Anglo-Frenchman

Yes, I agree entirely.

[quote user="Will"] (unlike the example above). [/quote] Not sure I follow Will?

As a professional surveyor working in France I have come across the good, the bad and the definateyl ugly! There are occasions that I look at a building and wonder what on earth the client is thinking but that is a matter of personal taste. As previously stated by many respondents, more often than not there are no serious issues and sales go thorugh without any hitches perhaps leaving buyers wondering if they really needed a survey. On the other hand there are times when the money has been well spent, sometimes less than half of one % of the purchase price and saved the buyer from a host of expesive problems they knew nothing about. I carred out a survey at the begining of this year on a property in the Deux-Sèvres of which the buyer had been advised by the agent that amongst other things the roof was in 'tip-top' condition. My inspection followed a night of torrential rain (my faviourite conditions) and revealed that the roof was about as far from tip-tip as one could get - on the contrary it leaked like a bucket and in fact when I opened the front door a tidle-wave of water met me on the threshold!  The sale did not go through as the client baulked at the €30k needed to retile and repair the roof and in due course I received a very irrate call frrom the French agent telling me that he would never again refer a cilent to me. I told him I was not paid to be popular and that he should be better accquinted with what he was selling. For my part I would not spend €50k or more on a race horse without expert advice as I know nothing on the subject.      

Not directly linked to the original query but worthy of comment nonetheless.  Whilst in the process of surveying houses in France, I have been faced with at least 2 that have been entirely rewired with UK cabling and fitted throughout with UK three pin sockets.  I am astounded at the arrogance of some building owners who have done this and wonder with a certain degree of bewilderment what an English housebuyer would think if he was faced with a house in Tunbridge Wells completely wired with French sockets!  The mind truly boggles. When I pointed out to one of the vendors that this was a breach of French building norms and also rendered their insurance entirely invalid she just shrugged and said that it was far more convenient to her to plug her hairdryer in without fiddling about with adaptors. What can you say?

I have some experience of these kinds of issues and generally speaking the ABF are normally only concerned with those elevations which directly the face the church in question. If the structure is of significant antiquity such as with many mediaeval structures then the entire building is controlled and you would be unable most likely to do anything to it which compromised its historic integrity. If you follow the following link you should be able to contact someone at the ABF and obtain all the information you need. http://www.archi.fr/ANABF/index.html

As a resident building surveyor, I probably have a biased opinion nonetheless I would have presumed that common sense would prevail and even a cursory inspection of the property by the lay person would have probably prevented this kind of problem.

If you would like to PM me, I will provide you with the details of a colleague of mine who is a fully qualified chartered surveyor and who has worked in France for many years and who covers of that particular part of the country.

We moved here some years ago to set up a business which has been very successful and now  pay approximately 50% of our income to the state in the various forms of taxation/cotisation etc. Our combiined foncière and habitation exceeds €2000 per year for a modest property in a small market town, more than our end of terrace in Cornwall.  

As one who inspects houses for a living I could probably write a book about the bizarre and sometimes incredibly scarey things that I find. I recall one property that the vendor showed me round but totally neglected to mention that there was a cellar. I knew that there was one because I could see the tops of the window openings at ground level. After questioning about it he grudgingly informed me that there was no internal access because the stairs had collapsed (!) but that there was a small external doorway hidden behind a rose bush!  'Small' was an understatement. Having squeezed my 6'4" into the opening I quickly realised why he had failed to mention it to me and, for that matter to the buyer also! The entire ground floor was being supported upon a forest of Acrow props as the result of some rather voracious wood-boring insects who had eaten their way through most of the original supporting structure. There was also the early stages of dry rot present. Interestingly, he had strategically positioned his furniture around the ground floor directly above to hide the plethora of holes in the floorboards that had resulted from the decay!   

As a fellow surveyor, I can recommend Ian Graham who can be reached at http://www.surveysinfrance.com/ and who covers this area.

There are number of Building Surveyors including ourselves, living and working in France. Do a search from the webiste of the RICS for full details. 

As a self-employed professional in France I agree with most of what has been written so have no desire to re-invent the wheel. None the less, what has not been mentioned is that as a result of the higher social/tax deductions the overall standard of public services / health / pensions are streets ahead of the UK so that, for example if you need a new knee joint or an MRI scan you don't have to actually clinically dead before they decide to offer you the service. Despite working working long hours (considerably more than 35!) and running a successful business, it is still unlikely that I will ever earn the same as my UK professional counterparts but I would not change places for all that.    

Hi, I have fully comp (toutes risque) with Credit Agricol and pay around 450EUR on my Defender - that is for business use as well with replacement vehicle in case of accident.

I couldn't agree more. I pay 250EUR per month to URSSAF + 2x 1,800EUR in November and December so if anyone out there is bucking the system than watch out because they WILL find you and then God have mercy upon your wallet! Those of you reading the popular press will have seen that the French singing icon M. Halliday has moved his affairs to Switzerland due to the cost of living in France. Let's face it, if he can't afford to live here then who are we kidding!  

To answer the question simply, the UK is not the only country in the world where surveys are the norm and there are qualified surveyors the world over to the prove the point.  We receive instructions from members of pretty much all the EU countries, the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Far East so it is not a request that is peculiar to the British by any means.  Equally as the French are realising the potential for investment in property they are starting to seek independent advice about property also.