Anyone for Cricket?

I think the previous poster means french registered rather than 'french artisan', the nationality of your artisan is not important!  We also got the cost of replacement double glazed windows taken into account even though there were not fitted, just supplied, by an artisan so I think the rules can be a little flexible in this regard, either that or we were just lucky!  Ours is a slightly different situation as we had the news windows fitted to a long-term let property and that may be why we got the allowance even though the work was not carried out by an artisan.

Hi We bought, sold and bought again through www.frenchpropertylinks.com this site has both agency and private sales and is reasonably priced, we had a lot of enquiries and the site is well managed, by that I mean if you request updates they happen quickly and someone calls you to confirm, quite a novelty!  I think that offering good regional choice to the viewer, down to town if required helps too.  Lots of agencies seem to use it which suggests they are getting good enquiry levels from it.  

Hi We have had a bad experience with a french accountant .  Our moan is around very late and incorrect submission of accounts, despite our seeking advice in Feb accounts weren't submitted until September (and only then when I called and said why am I being chased for a return) which led us to having to pay more to some bodies due to them making assumptions about our earnings.  He then chraged us twice the amount for doing the work that he charged the year before even though the year before he set up our business for us as well as the return, all very bizarre.  I have simply repeated my request for him to justify the increase partucularly in light of the poor service.  I have not paid him and have told him that when he does get around to answering my letters (now 4 without reply) I will review his reasons for the increase and if I am not happy I will seek an audience with L'ordre des Experts Comptables.   I have spoken to other brits in the area and he works for a number of them (he speaks fluent english), all of whom have had late returns, I have told him I will seek support from these other 'clients' in support of my complaint to L'ordre if necessary. Not holding my breath for a reponse though.. seems they think issues will go away if they don't respond.

Hi We are in the same boat and have found two places advertising mobile homes for sale, they are ex site homes and start at around 3k euro (plus delivery 400 ish): 05 53 51 64 83 02 96 30 49 27 We have been told that it is 'polite' to go and speak with the Mairie before the van turns up, this is not an out and out legal requirement but to avoid any possible issues always a good move.    

Not Robots [:)], but... Bot nets, Specialised Bots or Command Bots.... Never heard that there are teams of Robots out there collecting email addresses and organising world domination by controlling pc's globally... I guess you never know though.[;-)] Other than the above I agree totally, never ever respond to a spam email as you are confirming yourself as a target.  It's not just the above automated methods that get your email address on mailing lists, I have a wanadoo email address which I have never used, i.e. never said anywhere that it is my email address as I don't use it, I went on to my account to check my usage yesterday and see that I have 800 emails in the mailbox.  The only real way my address could be on these lists is by wanadoo in some way making it visible to the outside world, nice!  With help like that no wonder the level of spam crossing the internet is doubling weekly.

Hi When we first made the move I was (and still am) working for a UK company remotely.  I contacted Newcastle and told them that I was going to be working for a UK company but from France.  They sent me an E106 for 8 years, no one then or since could tell me why they did this, it seems that this is not usual, I did ask the question why of Newcastle and was told not to mention it to anyone, as in, 'you've got it, it's good for you now go away'.  This meant that whilst I continued to pay tax and NI in the UK and declared this on my french tax return as income earned abroad, I did not pay any cotisations in this country as I was employed still by the company in the UK.  Eventually the UK tax office for reasons unknown decided to return all of my NI and tax paid during the time I had lived in France, about 18 months had passed by this time.  I was now in a position where I had not paid anything for 18 months, this was a little concerning so I set up my micro quickly and now pay cotisations, still doing the same job but am on a contract basis with the UK company who now pay me the same salary but with no deductions.  All a bit odd really.. but seemed to work in my favour, I'm glad it's all straightforward now though and also that I am contributing to the french system on which I now depend. I think in your case you should not pay into both systems, your NI contributions will cover your health care in France but how you decide to set yourself for tax domicile purposes will have an affect.   

This could be a daft question but.... ....why are you all going when you already live here, what is it about the show that makes you all so keen???  What am I missing out on, I've never been to one?  

