Sprogster

Ernie, I think Jura is referring to the fact that many South African whites do live in houses behind high walls with razor top wire. South Africa is a beautiful country, but suffers from one of the highest violent crime rates in the world outside a war zone. 

Tegwini, There is a report in several UK national papers today that may answer your question as to why South African passport holders need visas to visit Europe and other Commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada do not. The UK home office are quoted as saying that consideration is being given to introducing the need for visas for South African visitors to the UK, as there is an increasing problem of illegal immigrants using South Africa as a gateway into the UK. Apparently, this is an increasing problem with thousands of illegal Indiam immigrants somehow obtaining South African passports to circumvent the visa requirement on Indian visitors to the UK, to travel to the UK through South Africa and then stay illegally. So the problem does not seem to be be directed at Soth Africans as such, but reflects the fact that S.A does not allegedly have sufficient control over the issue of South African passports.

If you follow other similar threads the general consensus is that thirteen is the sensible cut off age for moving a child to a foreign country, where they are not fluent in the language of their new country.  If your son will be 14 he will have started his GSCE curriculum and is therefore only two years from completing his all important secondary education public exams. The problem is that his new French school has no obligation to educate him beyond 16 years of age, so the risk is that unless he can bring himself up to full French standard in two years, he would be asked to leave when he was 16. Do you not have friends or relatives in the UK that he can stay with term time so he can complete his secondary education?

The main reason is the escalating UK trade deficit due a high level of imported goods. Devaluing your currency is a convenient way governments can reduce this, by making imports more expensive and exports more competetive. Therefore, the UK and US governments are quite happy to see the £ and US$ go southywards, unless it gets out of control. Institutional currency speculators don't help either, as once it becomes clear a currency is headed in one direction it becomes a one way bet to make money and therefore currency swings usually overcompsensate.  

Logan, The main thing to watch out if you are going to rent the property on a short term basis to holidaymakers, is to check you are buying in an area that permits this. Some areas of Florida restrict short term holiday rentals of houses, to protect the local hotel trade!

WJT, Property taxes and insurance in Florida are much more expensive than France. For example in the Var, on a Euro 400k property you will pay property taxes in total around Euros 1,700 pa. Whereas in Florida, property taxes on a property of equivalent value you will pay around Euros 7 to 8,000 pa.

Logan, If you buy a property in Florida make sure you acquire it in the name of a non US Company, to avoid horrendous Federal Inheritance Tax/Death Duty liabilities. The American Government in its wisdom whilst increasing their inheritance threshold over the years for US Citizens and Permanent Residents, did not apply the threshold increases to foreign US property owners. As a result a Brit owning a US property in their own name only has a US$60,000.00 (Sixty Thousand!) allowance and if they die the US property will be taxed at up to sixty per cent of its market value and there is no exemption on transfers between foreign spouses. Although, there might be double taxation treaty offset with your home country, that is no good if you have not incurred a liability in your home country if it is below the threshhold there, or at a higher rate. Anyway the good news is that the liability is easily and legally circumvented by foreigners owning US property through non US companies, which the US authorities are quite happy with and there are no fiscal penalties for doing so, unlike France. Last but not least, be aware that as Florida has no state income tax, property taxes are very high and depending on the county average between 1.75% and 2.00% of the annual assessed market value of the property. Insurance costs have also gone through the roof in the last couple of years because of the perceived increased hurricane risk with global warning. I sold my Florida property and bought in the VAR instead and although you do not get the mild winter weather of Florida, the annual running costs are about one quarter of  France.  

Electric dehumidifiers are not expensive to run if you have them on a timer and can drain directly into a sink through a plastic pipe if you place them near a sink.

Even when the remaining airports re-introduce the two items hand baggage allowance, the low cost carriers such as Squeezyjet, Cryandair and Flymaybe will be strictly enforcing a one item hand luggage rule. Not surprising really, when if you have to check that second item of hand luggage in, you pay the low cost airline an extra £8 to £10!! I increasingly find my favourable opinion of the low cost airlines tested, with the questionable business practice of adding an increasing array of so called extras that are automatically added, unless you are sufficiently on the ball to spot and remove them if not required. For example, I am sure a lot of people end up paying for travel insurance not required, if they already have an annual travel policy which is usually far more cost effective. As for priority boarding that is just a rip off, when thirty or more passengers on each flight can have this and often you end up with being taken to the plane by bus!  Also beware of using the low cost airlines website to book hire cars and hotels as often you will find it cheaper to book direct, as the low cost airline price is loaded with their introductory commission.

