Athene

Hi Cheminot, we have been trying to buy some land for almost three years. First there was a delay to get the CUs. This was applied for by the geometre.It costs 800 euros. The seller said that he had permission for two houses of 250 square metres footprints. The permission has come through as one house of 150 square metres footprint. The local mayor says that it does not matter what the permission is for as he will allow the two houses to be built. Our notaire has said very cunningly she would like to see this in writing! So far no letter from the mayor has arrived!

We have a French house (maison secondaire)  and were considering getting married in France. However the paperwork was going to be daunting with permission from Paris and medicals to go through too! It was easier all round to marry in England. I dreaded that everyone would turn up on the day and then it would be found that there were problems with the documentation and it could not happen!

I understand Dee! In the UK you are not allowed to remove fitted kitchen units. In France, if they are not included in the sale they will be taken, along with light fittings and bulbs, loo paper etc etc! If you want something left, you have to include it in the 'compromis'!

I think with our insurance, we have to give 2 months notice in writing of our intention to change companies. This is built into the policy and, as someone else said, if you contravene this, you will have to pay the premium again.

Hi Jo or anyone else out there who can help me!                   do you know what time you have after the CU is granted to start building, I thought it was two years but someone has said it is only a year and then how long do you get to finish building the house? Joany

Hi Bob, where are you moving from in the UK? We have items stored in safe container storage. Ours is much smaller than you would need but it will give you an idea of the cost. Its length is 12' and we pay £50 a month. We are in Essex. Best Wishes Athene

In our area, they shoot cats whenever as they think that strays go after the poultry! I think a cage would be great, we are going to construct one when we are there in the summer with access from the kitchen window. I also think you could that way ensure your cats did not pick up ticks.

You will need to be able to write in French fluently to list articles on E-Bay France remember! I have bought a solid fuel fire on E-Bay France and paid for its shipment 400km to where we are with UPS.(pronounced OOPS hope this will not be an oops for you!)

I could have written this Sheila, it is exactly how I feel about my 'bits and pieces'! You can take the English woman out of England but you cannot take the English out of the woman and I really like my English style things!

Hi Phil! do you know what third party liability is in French please?

Also the prices for vetinary treatment are much lower in France!

Hi Tresco! I too have a problem fig tree! Mine looks a radiant picture of health and, despite us cutting it down to the recommended two main branches, it still produces dry, sour fruit! What I want to know is are there varieties of fig trees that are grown only for their foliage and not their fruit?

Also the quote from good old Solomon is just great too! [:)]

This route is to open up on 29th June! This is good news for those of us in the right areas! Prices will undercut Ryanair on some dates!

Well done Harley! Where is this land you have bought? Have you got a builder in mind or will you DIY? It has taken us a lot longer than you to negotiate the land we are buying and before the CU was granted the vendor has to complete a road to the plot. Keep us informed how you progress!

I would be willing to bet you used Alec Day. We used him on lots of occasions but he seems to have stopped doing this now! We are needing to transport some more things soon, we too are in Essex, maybe we could hire a van together? My mobile is 07717 222215

What would the tax implications be if you own a 'Maison secondaire' house and decide to sell it to build another house on some land you own that you has building permission on?

Thanks everyone for the posts! We are off on 18th December so hopefully we will benefit from the Tours bit! It is nearly always my turn to drive when we are doing Tours and the traffic is normally not good! I think himself will miss doing Paris ring road as he has  learnt over the years how to 'mix it' with the French and I think secretly relishes this ! I will not miss it one bit!

Hi all! Anyone been down to Dept 17 from Calais recently? I heard on the grapevine that we will not have to take on the French on the mad Paris ring road as there is a new stretch of motorway open! Please can anyone give me what we should look out for on the signs?

We were freezing when we were last over as our heating system went belly up!  The local chaffaurgiste could not repair it as he could not get hold of the right thermocouple. He tried with one that was nearly the same but it nearly set the house on fire, there was carbon where flames had come out of the boiler before it fortunately switched itself off!  It took the expert from the De Dietrich organisation to come out to do the necessary! We have not had his bill yet!  Good luck with your system!

[quote]The certificate d'urbanisation states what catergory the land is (PLU) and whether it can be built on and to what extent. If the CU is positive this basically gives you outline planning permission, t...[/quote] Hi Debra, can you explain to me what a CU actually is and who pays for it, the seller or purchaser of the land? We have just signed the compromis on a piece of land and were told it had building permission -'certificat d'urbanisme'. We have shared the bill from the 'geometre' with the seller of the land to mark the bornes. Now we have been told by the 'geometre' that there is a further bill of several hundreds of euros down to us for this CU. It would help if we knew what this CU was?

[quote]Hi everybody. Just a little story about the French health system. I am still under the E106 and have a Carte Vitale. I recently had a small accident during renovations (dont we all) and hurt my neck....[/quote] For me the best about all this is that you are well and can boldly go wherever you choose again! My Husband had a similar accident when he parted company with a ladder he had been standing on but luckily he too 'bounced' back!

[quote]I agree with you Ian and I take all the papers every time. It was our English vet who said we must do it.[/quote] Should have added to this that Speedferries will ask for them!

[quote]If French vets make errors then what chance do use non-professionals have to double check. Actually, had I taken your advice I would have missed seeing my family in the UK last Christmas. When both ...[/quote] I agree with you Ian and I take all the papers every time. It was our English vet who said we must do it.

[quote]Hi Athene Thanks for your reply - but I must admit that I am a little confused as to why the cats should need to have new French passports to travel back to the UK. I know that the cats are now Fre...[/quote] Hi! cat passports are not the same as people passports! They are not about where the cat was born but about where it lives currently. In the eyes of DEFRA, if a cat has lived in France for over three months, it invalidates the conditions of an English pet passport!  Three months is  the cut off, after that the cat has to have French passport. I had this explained to me by the woman who vets in cats before catching the ferry to England! They will look at the passport and the stamps therein will tell them when you last crossed the Channel. We would have liked to spend 6 months in the UK and then 6 months in France, this is impossible for a whole lot of reasons and this pet passport business is just one of them!