Stephenlemmon

Good, reasonably priced sit-ons are really hard to find. After ours died, I went to our local motoculture guy and bought one from his scrapyard that had a noisy engine. Just swapped the engines and now we've got 3000 euros worth of mower for 300 euros. I remember he had a Snapper sit-on in need of a Briggs motor for about 250 euros. It's an excellent make but didn't look butch enough for me (it was identical to Forrest Gump's ;)) He's probably still got it - I can check if you want. Stephen.

You could probably just download a rental contrat from the net and rent your space as a garage. If you try to rent it as habitation or for professional use you are going to get into all sorts of nasty legal obligations. If they want to use it as a workshop then just turn a blind eye.

LAST EDITED ON 31-Jul-04 AT 12:30 PM (BST) Hello. For our barn renovation we used a really good architect who did our planning application for us at a reasonable price. Plus we got the permission really quickly so it was well worth our while. Try contacting [email protected]. I think the insurance you need for self build is called "assurance dommages-ouvrages" and I believe you're legally obliged to have it. We looked into getting some, but it turned out really difficult to get a quote. We found a site called www.dommage-ouvrage.fr but when we called they said they didn't do it! Funnily enough they don't seem to exist anymore. Best wishes. Stephen.

If you renovate a house then you should be eligible for VAT at 5.5%. If you do it through a company, though, even an SCI, then you are eligible for VAT at 19.6%. It sounds like the people that have been giving you quotes were unaware that the property was owned through an SCI (fairly rare for French people) and charged you VAT at 5.5% We considered buying though and SCI and decided it was more trouble than it was worth. Especially with the UK tax reforms about owning a property in a company name abroad.

Hello. We decided to get an impartial project manager to come and give us some advice on our renovation project. He mentioned a wonder product call Trilatte which is a sandwich of waterproof surface, insulation and interior finishing in one that just nails to your rafters. THe tiles just sit on top and are more or less just for decoration. http://www.unilin-systems.com/fr/PAGE_Trilatte1.ASP He assured me that it was cheaper than re-doing the roof, insulating it and finishing it with plasterboard - not to mention much much quicker. It looks pretty good, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this material? Any advice much appreciated. Stephen.

LAST EDITED ON 17-Jul-04 AT 01:04 AM (BST) This is the worst aspect about getting *anything* done in France. Constantly chasing people that are supposed to be working for *you*. I don't think you're doing anything wrong, it's just not the same ethic here in France. I heard a funny expression once that sums up French customer service in France quite nicely: "In France the client is King... you should see what they do to their kings" You can "DIY" it, but an architect (or other professional) who is used to doing planning applications knows what will and especially what will *not* go down with the DDE (planning authority). Plus, if you get the slightest thing wrong then they'll send it back and delay your permission even longer. Do you know where to place your septic tank and how long your sand trap should be? We didn't! We had considered doing the plans ourself and trying to find an architect to sign them for us (504m) and started doing them with some software I found, but the results looked ridiculous compared to "real" planning applications. We used a really good architect who was very reliable and fast and got us our planning permission 2 weeks after it was applied for - fairly unheard of. She's been a really good source of information for us since, too. If you want to contact our architect her email address is [email protected]. I know she does work all over France and we were agreably surprised at her rates.

Hello. Congratulations on getting your planning permission! You have to display the permission on your land / building to renovate as soon as it is granted and leave it there until the work is finished. You have to use a rectangular panel of at least .80m and it must be visible from the public road. Hope this helps! Stephen.

Hello. Congratulations on getting your planning permission! You have to display the permission on your land / building to renovate as soon as it is granted and leave it there until the work is finished. You have to use a rectangular panel of at least .80m and it must be visible from the public road. Hope this helps! Stephen.

Try http://www.leaseplan.fr/ I had a look once out of interest and they seemed to be quite reasonable. I admit I don't know much about leasing though. Stephen.

Hello. I did the same thing. I put an ad in autotrader for the weekend I was going back and sold it then. My contingency plan in case no one bought it was to leave it with a friend to sell. Otherwise you'd better set a price that's guaranteed to sell car. Stephen.

I know there's a Mehari dealer / garage in Cazals in the Lot (46). Try: http://www.mehari-cazals.com/ He's always got loads when I drive past, but they seem to be pretty expensive. I guess all meharis are now. You could always try ebay... Stephen.

Hello. If your car is a right hand drive then you are going to have terrible trouble getting it registered in France. I tried it once and gave up after about 6 months of trying. Unless you can get a full homologation certificate (for France)from the manufacturer of your car then you will have to get the car inspected by the service des mines (DRIRE) which takes a really long time (count on at least 3 months) and costs a fair amount of money. In fact, this applies even to LHD cars unless they are actually french registered. It may be worth doing with a classic or special car, but otherwise I'd recommend selling it in the UK and buying one in France. Think about its resale value too - you'll never be able to sell it in France and if you take it back to the UK You'll also be at a disadvantage with right hand drive for driving in France. It's a real handicap when it comes to overtaking. Hope this helps. Stephen.

Hello. We used a really good architect for our barn conversion project. I've posted a picture elswhere in the forum. She can be contacted at [email protected] or on 06.08.78.69.64. All the best. Stephen.