Jo Jo

Could someone tell me who I need to inform about updating my Tax fonciere  situation. I have just taken possession of our newbuild in dept 24 and paid TF last year for the land we own , we have just had this years TF bill again just for the land, but I think I need to inform the powers that be , that there is now a house and pool on the land. Who do I inform? Thanks Jo

Hi, We have just finished a newbuild in dept24 and from the start new we wanted a pool.  We have two young children who love swimming  and although we are not far from the river, we knew that a pool would be invaluable.  It has cost about 15K pounds to install  a double bubble shaped 9 x 6 ish size with a security cover and solar panel heating (this worked great throughout our visit in August and of course means no extra running costs that an electric heater pump would bring.)  The upkeep is quite costly as we are not resident and have to pay maintenance company to carryout weekly checks, but even taking this cost into consideration I think it was the best decision we made.  When we took possession of the house at the beginning of August, the kids could happily play in the pool whilst we got on with the million and one jobs to be done. Good luck Jo

I am looking to possibly rent a gite for the last two weeks of August near Sarlat, to combine business with pleasure.  We have two young daughters who love to swim , so a pool is essential, and we would prefer not to be surrounded by too many other holidaymakers. Any suggestions?

Thanks Ian for the advice, we certainly will take it on board, especially the bit about the roadworks! although it cant possibly be as bad as Swansea.....can it. We will probably take your suggestions for Reims night 1 and Lyon night 2, look out google hear I come. thanks again joanne  

Hi Joany I am no expert , but with us it was a year from the granting of the CU that you had to start the build, we were told that in most cases you can apply for a years renewal without problem as long as there have been no changes to the plans.  I dont think there is a time limit once you have started but I would check on this.  We are using a construction company who have given us a completion date of 14 months from starting. Jo

Hi, We are travelling for the first time from Calais Eurotunnel to Arles in Provence at the beginning of July with two young children. We will be stopping twice on the way down and twice on the way back up.   We arrive in Calais at about 1300hrs and didnt want to travel for too long as we will have driven a long way (6hrs ) to get to the Tunnel.  We thought prehaps and hour or two maximum for the first stop and then somewhere between Dijon and Lyon for the second stop. Does anyone have any suggestions on good quality stop over accomodation   thanks Jo

Hi, We are happy people[:)], I was just reading through some old posts and thought I would mention our current situation. It has taken some time , almost two years in fact, but having done a lot of research and many visits to our chosen area, we eventually found our plot of land.  We visited many construction companies and eventually chose the one we felt we were happiest with (after falling our with our original architect).  I know it is early days, but so far they have been really helpful, they have an english speaking Frenchman who is designated to us which really helps. We chose one of their plans which we altered here and there, they dealt with all the planning applications and didnt even complain when we put pressure on them as the CU was about to run out. They were keen to show us around houses they were building, at various stages of being built. They are in the process of putting in the foundations at the moment, but so far we havent paid them a penny except for the dommage ouvrage which they sorted out at a better rate than we would have got if we had done it ourselves.  We have had photos of the site as it is progressing which is really good when you are so far away.  I know it is early days and things can still go wrong, but so far so good. Jo  

I have read a lot of entries regarding clause tontine and changing marriage regimes to CU in relation to children and inheritance. My question if anyone can answer it is....where it states children from a previouis marriage, does this also include children from a brief relationship that resulted in a child ? I have two children with my husband and he has one child from a previous relationship as above, we are unsure whether to change marriage regime or just use the tontine clause.  I think we are right in saying that with the tontine clause after death the remaining partner would have to pay IHT but would be able to remain in the house until death , whereas with a CU we would not be involved in IHT but the children would be able to place a claim for the house! What a minefield>>>>> Any advice or comments greatfully accepted  

Hi Tony, We thought about both building and renovating, but decided on building for a number of reasons.  We have two small kids and cant leave them with anyone, so the time spent viewing plots of land was far less than time spent viewing actual buildings. Like you we have always wanted to build our own house in the UK but land prices are now ridiculous. We are not any good at DIY and couldnt spend the time needed to do it so we would have to employ professionals for everything, so it seemed to make more sense to start from scratch and employ a firm to build the whole thing.  At least you dont come across any unknown problems about any hidden nasties. We have had various unofficial quotes which all seem to agree that roughly it costs 1000 euros per square metre to build. In addition there are all the connection costs which I thought a bit steep when I first read them but comparing with a friend who is building in the UK it would appear that France is still cheaper. There are companies out there who project manage and build the whole thing and basically you pay and they hand over the keys at the end, I have been quoted a 10% charge on the total project cost.                 Good Luck Jo

Hi Michelle, sorry cant help with advice re accountant but I have been advised to have legal advice re all the tax issues.  We are in the process of buying land in the Dordogne 24, and plan to use a company to build and project manage the whole thing, but it is early days yet and I intend researching a lot of companies to come up with the best one.  Can I ask who you are using and do they cover all areas or just yours?   Joanne

I have seen a lot of references on various sites relating to leaseback schemes and tva and must admit I am totally lost. We have just bought a plot of land and intend building a house for holiday lets. Can anyone tell me where the leaseback schemes and tva fits into this or where I can find this info. Thanks  

Hi, Just come across this forum and finding it very interesting, going off the boil slightly, but we have just bought land in the Dordogne and intend to get a company in to build and manage the whole project.  Wondered if anyone had any good tips or tales of woe they would care to share with two very wary brits.