Running Costs of Gites

[ianjwelsh]

Hi.

My first post here so bear with me.

Me and my brother are in looking into moving to France to live and rent out a couple of gites (like the rest of the uk by the looks of it!).  I am the cautious one and am looking to see if it is viable and worthwhile and thought I would ask those in the 'know'....those that have 'been there, done that.....got the tax bill!!!!'

We are looking for a house for us and then 2-3 Gites.  We have £290K and looking at the Charente-Maritime (17) and Charente (16) region.  We will have an income from the UK of about £1300 per month.

I was hoping that current Gite owners would be able to offer some figures for outgoings and tax on rental income.  So far we have gathered the following figures.  (Per year for 2 Gites and main house)

Land & Habitation tax                     £800
Water                                         £400
Electric                                       £650
Insurance                                    £275
Gas                                            £150
Extras (Phone, internet, pool etc)  £1800 (£150 per month)
Total                                        £4175

Can current owners please comment on the above?  Under?  Over?  Anything I have missed (Probably!!!)?

Luckily with our monthly income from the uk we don't have to rely on the rental income from the gites to live and pay bills.

We are currently looking at a property that last year did 27K Euros (wheres the euro sign on my keyboard!) of rentals.  What would be the tax situation on that?  Anything else we need to think of regarding outgoings and tax?  We are willing to make a 'beer token' donation to anybody with really useful info

Cheers in advance.

Ian

 

[Lizzie15]

Hi. Just a few observations- make of them what you will!!

 Your UK income seems OK,the amount you have to spend on a property seems realistic ( be wary of those telling you you could buy a mansion- you might- it could need an awful lot spending on it to bring it up to a good standard!).The tax allowance seems too small, my habitation and fonciere come to twice that amount just for one property in the Charente Maritime. your electricity allowance seems underestimated too- we spend 1800€ for one house.If you propose winter lets it could be greater. How about central heating? One of our houses doesn't have it and I wish it did!!!Central heating fuel would need to be added into the equation . Anyway, that's enough from me for now I think- good luck whichever way you decide to go

 

[SC]

>Luckily with our monthly income from the uk we don't have to rely on the rental income from the gites to live and pay bills.

Thats a good job, because you haven't made an allowance for advertising Say £400-£800.

sc

 

[BJSLIV]

Wear and Tear, Maintenance Cost. Plus Gardening Charges & Cleaning unless you are going to do it all yourself.

[ianjwelsh]

OK......this looks more realistic after your replys and speaking to some other owners.......

Land & Habitation tax                  £1600
Water                                          £400
Electric                                       £1200
Insurance                                     £375
Gas                                              £300
Advertising                                   £600
Extras (Phone, internet, pool etc) £1800 (£150 per month)
Total                                         £6275

Cleaning, garden etc will be done by ourselfs.

[Cerise]

You don't say how many people you are likely to have, but the water looks a bit on the low side to me - people on holiday spend their whole time in the shower!!   Also pools require topping up.  If you have a well get it working for watering the garden.

You also need to allow a decent budget for replacing things like pillows, towels etc as it surprising how quickly you get through them.

I wouldn't rely too heavily on someone else's figures - try to make a few enquiries locally and see how many weeks occupancy other gites in the area have.

You seem to have thought it out well - best of luck.

Maggi