Jontefonte

Thanks both for your helpful replies. Our total habitable space will be more than 170 sqm so we will need to find an architect. We have clauses in our compromis, thank goodness. I have one more question. Do you know anything about Batiment de France. Apparently, as there is a listed church within 500 metres of our house then we need to get extra permission to do our renovations, as well as for making a swimming pool and the creation of a small parking area. Will the architect help us with getting these extra 'batiment de france' permissions? Do you know if Batiment de France have a website? I can't seem to find it. Thanks again Siobhan

Ok, I'm confused, and I hope someobody can makes things a bit clearer. We are planning to open a 7 bedroom "small hotel" in the Charante Maritime (we are in the process of buying a house at the moment) but not sure how to officially describe it? Will 7 bedrooms mean that it is too big to be a Chambre D'hotes? Is there a limit on how many bedrooms and services a Chambre D'Hotes can offer? We want to be able to offer meals - to residents only - from a limited menu offer two or three choices, as well as a choice of wines and aperitifs. Does this take us beyond the scope of a CDH? And who controls what CDH can offer in France? Also, if we are too big to be a Chambre D'Hotes - then can we describe our enterprise as a hotel? What regulations do we have to conform to? And Lastly, what permissions do we need to get and from whom, to allow us to operate a hotel from the house that are buying (it will also be our home). Do we need to get a Permis de Construire as we are changing usage (partly) from residential to business/residential? Any information will be greatly appreciated! Has anyone else got any experience of opening a simialr size hotel business in France?

Can anyone tell the situation regarding planning permissions for the following - We want to convert a two storey garage that is attached to a house that we are buying into habitable accommodation - what permissions do we need? I have read that you do not need to get permission if the building is attached to your house There is also a stables that we also want to convert into a guest apartment - it is attached to a cottage (we do not own the cottage). What permissions do we need? With regard to Certificat D'Urbanisme and Permis de Contruire - do we get these forms from the Mairie's office?   Many thanks for anyone's help!

Thank you both very much for this. So does this mean that as long as a room has the minimum amount of space required per person (for example at least 10m2 for 4* rating) that is at least 1 metre 80 high from floor to ceiling - then this should meet regulations? And it doesn't matter if the rest of the room (the edges in an attic room for example) are lower? Any further thoughts appreciated... we are house hunting next week and all the houses have attics to convert and the space will be crucial to how many rooms we can have. I'm a bit fixated with this at the moment. Siobhan

Just joined this forum, and found lots of useful info so far. We are in the process of looking for a house to buy in france as we want to run a B&B/small hotel. Can anyone tell me what the regulation minimum height is from floor to ceiling for a hotel room? Several of the houses we are considering have attics for conversion but some have lowish beams but high pointed ceilings and not sure if we will be allowed to use this space for letting rooms. Although, we've stayed in attic hotel rooms with low beams before, so confused as to what regulations are (heard it had to be 1 metre 80, but is that to the beam or to the ceiling above?) Any  help on this much appreciated! Siobhan