Greg76

hi there, We have only begun the preliminaries ie are going out to see a place that we believe may be suitable. Hopefully were not going to encounter any problems like that but will certainly be back to ask for advice if we go....!

Hi, My partner and I are wanting to purchase a house in the Dordogne, and convert it into a holiday cottage. Can anyone help with what will be needed in terms of the correct permissions, regulations to adhere to etc, in order to make a favourable impression with the mayor?

Hi there - thanks for all the responses! Will definitely be checking out the temp agencies, as we hadn't thought of those before - the idea originally I think was to partly cater to the holiday home owners and kinda prepare their cottages for occupancy - ie garden and internal work - in the town we are settling in (potentially anyway) there is a high percentage expat population, so the scope could be high...there are people doing this already, but apparently are unreliable etc so were hoping to move in on their territory. One thing we do need to know - what ARE the insurances and taxes payable on a gite? Are they variable and what penalties would apply if we had both businesses running ie the property maintenance and the cottage? Cheers!!!

What are the chances of two reliable, hardworking young men being able to hire themselves out as general handimen/garden services on an hourly basis as extra income on top of running a holiday cottage in the Dordogne region? We are basically ready to buy a property now, but the only thing holding us back is a concern that our income will be a bit tight in the winter (out of season) months, and wouldn't mind a small (a few hundred euros a month) secure income during the year...is this a service that would come in handy? Pretty much anything goes, as both of us are pretty handy at anything within the house and out. Hope someone can help...an idea of what people are likely to pay would be good as well...