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Sarnia

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  1. I wonder if someone could possibly answer me a quick question.  We seem to be unable to get a "straight" answer from anyone! Hypothetical income of £30k p/a What sort of taxes would be taken out of this i.e. social security/income tax/health tax etc. A "friend" suggested that upwards of 75% of any income would go straight to the State - and I cannot help wondering how other people manage to live in France if that is that case?   Thanks for any advice!
  2. Thanks for the good advice.  I am interested in your views because they do seem to conflict with some I have also heard.  However, I don't want to get off on the wrong foot and insult someone through my ignorance.  The asking price, we think, is fair, and very cheap for the sort of property it is, therefore full asking price - no probs. Thank you again.  
  3. Hello there I wonder if anyone can give me an answer to a question I have about making an offer on a house in Brittany (Plemet to be precise).  We know that houseprices in France are very cheap compared to other places and generally speaking the asking price is well within budget.  I have heard people say that we Brits don't haggle enough; what do people think a fair "offer" would be - so that no-one is offended and we all get what we want in the end. There is a house on the market currently at Euros 194,000 - what would people offer on this? Thanks for any suggestions and have a really good day.  
  4. We watched this in anticipation last night as I think it is important to see both sides of the "argument" so to speak.  From our perspective we felt it was a little wishy-washy - certainly the people they focussed on had their own problems which might have occured anywhere in the world, not specifically France.  We marvel at the way some people overstretch themselves financially however to have the "dream house".  The only sensible quote came from one writer who made some observations about gite ownership.  This programme, as previously stated, is on Meridien, therefore a lot of folks won't get to see it. As far as we were concerned, it just made us even more sure to do our revision prior to the big move!
  5. Hi everyone I too was really concerned about the latest "troubles" - especially as we are looking to live near Guingamp eventually!  However, this sort of behaviour is not, as others have already said, just apparent with the French.  Guernsey was once a small backwater, selling tomatoes etc and then after the war the local Guerns started to realise that they were on to a winner and some people from out of the islands would like to buy property - and then they started to sell - and sell and sell, until now the cost of a first time buyers property (usually a 2 bedroomed flat or ex-council type terrace) is around the £250k mark.  Now of course the "REAL" Guerns are moaning because "those English" have bought up their birthrights.  The same thing is happening all over the UK  I understand - especially places like Devon, Cornwall etc.  Sorry to be blunt, but greed has an awful lot to do with this dosen't it?  If you are offered an overinflated price for a derelict ruin then you will take it!  But don't whinge later on that those nasty people have stopped the locals getting a look in.   Personally, I hope to move to a small place in France and integrate fully in to the community.  I am not looking to join an ex-pat commune - if I wanted to live in a British town, I would go to the UK.  We are used to paying over the odds for property here, but now I know that what the French get irritated by us paying the full price, then I shall take up haggling in a big way - after all, it is only us that will benefit!    
  6. Could someone please advise me on the minimum length of time that we can buy a property and then sell it on.  I think it used to be 5 years, certainly here it is one year and a day, but in the US you can "flip" a property on the same day.   thanks for your advice.    
  7. Russethouse - you have got it in one really.  We have "historic" links to France and some people would like us to be French, although we did not elect to be part of the EU.  We are "separate" from the UK - except we are part of them too...... we are governed by the States of Guernsey, with elected members of our Parliament, and have different laws - but apparently bear aliegance to the Queen.  There is added confusion, because "real" Guerns; i.e. those with Guernsey born parents are not able to seek employment etc in the EU - whereas although I was born in the CI I can seek employment anywhere because of UK parentage.  We do not pay VAT - Income Tax is still 20%, average pay is around the £21-27k mark, £18-21k being the average young typists pay; first time buyers property is around the £250k mark.
  8. Sprogster, sorry I have just re-read your post and you have already stated where your kids were educated - so sorry about that! On a certain point however you are incorrect, the Channel Islands are indeed part of the UK. 