I think the situation varies by region, we have been told that as about 90% of all fosses countrywide do not comply with the new regs even those put in only two years ago the government is going to have to help people to become compliant or accept that some will continue to be non-compliant if the person does not have the money.  There is an example of such a scheme here where a small hamlet is getting help as none of them are compliant and who has thousands to spend on such an undertaking, certainly not your average french owner.  It would seem it's just the Brits who are steaming ahead with updating , interesting to note also it seems to be only a specialist industry amongst the Brits, I've yet to see an advert by a french company that justs installs new fosses, these seem all to be english in our area and a growing number at that. Your fosse may well be fine for now in which case it may be prudent to find out what the situation is close by, have any of your neighbours been inspected and if so what are they going to do about becoming compliant. The local immobiliers have said the government are targeting houses that have clearly no fosse at all, i.e. all goes in a ditch as per the previous posters experience, after that they will go after the others but it is very much dependent on local legislation as I understand it.  

It's the same in the Vienne, been checked twice in 3 years (entry to school and visiting school doctor) and my son could not attend the summer school equivalent without the full check on all the vaccinations.

It's not just the mossies, it would seem that we have fleas again and these really do not usually show themselves in the depths of winter.  We have no carpets so they are not hiding in those and anyway we 'bombed' the house a couple of months ago with that awful hit and run stuff that is very nasty and kills all insect life.  My poor cat, who suffers terribly with an allergy to fleas, has never had problems with them in the winter before here or in the UK.  So it's back to all the anti-flea measures depsite the vet telling me to leave it off for Jan as it shouldn't be needed and to give her a break, without these she gets ulcers so there is no choice, perhaps that predicted cold snap will sort them out!  

Yes, fine, I was lucky and no one hit me or me them!  It just goes to show that when you let your mind wander you can get in to all sorts of trouble!

My worst blonde moment ever, sitting at the traffic lights listening to music at high volume, track finishes, I drive into the oncoming traffic...................

Hi Language is key to getting on in this country whatever you want to do and I can't recommend enough enrolling at a University to study french as a foreign language.  I've posted on the subject before, it's tough, 20+ hours per week plus homework but after just one term (you sign up on a term by term basis) you move on  hugely.  I had no french when I came to france and can now speak freely, I have to admit that my written french isn't  great as I only did one and half terms, I can get by though.  A term is 13 weeks, not long to put you on the right path, to think that doing it this way you study 260 hours per term, I did 400 hours and to compare that to the one hour or so a week you could do in a local class and it's easy to see why you move on so quickly. I did intend to try to get work here after the course and would feel ready to do that, luckly for me I was able to work remotely for my old UK employers and so have not yet had to, knowing that I could try is a safety net I prefer to have.

From our very recent experience when selling we had to provide tax papers and other supporting documents even though we have been resident for 3.5 years so had kids in school etc.  We have also been told that we must pay CGT on the part of our property used as a gite as of course we can't state both as our principal residence (it is a detached separate house).  The notaire is assisting us to value the gite at a price which allows us to pay  minimal CGT, there is also a general abattement against CGT for residents which will mean we end up paying a fairly small amount.    Interestingly it would seem that the previous owners did not pay CGT on the second house even thought it is clearly listed as two houses on the deeds etc.. It is probably obvious to everyone else but did not occur to us that this would be the case. 

Hi We have been in France for 3.5 years with our 7 year old son who is of course very settled at school now but I remember those days of tears at the gate, hard to take.  I'm not sure where you are, I will need to check a map but would love to meet up sometime, our son misses his english friends and it's important to keep up his english as he already forgets the odd word.  We will be moving soon to the Charente border, I will pm you later when we are settled and maybe we could get together.

We are in the same boat seeking a builder on the Charente/Dordogne border, nearest town Brossac.  We too have not had much success in getting someone out to give us a devis.. any suggestions?  Ours is fairly large project, a 2 storey extension to a modern existing building.

Can I add a me too, where are you and are there any left???  

We have coypu's on our lake and as we have dogs they spend thie time on an island which the dogs can't reach, they are cute to watch, just like otters, they are not a problem to us at all and we are happy for them to live on their own island and despite the tales of tunnelling it has yet to sink.  I am all for control but not for the sake of it, our local large fishing lake has lots and no one seems to bother them either, they too are on an island but are braver than ours as they see people all the time and so swim up and down in day light.  They didn't ask to be introduced and so whilst not a native species it's hardly their fault, bird lovers feel the same way about cats but no one suggest a culling!

I agree with the previous poster, we spent a while getting irrate with the darn thing then called on the local TV ariel company, he was up the ladder and finished in minutes, it was well worth it!  We have been able to set our second one up ourselves but that was luck, if it doesn't happen soon go find a man that can!!

