite cheap..   I had a quick look and found this..  for 17000 euro   I am sure there are better deals..   http://www.rpmloghomes.com/our-best-loghouses/rpm-tre   No idea about the planning implications..   rgds Bill

thanks, thats a euro saved..  actually a fiver as would have to buy here..     rgds Bill     [quote user="Théière"] [quote user=AnOther]Delayed to March 2013 Ho ho ho http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2012/10/08/97001-20121008FILWWW00626-ethylotests-les-sanctions-reportees-au-1er-mars.php http://www.lepoint.fr/auto-addict/securite/ethylotest-obligation-repoussee-au-1er-mars-2013-08-10-2012-1514712_657.php[/quote] That's the Noel drink drive campaign up in smoke then [/quote]

Hi Marmite,     if the staircase has never had anything on it, you may do well  just to leave it..   some will say, its a bit like lime, where breathability and nature will  look after your Oak.. slapping oil and paint may trap moisture into it.. , thats when rot can start . Perhaps  someone else will correct me..     rgds Bill

Thanks  Sid,   um  aargh   I  expected a breaker to be the answer, but seems things have to be more complicated.. but that was a few months ago, and now we are getting to the point the electrics have to be joined back up to the mains, its something we have  to resolve soon.   they said, o that supply cable isnt good enough..  I will set the electrician on him and he can sort it out french man to french man..         rgds  Bill