Diddion, I would not be in a hurry to buy in France as we are increasingly moving into a buyers market, especially if you are looking for the type of old rural retreat that mainly appeals to British buyers. (The French much prefer new properties as they are cheaper to heat and maintain.) I agree about not waiting for the Euro to weaken, but it might be worth waiting if as seems increasingly likely we are going into a period of reducing residential property values over the next two to three years.  

Goldfish, The one consistent good piece of advice on this and other similar forums to the type of questions you raise is 'Try before you buy'. Especially, as you state you have little knowledge of France. At your childrens young age you are not the risking their education if you move to France for a year or two and rent a place to see if France is suitable for you and your family and if it is are you in the best region for work opportunities that suit your partners skills. The costs involves in buying and selling a house in France are substantive and if you buy a French house and then decide to return to the UK or move elsewhere after just a year or two, you are going to end up many thousands of pounds out of pocket. Whereas, in the past rising house values would have helped offset these costs it is likely that in the next two years houses prices will remain static at best, or more likely decline moderately in value and depending on location could be difficult to sell in what will defnitely be a buyers market.  

Goldfish, The majority of posters on this forum are retirees or second home owners and therefore their choice of location in France comes down to just personal preference. However, if you are going to have to earn a living in France then you don't have this luxury of choice and therefore the major influencing factor in chosing a location should be availability of work, as there is no point in settling in a remote rural location where there are very limited job opportunities for you or indeed the locals. What you really need to investigate first is how realistically are you and your partners job skills exportable to France, as if you arrive there and cannot find employment you risk splitting your family further apart if your partner has to return to the UK to work. 

The OECD states that the UK, France and Spain have the most over valued residential property market in Europe and therefore the countries most likely to see a correction. The majority of foreign residential property buyers in France are the Brits, who apparently account for two thirds of of foreign buyers. As Brits tend to buy older properties that the French are not interested in, any major reduction in the number of Brit buyers has to have a significant impact on the saleability of this type of property and with the fall in the value of Sterling and a stagnant/falling UK housing market next year, this is more than likely. Also with the credit squeeze it is going to be difficult to borrow money to finance second home purchases, unless you have an impecable credit record and low current borrowing commitments. With the exception of Provence, Cote D'Azur and Ski resorts in the Alps, other foreign buyers do not have the anything like the same interest in French rural property as this has been mainly a British love affair. Other Europeans tend to look further south for a better climate than they have at home and although there are Dutch and Belgian buyers, being small countries it is unlikely they can make a material difference to the market and they are being affected by the same credit squeeze anyway. What this more than likely means, is that selling a rural French property that does not appeal to local French buyers is going to be very difficult for the next two years or so and therefore prospective buyers will be in a strong negotiating position.    

It is all a bit worrying, as a sustained decline in the value of the £ will hit hard a lot of retired Brits living abroad but reliant on UK income. I remember in the nineties when we had the last £ crisis, a lot of retired Brits returned to the UK from Spain and France because of the decline in their spending power abroad. In addition it has the potential to stop in its track the trend for Brits to buy foreign second homes, especially when you add into the equation the stalled UK property market and current credit squeeze.

Apparently, the numbers of bars and cafes in France are in terminal decline along with national average levels of alcohol consumption, due in the main to the clampdown on drink driving and a permitted limt of just one unit, which is half that of the UK. Also to blame is France's growing love affair with fast food, as evidenced by the fact that France is McDonalds fastest growing market in Europe!    

One of the main considerations I believe why legislators have been pursuaded to bring in smoking bans is a reason overlooked by previous posters, which is to protect non smoking employees in the work place, who are in the sizeable majority these days. Therefore, if you ban smoking in the work place, by definition you have to extend that to all working places including bars and restaurants. An often overlooked potential problem for employers who do not comply, is the risk of being sued by ex employees years hence if they develop lung disease, now that passive smoking is generally accepted by the medical profession as a health risk. (Remember Roy Castle?) If you don't think this is a real risk for employers, just talk to any business that dealt with asbestos up until the eighties!