I think you are talking about capital gains tax here Pun, that is the only tax that decreases year on year up to 15 years, this has no affect on the tax you pay annually (Fonciere and Habitation )the Fonc tax can go up year on year as rates are increased for your area much the same as council tax in the UK works.  The Habitation tax depends on your situation and if you earn below the threshold then this tax is adjusted accordingly, our was very low this year.  I believe that as long as you are up front in telling the mairie that you have started and then eventually completed renovation work they will make an allowance but it is dependant on you being honest and quick to inform them of the situation, it is not a legal right more a case by case thing. The bit that confuses me is seeing a whole gite complex with 6 plus gites for sale stating a habitation figure of 600 euro and a tax fonc of 1000, how can this be the case, I guess they never told anyone they renovated and now have 800 sq meters of livable space??  On the same website I've seen the reverse a small detached cottage with these sorts of figures seemingly vey high for the space, perhaps this one was too honest??  How is the tax calculated?

Hi I've posted on this subject before, we did have non paying tenants and they were evicted in November.  It was non payment for 3 months and the bailiff was called and got them to give a cheque for the missing months and to get out about a week or so later.  It has since come to light that they had a business and the bailiff had threatned to make a claim on the business if they didn't co-operate so maybe that had some bearing on it.  We deal strictly via an agent and so this again may have some bearing, we pay for insurance cover for non-payers and recovery so we didn't lose any money nor would we have if they had not paid as the insurance would have paid out (for a certain amount of time).  In our case the agent has to do something otherwise it's them that loses out, this could be why it was handled quite quickly.  It is also worth saying that the agent is very choosy about who can rent the appartments, they have to have references and a certain level of income, the problems occur when you rent to someone who simply cannot pay rather than will not, in these cases claiming against them is obviously going to be difficult.  As everyone has said it can be an area fraught with problems, for us we simply bought the appartments as a longterm investment, we have done well so far and have no intention of selling.  We get a modest income and have so far been able to offset any tax against renovations.  If you are looking for a short term investment or to rent a part of the property you live in I do not think renting in this way is the answer.

My cat vomits more than you would expect and more than she used to too.  She has actually stopped recently, I don't know if it's diet related as we have recently decided to ignore the vets advice about dry food as she hates it, lost weight and vomited and she is back on whiskers wet sachets.  I've decided that at her age she should be able to eat what she likes and if it does cut her life a bit shorter at least she will be happy.  The vets here are obsessed in my opinion with dry food.  My poor old dog who sadly died this year at the ripe old age of 17 was overweight and the vet kept saying if you fed her less and on this dry stuff she would have lived longer, now I don't know of many dogs who live to 17 as I told him every time, he shrugged.  He has now started the same thing on my remaining dog who is 11 and as fit as a fiddle and not in the least bit overweight.  When I have kidney issues which I do from time to time a doctor has never told me to cut down on protein, I know that it's a strain on the kidneys but surely only if there is a kidney malfunction? I think that sometimes the vets prey on our love of our pets and make us think that not to follow their way is letting the pet down, I say do what feels right!

Hi There was a 75 year old in my class at Uni here in France and age never came into it at all (he did drop off  to sleep occasionally in the grammar section but who wouldn't).  In order to study at Uni for a non language course I believe there is a minimum level of french you must obtain, a short exam.  If your french isn't up to it and you have the time why not do a french as a foreign language course first, it's tough but well worth the effort, I was able to converse freely after a term and a half (20 weeks i.e. 400 hours of study) I'm not fluent but would pass the entrance exam for further studies.  

my old cat also 18 had been without vacinations in the UK but I too have had her done here as she neded to go into a cattery for a few days, she was fine but they did not give her Chlamydiose, what is it?  Do you find that cats act more and more bizarrely as they age, mine has taken to sleeping in the middle of the kitchen table rather than on anything comfy, bit odd but we work around her and have stopped using it for the time being until she adopts a more suitable place, removing her does no good at all she just gets back on, before that it was the sky digi box and her tail kept blocking the remote! If I were you I would not attempt the vaccination again, they are at little risk surely inside the house?

Hi My geography is not what it should be, we will be near Passirac which is the other side of Aubeterre from you I think, not very far away.  Would be nice to meet up,  we are due over end of Feb all being well.