Angie

I haven't, thanks for suggestion - definitely worth a try.

Hi there Can anyone tell me if bags of coal such as those sold at UK petrol stations are available in France. Must say I have never seen them. Thanks

Thank you Polly, the link was very helpful. Have filled in the forms and posted them off today so fingers crossed. All the best

Hi all, am currently completing a planning application for an attached garage. In the planning application there is a table to list the sizes of existing house plus new works (which of course is the garage). However the section only seems to relate to "habitation" and obviously the new garage is not a habitable part of the house. Don't want to get it wrong as no doubt it will affect taxes. Do I just list existing size and omit the garage? Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks ever so much for your replies - we were hoping to be able to install this ourselves with the help of our builder so fingers crossed it works out OK. Good to hear you've all had positive experiences with them!

Hi there Has anyone had experience of these type of automatic electric garage doors? Also, are there any national suppliers in France or perhaps available through any of the larger Bricos? Many thanks

Yes I did mean carbon papers between - there are 5 copies in the one doc but being back in UK it will probably take anothe 2 or 3 weeks to get it sent from the Mairie so your on-line advice is much appreciated. I will complete it asap and hope for the best. Thanks to everyone

This gives me hope Idun; this is what we plan to do, just reduce the size and hope for the best!

Thanks for this. Can I just use the downloaded forms (the ones I have are carbonised) and perhaps make sufficient copies of them to go with the plans?

Hi there, hope someone has the answer to this. We have received an Arrete (Stop notice) as the application to build a garage with roof terrace on top has been refused on the grounds that the terrace exceeds 20m2. We are not planning on appealing against the decision as such, but can reduce the size of the garage and terrace to come within these restrictions. Do we need to submit a whole new Declaration Prealable (the Mariie have returned the whole bundle of documents to us) or can we just submit an amendment? If so, how do we do this. Many thanks in advance.

A couple of planks of wood it is then. Thanks for your advice and information, much appreciated

We are considering purchasing an Alpina One 98YH Lawn tractor from Castorama - we can't really afford anything more than this.  We have two questions; the first being has anyone bought one of these and are they any good, reliable etc.?  The second question involves collection/delivery.  Castorama will not deliver in our area which means us taking our small van to collect it.  Hopefully we can assume they will load the tractor into our van but we are concerned about getting it out at the other end!!  Does it come in a box fully assembled?  Any advice for us novices would be much appreciated.

Yes, 3,600 euros per year is what we are currently paying for both taxes.  AnOther, my initial post was to ask if there was a comparison website or banding available to check in France so didn't feel the need to give location at that time.  We are located in Aude at the very boundary with Ariege, edge of a very small village with no services or commerce.  Had we the facilities of Montpellier then perhaps it wouldn't seem so steep!!  Thanks all for your comments and advice. 

Thanks everyone for your replies. No, I didn't expect the comparison to be the same as the UK council tax system but wondered if there was a similar way of comparing (i.e Band A, B etc. linked to value of property and location - otherwise it would be pure guesswork wouldn't it?). Yes, our house is a second home and our friends' is their permanent home (neither have a pool); however it is the calculations that are the same not what we actually pay - I do realise they get a reduction because it is their principal residence but wondered why a house that is almost twice the size as ours (with 2 more bathrooms than us) would be assessed as having the same taxes/rental value. Unfortunately AnOther I wasn't joking about our state pensions barely covering the taxes - combined they are in excess of 300 euros per month!! We would certainly need more than the 100 euro reduction on reaching 65 years of age.

Got in touch with the planning office by email and they gave me a full calculation for both taxes for the planned new extension within 24 hours. Could hardly believe it. Obviously someone is on the ball.

Can anyone tell me please if there is a way of checking whether we are paying the correct amount of F&H taxes, similar to the "Bands" that operate in the UK. Neighbours of ours had a new house constructed by the same company as us, both completed within a month of each other just over 4 years ago. Their property is 250m2, ours 136m2; however we have 2 acres more land but this is only agricultural. Our taxes are roughly the same - surely this can't be correct? The area is very rural but the annual taxes we ae paying seem very high - we had hoped to retire to France in a few years but our pensions wouldn't even cover the current monthly F&H tax bill!!

Thanks both, much appreciated.  I had heard that Mirepoix was a particularly good market - we are at Puivert so it will probably be a little nearer than Esperaza.  Might find time to take in both.  All the best and thanks again.

Quick question hopefully.  Can someone tell me roughly what time French markets start up in the morning and what time they pack up - I am assuming its a fairly early start. We are going to France next month and Esperaza (Aude) looks good if anyone knows about this particular one.  Thanks all.

Is there a way of finding out how much our taxes would increase prior to constructing an extension?  Maybe there is a formula available, although I have contacted the local DDE with outline plans but have received no response.  We desperately need to construct a garage/storeoom and although this would obviously not be habitable in itself, I understand this will increase our (already very high) tax obligation.  Many thanks in advance.

Thank you so much Polly for all this helpful information; looks like I will have to reduce the size of the intended pool as I really don't want to incur any further taxes.  Much appreciated, Steve

Thank you so much for this information, very much appreciated.  I will certainly be giving EDF a call as I think from what you say that my monthly payment is far too high.  All the best, Steve

We have a new build, really well insulated and double glazed holiday home.  We pay our EDF bill by monthly direct debit.  Last year and the year before we were at the house on holiday for a total of about 10 weeks mostly in the summer so obviously did not use the electric heating.  EDF estimate our bills at 49 euros a month so for a total of 10 weeks over the past 2 years we have paid 980 euros.  This is almost the same as what we pay in the UK for a full years worth of electricity and we are ALL electric in the UK.  EDF have not read the meter at all and plan to increase our monthly payment again this year; I am assuming we will get some of this money back at some point as I hope everyone will agree this is a bit on the high side!  If we opt to pay the actual bill rather than by monthly DD would this force EDF to come and read the meter?  I did try last year to send them a meter reading via their English speaking website but they wasn't interested.

Hi all We are considering installing an above ground or semi submerged pool.  Can anyone tell us if we need planning permission for either of these and more importantly, whether it will significantly increase our taxes (these are already incredibly high so the pool might be a non-starter!). Thanks in advance.

Thank you so much Chrissie, this is great.  I checked out the website and it seems just what we are looking for and not too far away.  Cheers!

Hi again We have relatives visiting in June and again in August.  We would like to take them wine tasting on one of these occasions, nothing too heavy going, can anyone recommend somewhere around Carcassonne, Limoux areas which are user friendly.  We did try to go last year but found it quite intimidating and as though we were "in the way".  We have emailed a few vineyards (in French) - only one replied, but they want to charge 30 euros per person and being 7 of us it makes it quite an expensive couple of hours and that's even before you buy some of the produce!  Any suggestions/ideas would be much appreciated.