Sashabel

Only about 5 years - not long enough to benefit from the decreasing scale of CGT that starts after the 5 year ownership.

Yes, I fully understand how the gains tax system works and it is not our main residence.  However, he stated that as the price is under 125000 euros there would be no CGT.  It seemed very odd at the time as we hadn't heard anything about this either.

My husband spoke to our Notaire yesterday to inform him we were selling our house, and he said that as we were asking less than 125000 euros, there would be no CGT to pay.  Not heard of this before.  Is he correct?  Would be lovely is he was! Sasha

Help.  We have just arrived back at our house and a small forest has sprung up where there was just a patch of mud in June.  Does anyone know of a good gardening service (either French or English) near St Medard en Jalles, just north of Bordeaux in dept 33? Waiting with baited breath for a reply...... Thanks Sasha

Help.  We have just arrived back at our house and a small forest has sprung up where there was just a patch of mud in June.  Does anyone know of a good gardening service (either French or English) near St Medard en Jalles, just north of Bordeaux in dept 33? Waiting with baited breath for a reply...... Thanks Sasha

Hello My 8 month old Jack Russell has just come into her first season.  Can anyone tell me how long this will/should last?  She is booked into a Kennels at the end of next week and I, obviously, want to warn the owners to keep her well away from male dogs during walks, cage cleaning etc.  Unfortunately, the kennell owners don't speak very good English and my French isn't that good yet. What's the best way of getting this across to them in French? Thanks Joanna

Hello again Good news - all 3 kittens have now been re-homed!  Thanks to everyone who expressed interest and concern. Joanna

Hi Arrived at our house in Clussais la Pommeraie (Dept. 79, near Lezay) on Saturday to find 3 abandoned kittens in the garden.  Absolutley no sign of the mother.  They appear to be around 3 weeks old and are very friendly - love being picked up and will run to you when you go near.  How they have survived so far is a mystery, but I'm concerned that a fox will get them if left and I can't take them in because of my very boisterous 8 month old Jack Russell. They are wolfing down the food I leave out and appear quite healthy, but I desperately need to find new homes for them. I think they are all female and, as I said before, very cute and friendly. CAN ANYONE HELP?? I can send photos if you forward your email address to me. Joanna

Just sent you a PM. Sasha

Hi Cathy Where on the Medoc are you?  We live on the northern side of St Medard en Jalles on the road out to La Porge. I sometimes here English spoken in the Intermarche, but haven't come across any other Brits living nearby. Are your kids going to a local school when they come over in September? Drop me a line if you want a chat. Joanna

Where do all the ex rental cars go once the Hertz, Europcar and Alamo's of this world have finished with them.  Is there the equivalent of the UK "Car Supermarket" in France (especially in the south west)? Sasha

Hi Alwen Sent you a private message Sashabel

Hi Thanks for the links.  I've been to the France Telecom website, but they only seem to give you the information if you have a telephone number to type in and not a location/post code.  And as we have yet to buy our house, we don't have the required telephone number. Maybe I'm missing something, but I have trawled the site with my limited French and cannot find a link for postal codes. Sasha

Hello We are looking to buy a house in the Gironde, probably between the Libourne, Castillon, St Foye area down to the Langon, Barsac and Cerons area - basically the Entre Deux Mers region. We will need somewhere with ADSL internet connection.  Does anyone know if it's available in this area or how far out of Bordeaux you can be and still get ADSL? Any other ADSL information on areas within a 45 minute commute of Bordeaux would also be helpful Many thanks Sasha

You call this good?  When we bought our house we got 1.6 euros to the £ - now that was GOOD!!   Sasha

Might be a good idea to get a very simplified version of the rules typed up (in French) and distributed to the locals so they will have a basic idea of what they are watching.  You may lose your audience early on if they can't follow the game. Come to think of it, an English version might not go amiss!! Sasha

Not all partly renovated properties are on the market because of divorce, lack of funds being disillusioned with French life, etc.  Our longere has just gone on the market after a new roof, fosse, installation of a shower room and sandblasted/repointed exterior walls.  The reason? When purchased, we planned the work as a long term project for us to escape to after the kids had finished their education in the UK.  But we have now decided to move over permanently this summer bringing our 11 year old son with us.  Because he is mildly dyslexic, we don't want to put him in the French system, so we are moving to an area where he can attend an international school.  It's as simple as that! Sasha

Frankly. my dear, I couldn't give a damn!! I think the last series with the Indian restaurant was pushing it.  It's quite obvious he just wants to make money out of the programmes.  What will the next few series be about, I wonder... Nigel trying to run a goat farm? Nigel becomming a mobile hairdresser? Nigel opening a chocolate shop ....Yawn!!

We have some land around our house which a local farmers uses for free as we were informed that if we charged him rent and didn't use it ourselves, then after a number of years he has the right to claim the land as his own.  If this is the case, then I would be very wary of charging anyone for the use of your land. Perhaps we have got it wrong - would be very grateful for more information on this matter. Sasha 

Hi Trevor The best way is to mention to a local farmer that you have a load of the stuff to get rid of - they just love corrugated roofing sheets, especially when it's free.  When we mentioned to our neighbour that we didn't want what we had taken off our roof and that he could have it, he couldn't get round fast enough.  Every bit went, even the rusty small bits. Cheers Sasha

It's not just the French.  I am trying to get a new driveway laid before I put the UK house on the market.  Out of the 6 companies I made appointments with, only two turned up!  Needles to say, I'm getting very frustrated Sasha

Hi We are looking for a house to rent within easy reach of Bordeaux from September onwards.  Preferably, we would like somewhere east or north east of the city (eg. Libourne, Cenon, Coutras, etc) for 6 to 8 months.  We're a non-smoking family of three and don't have any pets.  Just thought I would post this request on the LF forum before I go down the route of contacting immos. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Sasha

Thanks Will - I know the solid fuel/woodburning Rayburns are easy to convert to either gas or oil, but I want to keep mine as a woodburning one.  I don't have to rely on it for cooking as I have a modern cooker and hob already installed.  It's mainly for heating the kitchen in the winter and extra oven space when we have guests staying. Sasha

If it's of any interest, the solid fuel/woodburning Rayburns are one of Ebay's best buys.  As most people buying a Rayburn for use in the UK want an Gas or Oil fired one, the SF Rayburns don't fetch large sums.  We just bought a beauty for a little over £300!!  It's in great condition too.Cheers Sasha

It's any part of the room that has a ceiling height of less than 1.8 metres that is excluded from the 170 square metre ruling.  For example, if your total space on the first floor is 90 square metres, but where the roof meets the walls the height is only 1 metre, and your roof only has a shallow pitch to it, then you need to show this on your application.  You could have a house with 90 square metres on the ground floor and the same in the grenier, but using this calculation you could well come in under the 170 square metre ruling and not have to employ an architect. Sasha