dexter

Two years ago I retired from the Police service, I had over 30 years of NI contributions so no longer had to pay them. I then started on what had been my long time dream of a permanent move to France. The house went up for sale and within a month the property market crashed. I had been very close to signing for a house in France but (fortunately) backed out due to the total lack if interest in my UK property. Now, almost 2 years and only 10 viewings later I have at last a very firm offer on my house and can once again look forward to a move to France, (I`ve not been idle in the last 2 years, I`ve brushed up on my French and been to view quite a few properties). This  afternoon I contacted HMRC in Newcastle to enquire about my eligibility for an E106 when I finally make the move. They were very helpful but perhaps I have been a bit naive. I was told that the E106 is based on the previous 2 years NI contributions and as I hadn't paid any then I wasn't eligible. "But I`ve paid all the contributions I needed to" said I, "Those are the rules I`m sorry" came the reply.So no option but to obtain Private Health Insurance immediately I move to France. Perhaps my experience will be of benefit to other forum members in a similar position. Just when you think things are on the up eh! I know many of you will quite rightly point out that I should be able to afford Private Health Insurance from my pension, but I thought that I might have had 2 years grace with the E106. So, can anyone tell me what a 52 year old single male in good health might be expected to pay for said insurance? Dexter 

There`s no set distance between worktop and cupboards but bear in mind if you are going to tile the wall between the two,  a little careful measuring beforehand may save a lot of awkward cutting. Also, there have been quite a few posts on the forum regarding the fitting of Ikea kitchens as they tend to differ from the bog standard British version, it may be worth a bit of a peruse prior to starting. Good luck. Dexter   

As far as I`m concerned a survey is a must. You wouldn't consider parting with tens of thousands of pounds for a house in the UK without one so why should it be different for a french property. The surveyor I used gave me two options, I could have a written survey report posted to me  in the UK, or for half the price he would give me the same report verbally over the phone. Dexter 

The areas you have chosen to look in are huge. There must be literally thousands of properties for sale in each of those departments. If you are only going to look at 11 properties in a week and hope to make a decision on the house for you I wish you well but my advice would be not to think that you have to come away with a result. You may be lucky and find just what you want, (I did but am still here in the UK 2 years on but that's another story). But unless you you are 100% sure it`s the right one it could turn out to be an expensive regret. Good luck in your search.   Dexter

I know this thread has been going for some time but I assume that all the worktops being fitted are of the laminated surface type, (chipboard with Formica type surface and curved (post formed) edge). As with other posters advice I agree that the best results are from a jig using a router to make the cuts.  However, If the worktop is solid timber then the general rule is that the tops should only be butted together. Due to the expansion and contraction of the wood no matter how dry it may seem to be, if a masons mitre is cut using the aforementioned jig, you will always get a gap at the mitre. Joining the two butted edges together is done the same way as previously described with bolts and biscuits. I don't know how to post a link to other sites but if you go to uk workshop.com and search on posts submitted by a member caller Argee he has posted a very comprehensive article on using worktop jigs. It`s also not a bad site for information about all sorts of woodworking. Hope this is of some help. Edit, Sorry the site is ukworkshop.co.uk       

1.1532 at 5pm

If you`re still resident in the UK perhaps a local MP would be able to advise you!! 

Perhaps I`m digressing from the OP original question and I dare say that it`s been covered elsewhere in the forum but, when I eventualy move to France my Police pension will be taxed in the UK, given that income tax here covers one`s NHS costs amongst other things, If I`m not entitled to NHS cover then just where will my tax go?

I`m so glad that I took the advice given to me, and walked away from a deal on a French property as I have said previously in this topic. One option suggested to me by my building society`s mortgage advisor was to arrange the finance to buy the property in France using the equity in my UK house, then when the final contract in France was signed, (this would have been about the end of January this year) take a six month mortgage break on the UK house `because you shouldn't have any problems selling within six months.` I can imagine the trouble I`d be in now if I had gone with that suggestion but it was a non starter from the off, however I`m sure that some people would have taken the gamble. Only 2 viewings to date and a drop in my asking price of £25k since October. But I sleep soundly every night. The property in France is still on the market and has been reduced in price by £20k in the last fortnight, so I`ll sit and wait.and wait,and wait and eventually get what I want on my terms.  

If I ever manage to sell the house here in the UK and finally realise my dream I would be in the position of being mortgage free, single with no children and  living in France. Come the day when I eventually pop my clogs and given that I have no dependants what would happen to my estate? Not that I`d be bothered after my demise! I do have a sister and brother if that would have any bearing on matters.  

