Renting in the Lyon area

[Jessica]

Hi,

I am intending to move to France for 6 to 9 months from September after I graduate this summer. I have little knowledge of the rental process in France and have a few questions about the rental process. I have some experience of renting in the UK as a student and would like to know what the key differences are and the major pitfalls that I might come across.

In particular, how flexible are rental agreements with regards to duration in general? I definitely want to stay at least 6 months, but it might be more depending on how I get on and my employment status.

Also, I am thinking of Lyon as a possible place - could anyone tell me which are the better areas to rent in? A lot of my searching will have to be done over the internet and so it will be helpful to have an idea of what areas to go for and which to avoid. If anyone can recommend certain agencies or reputable internet sites, I would be very very grateful!

Any other experiences of renting in France would be useful too.

Thank you very much,

Jessica

[chessfou]

(1) What sort of standard is your French?

(2) I think there are lots of better places than Lyon (although the centre's nice ... if you can get there ... traffic's awful) but I'm totally diofferent from you. Why are you thinking of Lyon?

Answer those two, and I can give some ideas.

[Jessica]

Hi,

Thanks for your response - sorry to be so slow - my internet has only just been reconnected!

My official standard of French is an A grade at A-Level although I found this easy to achieve with no work.  I am considering taking the language certification course from the French government so that I would be more easily employable. I would say that my French is good conversational - I have no real difficulties in conversing when in France, find reading newspapers ok and am getting better at understanding the tv and radio (depends on the programme of course).  After I finish my degree in about a month, I'm going to be concentrating my efforts on getting it up to scratch as much as I can from the U.K.

As for Lyon, I'd been recommended it by a friend (who may or may not be coming with me).  I would like to be as close as possible to the Alps as I really enjoy skiing. Also, Lyon is big enough that I probably would have a reasonable chance of finding employment and is easy to get to from the South East of England. I was also thinking Grenoble. Otherwise, I am still open to suggestions until I book my flight!

Jessica

[chessfou]

ok, I know not about the possibilities of finding employment but here are the main web sites for rental ("location") accomodation:

http://www.seloger.com/

http://www.logic-immo.com/

http://www.pap.fr/

http://www.explorimmo.com/

http://www.agences-immobilieres.com/reseau-immobilier/fnaim.htm

Grenoble (more expensive but no? dodgy areas) v. Lyon (possibly cheaper but there are plenty of dodgy areas). There seem to be plenty of studios and small appartments available for €400+/month (L) or €500+/month (G).

Rental contracts (unfurnished) in France are for 3 years (tenant has 3-month notice get out clause at any time) and are highly regulated by law. Furnished lettings are rather different (and I know nothing about them).

Before you even start to look, you need to open a French bank account.

Agents/owners will need to be convinced (by documented evidence) that your monthly rental will not be greater than ca. 30% of your income (I don't know how that works for students/new graduates) and may well want a guarantee (this can get expensive if it goes to an actual bank guarantee; in your case perhaps your parents or, even better, someone here in France could provide a guarantee for you).

I would strongly recommend the following (basic outline the same for anyone looking to rent in France):

(1) Browse the web sites above - should enable you to get some initial ideas;

(2) Pay a brief visit (normal weekdays, no holidays, no weekends) to the area you intend looking in;

(2a) immediately open a bank account with one of the larger branches of a mainline bank (you'll need normal account opening stuff such as passport, a bank statement or two and a utility bill or two). Most will accept your UK address, after explanation that you are moving to France, although some may withhold RIB (see below) which could put you in a Catch22 situation - you'll need those RIBs to do anything financial in France;

(2b) visit one of the larger omnipresent agencies (e.g. Century21) and ask for some advice about what exactly they need for a guarantee/caution, as well as advice about nice/dodgy areas;

(2c) visit the nearest ADIL - map and details here:

http://www.anil.org/adils/carte.htm

ADIL=Agence Départementale pour l'Information sur le Logement, part of

ANIL=Agence Nationale pour l'Information sur le Logement

and ask them the same as (2b) plus what they suggest to cope with any problems raised at 2b stage;

(2..) Bear in mind that a pre-booked appointment will be required to open the bank account, 2b should be ok walking in off the street, 2c preferably book in advance. This stuff takes time.

Here is a typical list of requirements. "RIB" is Relevé d'Identité Bancaire (a slip of paper with your bank details); the dégats des eaux et incendie is simple tenant insurance (most agents will be happy to sell you this and although your new French bank may do it cheaper, cheaper sources will take time which may be of the essence); CDD and INTERIM are two different kinds of employment contract (interim similar to working for an agency in the UK).

CHEQUES A FOURNIR :

" 2 chèques de caution correspondant à 2 mois de loyer

" 1er chèque de loyer

DOCUMENTS A FOURNIR PAR LE LOCATAIRE :

" 3 derniers bulletins de salaire

" Dernier avis d’imposition

" Contrat de travail ou attestation de l’employeur

" 1 R.I.B.

" 3 dernières quittances de loyer

" Attestation d’assurance « DEGATS DES EAUX ET INCENDIE » à fournir

impérativement avant votre entrée dans les lieux

DOCUMENTS A FOURNIR PAR LE CAUTIONNAIRE :

" Lettre de caution

dans le cas où le loyer dépasse 30 % des revenus ou si

la personne est en CDD ou INTERIM

(la lettre de caution doit être recopié manuscritement avec copie de la

carte d’identité recto verso certifié conforme par le garant)

" 3 derniers bulletins de salaire

" Dernier avis d’imposition

" 1 R.I.B.

That may make it sound very difficult but it shouldn't be too hard given that you are thoroughly prepared in advance. Good luck. [It is almost two years now since we found our near perfect rental property via the web site of one of the FNAIM agents]

[suein56]

[quote user="chessfou"]
That may make it sound very difficult but it shouldn't be too hard given that you are thoroughly prepared in advance. Good luck. [It is almost two years now since we found our near perfect rental property via the web site of one of the FNAIM agents] [/quote]

We could not provide any of this as we had been self-employed in the UK and UK details/references/sureties were not acceptable to agent Immos or rental agencies; so we looked up the small ads in the newspaper and found our privately rented house. We did provide a 'caution' cheque equivalent to 2 months rental, which was cashed, and the first month's rental in advance.

Sue

[chessfou]

[quote]We could not provide any of this as we had been self-employed in the UK

and UK details/references/sureties were not acceptable to agent Immos

or rental agencies[spg][/quote]

I'm surprised to hear some of that - I was also self-employed and we certainly had no problem  with  acceptance of UK tax documents,  bank statements etc.

The only real problem we had was that the agents demanded a one-year bank guarantee*, which our French bank (Caisse d'Epargne) couldn't do (and our main UK bank, which would have done it,UK was not acceptable), so we had the delay of finding another bank which could do the guarantee, opening an account there, getting it put in place (all over Xmas/New Year) plus their fees and the inconvenience of lodging €11,000 with CA for a year.

*They would, however, have been perfectly happy with a personal guarantee from one of our children - despite the fact that he lives and works in the UK!

[Jessica]

That's really helpful, thank you! I'm concentrating on my revision at the moment, but when I finish in early June, I'm going to start planning and spend a week or so out there to sort everything out before I get on a plane with all my belongings!

Jessica