Been there, do it all the time on BA and Squeezyjet and no problems!

I believe the OECD survey relates to primary and secondary education up to the age of eighteen. In this area the Americans know their public school system is pants and therefore if you have money in America you send your kids to private school. Where the USA comes into its own is the quality of its college/university educational system after the age of eighteen.

No problem, I take mine on flights to and from France through London all the time. After all we all take our mobile phones, ipods and laptops into the cabin of a plane.  Unless it is plugged into its window bracket it is switched off and I transport mine in the silver plastic bag in came in, as this acts as a radio wave shield.

There has been much publicity given in the UK national media yesterday and today, how the United Kingdom has slipped down the rankings in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) annual independent study of educational standards in fifty seven countries. What is surprising however is that France is doing as badly or in many cases worse than the UK. For example in literacy France has slipped from number 14 to 23 and by comparison the UK from 7 to 17. Why therefore is there this perception that educational standards are higher in France, or is it just a myth that has no factual substance?  

Hi cooperlola, Although Jersey and Guernsey are not a full member of the EU almost all of its residents are still treated as EU Nationals.  The reason being is that when the United Kingdom joined the EU the deal negotiated for Jersey and Guernsey resulted in any island resident born in the UK, or who has a UK born parent or grandparent, being treated as an EU national by reason that they are categorised as a full British citizen. (The C.I are part of the British Isles but not the UK.) The vast majority of island residents qualify as EU nationals on the above basis. However, controversially to the very small number of island residents who don't qualify, their British?EU passports are annoted accordingly stating that they do not have right of work and abode in the EU.   I have no idea if the Isle of Man is in the same situation.

Dave, Firstly, speak to your social security department in the Isle of Man to ask what reciprocal health agreements they have in place with France. For example, Jersey residents visting France are covered for all urgent /emergency health care needs in France on the same basis as a French national, for up to ninety days each trip and this does cover second home owners. Also if you have worked in the UK and have a history of ten years NI contributions you should be entitled to the E forms. The other issue concerning a 'notional rental tax' is widely misunderstood, in that it is very rarely enforced as it was only intended that it be used as an anti tax avoidance measure, where the French Fisc believes a foreign property owner resident in a country with whom France does not have a tax treaty, is renting their French property and not disclosing the rental income to the French tax authorities and paying the resulting tax. Even then the notional liability is easily circumvented by owning a French property through an SCI. Meanwhile, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are in the process of negotiating tax information exchange agreements with France, following which this issue, if indeed there is one, should go away. 

This statistic is not anti French propaganda as it was given by by the French National Chief of Police! If car torching has increased 420% over the last three years, there is a degree of logic in this is the time frame over when the street riots started and escalated.  

The key question is you or your wife a European Union citizen, or entitled to an EU passport, as an American citizen can only spend up to six months a year in France and is prohibited from work. If not, you will require a visa to live and work in France and for US citizens this increasingly difficult to obtain, unless you are being transferred by an existing employer, marry an EU citizen or are highly skilled to the extent that a prospective employer in France can demonstrate that they could not find a European Union citizen with equivalent qulifications and experience. As I am sure you know since 9/11 the USA has cracked down enormously on immigration to the extent that it has become extremely difficult for a EU citizen to emigrate to the America, unless they have close family there, marry a US citizen or have highly specialised job skills, for which there is a proven shortage in the US. In fact immigration rules in the USA are now so draconian that as a tourist you are finger printed on arrival and if you overstay even by a couple of days you cannot return for ten years! Why this might be relavent to you is that as a result European countries such as France have by way of reciprocation have made it more difficult for US citizens applying for permanent residency visas. The government attitude being if a French national finds it next to impossible to live and work in America, why should an American find it easier to come and live and work in France. Bon chance.  

According to the BBC news website, the French National Police Chief is quoted as stating an average 100 cars each day are set on fire, so raindog is correct. It has become something of a national sport amongst French diseffected youth!