  9. Sprogster, thank you very much for your reply; most enlightening and obviously I needed  educating about the word "chavs". Perhaps I got the terminology wrong, but you get the idea, perma-tan and designer sunnies...... very boring. Yes, we are very lucky in the Channel Islands in terms of education.  Everything about it is just great and brilliant.  Most children stay on for higher education in one way or another and we have a large contingent of bright-eyed youngsters who go on to Oxford and Cambridge.  I would not consider educating a child in the UK, especially the inner-cities  - and feel very sorry for those people who do.  We are just lucky that our private school system here is cheap - I have three children in this sort of education at the moment.  Guernsey has changed for the worst.   Education aside, everything here is judged on what people have, where they live, how much they earn, what they drive.  Perhaps I am yearning for a better way of life - and hope that my son will grow up realising that happiness is not all about a 4 wheel drive and a job in the finance industry.  That is why France beckons us - we hope for a more simpler existence.  Sprogster, where are your children currently being educated?   
  10. You have all given me a lot to think about.  I worry that we will be disadvantaging my son (now aged 5) by moving to France - and the only reason we are not here now is that my two elder daughters will be finishing their schooling soon and if we "hang on" for a little longer they will be eligible for good "grants" to university.  But thinking about it logically, for our son, I want something a bit different than what we are used to in the Channel Islands.  I am tired of the sad Mummy Brigade which dominates the school he attends.  Mummies who lunch, do yoga and have private fitness lessons, who send the Au Pair to pick little Johnnie up - most (mummies and daddies) look like the ubiqitous "chavs" you hear about in the UK; all Burberry and bling.  The alternative is to place your child in a secondary school where the teacher is merely a crowd controller, and where the most you can hope for in terms of a job is "something in the finance sector".  Big deal.  We actually want a bit more than this for our boy.  I hope he does well at school naturally, but there is more to life than a school education surely?  How many "high-flyers" do you know who have the personality of a cabbage leaf?  Education is all about a rounded experience, both in school and at home.  I don't care if he dosen't get art lessons or rugby after school - that's what father's are for!  I hope he gets a decent job, perhaps he will attend university, perhaps not - but that is not the be all and end all of life is it. The trouble with a lot of the English people I know is that they expect everything on a plate - and that goes for the whole French experience not just education.   Having had two bereavements within the last year of two very very close family members - I realise that you must live your dream today, and not put off things because you might not make it, or your child may not (by attending a French school) become the next PM or whatever you hope he/she will become.  In short, a French education seems to me (by talking to teachers and parents both in France and the UK) no better but certainly no worse than the UK - and that is good enough for me and mine.
  11. They are regularly advertised in Living France, and whilst that should not be taken as completely "legit", it does show their website etc etc.  Looks like quite expensive housing however!
  12. Hi Folks Does anyone have any experience of schooling for a 6 year old in this area? We are thinking of moving here from Guernsey in the near future.  If anyone has any knowledge of the area in general, please would you get in touch? Thanks! [email protected]  
  13. Hi folks Could someone please answer me a general question? If my child does well at a French school - and decides to enter a French uni - what sort of fees would they pay?  Similarly if he opted for an English uni - would we pay the "International Fee" structure, or would he be deemed still British (by reason of birth in the CI) and therefore eligible for some sort of grant? Thanks very much!  
  14. Hi there You lucky person!  Dinan, I think, is one of the most lovely places to live in France.  Certainly for us Channel Islanders it is one of the places that we visit a lot, and a lot of Guerns have second or third houses here.  Compared with our local market (first time buyers properties start at about £250k for a two up two down) this is paradise at a cheap price. I think you have made a sensible purchase actually.  Dinan is one of those places which will not go out of fashion and certainly when we have been talking to the local estate agents, places around such as Lehon, Broons etc are very popular with the English.  We looked at a property in Lehon which was glorious, and not too close to any other Brits!  Who wants to live in Dinan/Blackpool-on-Sea?!! Have fun, and enjoy your property. Incidently - I have been reading entries on this forum for years, and the tone never changes does it?  Just go to France and try things out - if your dream dosen't work, at least you have tried, rather than sit and knit somewhere and wonder?!!
  15. Hi there, this question may have been answered previously, so forgive me for asking again: We want to buy property with a gite or two attached, but if we can't in the area we want, we wondered about the legalities of purchasing two properties, live in one and rent out the other as holiday accommodation or short/long term rentals? Thanks for any help you might have on this.
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