How much of a difference would it be for a single person? I`ve just worked out my average annual budget in the UK and it comes nowhere near ams`s figures (thank heavens!) 

Is the price of fuel (petrol & diesel) rising as much and as fast in France as it is here in the UK?  I`m in the fortunate position not to have to fill up every week but at the pumps this morning the price of diesel has gone up 4p in the last 3 weeks bringing it to £1.24 per litre with petrol 10p cheaper. I know that the world price of oil is rising but the cynic in me, seeing the price rise by 1p per week for the last six months or so, can`nt help but think that someone somewhere is making a killing out of joe public.  P.S. I was so busy effing and blinding to myself about the cost whilst filling the car up that I managed to fill it up with petrol,(it`s a diesel car!!) so the 10p per litre I saved on petrol has cost me best part of £350 to get back on the road! 

Dropped my price by £20,000 and offering to pay the stamp duty so in effect dropped by nearly £28,000. I`ve now had one viewing in six months. I dont know how difficult it is to get a mortgage at the moment because when/if I sell the intention is to move to France and buy a property outright. That being said, the house I nearly bought in November is still on the market but with the dire exchange rate at the moment it`s gone up £12,000 since January! So thats a £40,000 loss in six months! Perhaps if the BBC and ITV kept their mouths shut for a while rather than scare mongering at every opportunity about the financial situation, (`if you`ve got any worries about how the credit crunch will affect you then go to our web site`) then maybe people will make up their own minds and enquire for themselves rather than nailing their front doors shut and sheltering under the kitchen table!  However, If you want to make a quick buck or two buying and selling property then watch the BBC between 9 and 11.30am each weekday and see the repeats of Homes under the Hammer etc! Cheesed off in Rossendale.    

Off to Barcelona tomorrow at short notice, exchange rate at my local post office was 1.20 !!

Benjamin, see my reply to `selling in england,buying in france` from yesterday for the harsh reality of property priced between £250,000 and £300,000 in the North of England.

If your french vendor has any knowledge of the UK property market at the present I doubt he/she would agree to wait for the sale of your house to go through. I very nearly got myself into all sorts of trouble thinking mine would sell within a couple of months, that was 5 months ago and still no movement. I`ve been told today by my estate agent that realistically I have two choices, 1, drop the price to below £250,000 to avoid the 3% stamp duty, or 2, take it off the market and wait until things pick up,(there was a long silence when I asked her when that would be!!). Unless you have the funds ready it`s a big gamble at the present time and the thought of bridging loans should set alarm bells ringing. Good luck whatever you decide.    

Is it a newish type of lock that are common in PVC doors over here?

Another thing to be wary of is the state of the UK market at present, If you intend to buy on the capital raised from the sale of a house in the UK this could take longer that expected. My situation has been well documented within the forum, and to cut the story short, four and a half months on the market not one viewing `in a much sought after blah blah blah` as the estate agents say.

Colin, See my recent post titled `Is it worth it.` I was in a similar position to yourself and believe me you will get sleepless nights if the UK property isn't moving. Some very good advice in the thread which I took and don't regret it one bit. Nearly another month on and still not one viewing on a 4 bed detached in a village in Lancashire. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Dex

