leslieneils

A pretty good review in English of the new permis de construire rules can also be found here: http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/building/planning/ We got caught out on the regs concerning attic conversions, hoping it would not require any formalities, but ending up having to put in a works declaration as we managed to keep it just below 20m2.

I have generally found banks more expensive than the currency brokers, although since I pointed this out to my bank, I have noticed a greater willingness to offer a better deal, albeit I have needed to press the point to get any improvement.

This seems to summarise it, although it can get complicated! See para 4.3.3. http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/working-in-france/letting-property/taxation/#4.3

We have friends across the valley who turned up at their house after they had bought to find one member of the family still there and reluctant to move out. It took months to sort it, as they were not on best terms with the seller!

I saw this yesterday, which gives quite a useful summary of the insurers: http://www.french-property.com/guide/france/insurance/organising/

Why not try one of the mutuelles? We got ours from Macif, but I reckon others might be equally worth a look.

As a general guide you would probably find the following link useful, as it is in English:   http://www.french-property.com/guides/france/finance-taxation/taxation/wealth-tax/