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Ruth Wood FPN Assistant Editor

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  1. Hello cafe10, I'm the assistant editor of French Property News magazine, part of the CompleteFrance.com team. As this question rarely comes up, I took the liberty of putting it to one of the insurance experts who write for us. Her reply is below. I hope it's useful. We would like to use this on our Q&A pages in the next edition of French Property News. Would you be happy for us to use your name under your question? If not, that's totally fine; we can just put 'name supplied'. Paulette Booth, a manager at Agence Axa International (axa-in-france.fr) replies: When you are the landlord of a rental property in France you must make sure you have the appropriate insurance on the property. This insurance is known as PNO (Propriétaire Non¬Occupant). This insurance will cover the main risks like fire, storm damage, escape of water, vandalism etc, plus public liability. If you are renting out the property as furnished you can also include the furniture in the policy. Your tenant must also take a policy called MRH (Multi Risque Habitation), regardless of if they want to insure their own belongings/contents or not. This is because, under agreements between insurers in France, certain claims are shared between the landlord’s and the tenant’s insurance. It also means they have liability insurance which is automatically included in an MRH contract. It is also advisable to take a legal protection policy. This not only helps you to take any legal action that may become necessary; you can ask advice about rental contracts, giving notice etc. You can also send a copy of the contract (bail) to the legal protection company for them to check it over for you. Assurance loyers impayés is available in France. This type of policy will cover things like unpaid rent and charges, and damage to the property by the tenant. It doesn’t cover the payment of rent to you for any periods when the property is unoccupied and can’t find a tenant. This policy will protect you if you have a tenant who suddenly stops paying, including legal fees if you need to take legal action against the tenant. The cost of the policy depends on the rent you charge/want cover for and your property type, rather than a set premium etc for an off-the-shelf policy.
  2. Hello Iain, My name is Ruth and I'm the assistant editor at French Property News magazine. Enchanté! I don't know if you have already resolved this issue, but we put your question to Matthew Cameron, head of French legal services at Ashtons Legal (ashtonslegal.co.uk). Here is his response. I hope it's useful. We would like to use an edited version of your question on our Ask the Experts pages in the next issue of French Property News (March). Would you be happy to be named at the bottom? If so, please can you email me at [email protected] If not, we will just say "Name supplied". Bonne chance and best wishes, Ruth Matthew Cameron, of Ashtons Legal, replies: There are in principle several ways in which this French property transfer could be addressed. It is likely, however, that the first hurdle will be how to deal with the existing mortgage over the property. If title to the property is to pass on the date of completion to the buyer, it is almost certainly the case that the bank will need to have its loan repaid in full, and the mortgage cleared. On the other hand, if the intention is to keep repaying the mortgage then that would mean that the property would not be transferred at the start. The lender would need to be consulted at an early stage, to assess how best to deal with the transfer. One option going forwards might of course be for the buyer to seek their own mortgage funding as a new loan, from which the existing mortgage could be paid off. That, though, does not fit with the model as suggested. Indeed, this may result in the existing lender issuing a new loan in favour of the buyer. If it were not for the existing mortgage, the simplest answer would probably have been to complete the sale on the basis of a private mortgage, under which the seller retains a charge over the property, under which the seller would be able to enforce against the buyer if future instalments were not paid. However in the presence of an existing mortgage, it is probable that such an arrangement would not be sanctioned by the lender. Overall, any notaire should be able to put the transaction in place, provided that a suitable agreement is reached between buyer, seller and current lender for how best to deal with the case. It may well be that negotiations with the lender, and discussions with notaire, would best be administered by a specialist solicitor.
  3. Hello Sherlocked, My name is Ruth and I'm the assistant editor at French Property News magazine. I put your question to Arthur Cutler, of www.frenchplans.com, an Anglophone planning & design service in France. Here is his response. I hope it is useful. We would very much like to put an edited version of this question on our Ask the Experts pages in March French Property News. Would you be happy to be named at the bottom? If so, please email me at [email protected] with your name. If not, we will just say "Name supplied". Thanks and best wishes, Ruth Arthur Cutler, of French Plans, replies: I fully understand your frustrations in this regard – it is not uncommon in France to receive no acknowledgement or replies to emails or letters, or even to ‘phone messages. The culture here is very different to the UK at times! There are a number of things to consider with this situation: You could make your offer to purchase subject to a condition suspensive that the current owner installs a new system prior to completion, and that the new installation receives a certificate of conformity. If the existing system doesn’t conform, then the problem will arise for any potential buyer, so it is in the vendor’s interests to find a solution too. It is absolutely possible to install a Microstation – some are specifically developed for small spaces and for second homes, and they can be craned over object in order to allow installation (they are almost all plastic, so not heavy compared to concrete tanks). However, not all regional SPANC (environment agency responsible for controlling septic tank systems) officers will accept them, and it will also depend on whether there is anywhere for the treated effluent to flow to (for example, a ditch in the road adjacent to the property). Some SPANC officials insist on the effluent passing through a filter-bed of some sort prior to evacuation. Before a new waste system can be installed it is necessary to produce an étude de sol (soil test and report on the proposed new system) for approval. Local specialist surveyors will have knowledge of soil conditions and what the regional SPANC office will accept. The fee quoted of 400 – 650 € is about average for this type of report and test, so unless you can push the vendor to pay for this, or install an approved system as part of the purchase agreement, you will have to pay it. The report will give a detailed soil study and recommend a suitable system that will be acceptable for a second home, and also acceptable to SPANC. There is nothing to be gained at this stage by discussing it with contractors (installers) as you need to have the étude de sol first. Then you can give that to contractors to quote for the installation. It is also possible to get agreement from the Mairie to partially dig up the road to allow for pipes, etc., to pass to another parcel of land, but you would either have to own that parcel, or get approval from whoever does in order to go down this route. You would of course also have to pay for the re-instatement of the road afterwards unless it could be achieved using a mechanical “mole” to burrow through from one side of the road to the other. If your French skills are limited, then it would be a good idea to source a bilingual property manager or service provider in the area who can deal with it for you, though there will of course be fees to pay for that service.
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