To clarify some points about my situation which may in turn help some others with decisions. It has long been my intention to move permanently to France, I don't want two properties as I like to keep things as simple as possible. Due to changes in my personal situation some years ago, (buying the ex out of this place etc) the vast majority of my money/equity is tied up in the House. I have a reasonable pension that I can live off (so far!) and so the decision was made to go for the move. The house in France was ideal for my needs in terms of location and the work required on it would keep me occupied as much or as little as I wanted to be. The purchase was being conducted through an English company that often is mentioned on this site so the process from my point should be relatively stress free. My house went on the market six weeks ago with me thinking that as it had a buyer within six weeks three years ago before I took the decision to buy my ex out, then it should be the same now. Oh how wrong I was! To date not one person has contacted the estate agents to arrange a viewing, I am told that the property market is cooling due to a number of factors such as higher interest rates, the time of year, (family sized houses don't sell near to Christmas), people don't want to pay stamp duty an the higher rate and neither do they want to pay for home information packs on the sale of their property. There`s no getting away from the last two points but apparently this is affecting house sales over here. A friend of mine is in exactly the same situation with the sale of his house having had only one viewing in eight weeks. The estate agent told me that even dropping the price of the house by £20,000 would have no effect and that I should not expect any interest until the turn of the year. The English agents want their fee up front and with the deposit on the French property and the cost of a structural survey that I had already paid for, as well as the home information pack on my house the total payable was going to be just short of £20,000. With the information I had been given about the sale of my house there was no way I could have met the projected completion date of 28th February. So if I went ahead hoping against hope that I would sell this place quickly and it all went wrong then I`d be £20,000 out of pocket plus any fees the notaire may charge for me breaching the contract. A trip to the building society was made and I was told in no uncertain terms that I should not consider a bridging loan, other options were put forward but each had an element of risk and surprise surprise there would be an increased cost incurred. Hence my original posing on this topic, after yet another sleepless night trying to work out alternative options I made the decision to walk away. It was the right decision for me. I don't know what the agents have told the vendor about the reasons for my withdrawal and my French isn't good enough to contact him directly but he has been always been helpful on the times I`ve visited the property,(despite not wanting to wait for the sale of my house) so it is my intention to write to him and explain the situation from my side. With regards to the private health care issue, I know it wont be cheap but if I have to pay it for three years (after E106 expires and until 5 year rule kicks in) then so be it. My only real gripe, and I can't do anything about it, is Taxation. My police pension will be taxed in the UK but if I am resident in France I will get no benefits from it. National insurance payments are for your old age pension only and as I`ve worked over 30 years and contributed throughout then I no longer have to pay them as I am now guaranteed a pension. Tax paid in the UK covers health care but only if you re resident there so I wont be able to utilise the benefits in either country after two years!  As I said, nothing I can do about it if I want to live In France but sometimes it`s good to have a little moan. And so the quest to move goes on for me, I may have been a little naive which resulted in setback but it`s not over yet.

Many thanks to all of you for you comments and observations. After weighing up all the pros and cons of continuing with the purchase, it was with a heavy heart that I decided to walk away from it. I enquired if the vendor would agree to a suspensive clause in the contract on the sale of my house being competed and  was informed that he was prepared to wait until the middle of March. The projected completion date on the contract was 28th February! The most disappointing thing to me is that if he were prepared to wait then we both would be in the situation that we want to be in. He has a new build property near to the house I was interested in and a mortgage on it that he can clear with the sale. I would clear my UK mortgage and be starting a new life in France. Now he`s back to square one with a property that had been on the market for nearly 12 months and even if he were to get a buyer tomorrow wouldn't complete until I suppose next April! His prerogative I know, and a lot would depend on the speed of my house sale. So it`s back to square one for me, albeit with some valuable experience and who knows, perhaps if my house sells sooner than I think and a certain property in France is still on the market ............... Once again thanks for all of your comments. 

As I sit here with the compromis de vente in front of me awaiting my signature(s) for a property that I would hope to move into around about March 08, I find myself in a situation that I expect many of the readers of this forum will have experienced before. Is it worth it? The purchase of the property rests on the sale of my house over here and the market,(in my opinion fueled by yet another media frenzy) is showing signs of cooling down. I dont realy want to get into the area of bridging loans but that at present seems a real possibility. Then theres health care, whilst I will be able to utilise the E106 system for the best part of 2 years the prospect of private health insurance is quite daunting. I suffer from asthma, and whilst it is only very mild and has been under control for many years I will have to include this on any application I make which will in turn, up the premium no doubt.  Then theres the tax! Having recently retired from the police service my pension is regarded as a government pension and will be taxed in the UK but if I`m resident in France I wont be eligable for UK health care, so just what is my tax paying for? What other taxes and the like would I be expected to pay in France? I know that it seems that I`m seeing everything in a negative way and perhaps it`s just the nerves of making such a life changing decision but I bet I`m not the only one in this situation! HELP!!  

Can anyone help please. On our last visit to France we were unable to find anywhere that supplied lactose free milk, my partner is lactose inntolerant and whilst it is available in most of the major supermarkets in the UK, our searching in France was frustraiting to say the least. I expect to move to Dept 19 early in 2008.

I`ve just had a survey done on a property I`m considering buying in Dept 19, the surveyor has informed me that the grey water,(sink, bath etc) from the house drains into the road drainage system. He thinks that this may now be illegal, can anyone advise me?  By the state of the plumbing in the property it would appear that the conection to the drains was done many years ago. If I have to rip it out and start again what alternatives are there? (mains drainage is apparently en-route to the nearby village but it could be years off) Any help would be appreciated.

Why not put your stud wall up first? Tile up to the sole plate of the studwork and when the skirting board is fitted at the end of the project you will have the neat edge you require. If you tile the whole area first there is allways a chance that when drilling the fixing holes for the sole plate you may crack a tile especialy if the line of the plate runs parallel to the edge of of the tiles.