St Benoir, Questions on money transfer, Septic tank & Planning applications?

[rog... in france]

If any body can give me information on some of these items it would be greatly appreciated.

1, Money Transfer

What is the cheapest way to transfer/pay the 5% deposit and the balance of purchase for the property i am buying.

I am going to france to sign the compromis in a few weeks, I am buying direct from a Notaire,  Is it best to pay in Euro notes, English cheque, Euro cheque or any other way?

When the balance is due in a few months, to arrange a Bank transfer from Lloyds TSB, will they charge a high fee to do this, I have spoken to the bank but they have advised me they charge £30.00, the exchange rate will apply on the day of transfer & it will take 1-3 days to complete, but I have yet to clarify it with the correct dept., is this correct?

I was advised that the French receiving Bank may also charge a fee, is this correct?  

2, Fosse/septic tank

I have a septic tank that is out side the house but it is positioned right next to the outer wall of the bathroom. Under the new laws they are aiming to inforce within the next year or so does this pose any problems for me in regard to the positioning of the tank. ( the tank is about 150 metres from the road and there are no immediate neibours in the area for 1500 metres.

I am assuming it is a septic tank and not a fosse septic tank because it was installed in approx. 1996/97 although the Notaire promises it is a fosse! Did fosse septics come in to use that long ago?

Also being a new purchaser of the property will i be contacted by the appropriate dept. to check the tank?

3, Planning requirements for an extension

I am planning to build an extension in the future but want to put a planning application in for it asap.

I aim to put it in before the completion of the sale, I understand this is possible?

I have been told that there is not a fee for doing this, (only if it is passed) is this true?

I can draw up plans and drawings myself, do they need as much detail on the drawings as in English.

The property and gardens are not over looked by neibours, is surrounded by woods and fields and the nearest neibour is about 1500 metres away. The extension will be approx. 150 metres away from a lane (not a main road). I was told by the Notaire that they can see no problem in getting the permission.

Any tips for this would be of help.

 

Thanks if you've had time to read this.

Roger

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Russethouse]

Roger, You may get more replies if you split these posts up and put them in the finance and the renovation/building sections

Good Luck

[Me0wp00]

[quote]If any body can give me information on some of these items it would be greatly appreciated. 1, Money Transfer What is the cheapest way to transfer/pay the 5% deposit and the balance of purchase ...[/quote]

1, Money Transfer

What is the cheapest way to transfer/pay the 5% deposit and the balance of purchase for the property i am buying.

Dont know about the cheapest but the notaire will only accept euro's. A cheque is fine as would a transfer be but they wait to see the transfer is completed and it sometimes get held up in the paris banks. We opened a french bank account got the money transferred into there and took a euro cheque.

I have spoken to the bank but they have advised me they charge £30.00, the exchange rate will apply on the day of transfer & it will take 1-3 days to complete,

Yes true, although it often gets stuck in Paris and can take a bit longer. the £30 fee is also correct, I bank with Lloyds.

I was advised that the French receiving Bank may also charge a fee, is this correct?

I know credit agricole charged me for it coming in.

3, Planning requirements for an extension

I have been told that there is not a fee for doing this, (only if it is passed) is this true?

I wasn't charged when my permissions were passed

I can draw up plans and drawings myself, do they need as much detail on the drawings as in English.

Didn't seem to at all, they like photos of how it is now though from all angles.

The extension will be approx. 150 metres away from a lane (not a main road). I was told by the Notaire that they can see no problem in getting the permission.

If you draw up the plans and want them looked at quickly go to the DDE direct, I went to Argenton, she looked at my plans and said there wouldnt be a problem she didnt think, they'd hurry up the visit and luckily they passed them within a week.

If your planning on doing the extension in the long term though, I've got a feeling planning permission has a time limit on it, not sure.

[Teamedup]

A fosse septique = septic tank.

 

We don't get charged for planning permission, although there can be taxes of various sorts levied as one off payments when one has done the work, they can be related to the changes in the property. You really would have to ask about these. Someone posted about a list of one off taxes they had had about a week or so ago.

[moon]

Money Matters

I used LLoyds and transferred the sum for deposit and then for completion directly into the Notaires Account.

Transfer cost does vary with amount transferred but they also have different rates for same day, three day or five day transfers. I certainly didnt pay anything like £30 and I ticked the box to pay all fees french & uk.

Bob

[Alcazar]

Rog: you have PM

Alcazar

[chirpy]

I would not pay cash.-use euro cheque.it is possible to open french account before you live here. -i did .

i was with lloyds and charges since last sept. have gone up.

economy is  £10 for up to £3000 max-takes 5-6 working days

Euromoneymover transfer is £20 for up to £10000-but faster service -1-3 days.

and                                  £30  if over £10000.

local bank generally charges but not as much as lloyds fee.

 

at least you get bank rate and not tourist rate.

you can use money transfer companies but although rate much better and fees cheaper i do not think your money is safe if they went bust-unlike a major bank who has insurance to cover the first  £30000.

 

I DID NOT WANT TO RISK MY HOUSE MONEY AND FOR 3 YEARS I CONTINUE TO USE LLOYDS ALTHOUGH UNHAPPY ABOUT THEIR CHARGES I NEED MY PENSION TRANSFERRED.TO LIVE ON.

[chirpy]

I would not pay cash.-use euro cheque.it is possible to open french account before you live here. -i did .

i was with lloyds and charges since last sept. have gone up.

economy is  £10 for up to £3000 max-takes 5-6 working days

Euromoneymover transfer is £20 for up to £10000-but faster service -1-3 days.

and                                  £30  if over £10000.

local bank generally charges but not as much as lloyds fee.

 

at least you get bank rate and not tourist rate.

you can use money transfer companies but although rate much better and fees cheaper i do not think your money is safe if they went bust-unlike a major bank who has insurance to cover the first  £30000.

 

I DID NOT WANT TO RISK MY HOUSE MONEY AND FOR 3 YEARS I CONTINUE TO USE LLOYDS ALTHOUGH UNHAPPY ABOUT THEIR CHARGES I NEED MY PENSION TRANSFERRED.TO LIVE ON.

[moon]

Oh one more thing the Notaire will not touch cash.

Friends of ours were hoping to pay something like 800 euros in fees by cash and the notaire wouldnt touch it. They had to get a cheque from the agent/bank in exchange for the cash and give that to the Notaire.

Bob

[Hosemaster]

Hi

We opened a French bank account with CA Britline before purchasing our house. We then used Hifx a currency agent to transfer the money in euros to our french account they gave us a good rate and you can pre purchase at a given rate if you want to so you know exactly how many euros you are getting. (No messing with rate fluctuations). We then paid by cheque in euros.

Planning permission depends on the size of your extension in relation to your existing area. Probably best to look on the section on here re planning rules. If its over this size you have to use an architect. Not too cheap but ours did everthing including the permission. Worth its weight if you dont speak or write /read good French.

 

Hope this help

Phil

[Gyn_Paul]

On the subject of transferring money....

 

All the UK clearing banks are now subject to money-laundering laws which are (or at least the pressure to implement them is) US-derrived.

It is my impression that the clearing banks are applying the chapter-and-verse of them with varying degrees of severity.

We live in France but retain interests in the UK, thus retain the bank accounts there. I have banked with the same high-st bank for over 20 years, but have recently been appalled by their singular lack of help bordering on indifference when moving money to buy a house.

For instance, I was told I couldn't move £20k from one account to another using Phonebank (both accounts in my name in the same branch!), nor could I move more than £10k/day out of any account.

When I was last in the UK I went into the branch and - only with the greatest difficulty - managed to fill in a moneymover form for the house purchase and lodge it with them undated. Ultimately, this was useless because by the time I was back in France and had the exact amount (inc Notaire's fee) for the purchase it, didn't match the money mover form.

This is a continuous bone of contention with this particular bank who have no mechanism for transferring variable amounts of money out of sterling to Euros unless you can visit the branch. I was told catagorically that arranging something like this was NOT POSSIBLE if you live outside the country.This is rubbish, of course, as any Bank of Scotland customer can readily attest. I move variable percentages of my pension this way each month !

In the end I transferred all the money to Bank of Scotland (4 accounts; 4 x £10k twice, across 2 days : what a nonsense ! ) and then telegraphed the money directly to the notaire's Tressor account. £25 fee, arranged over the phone in 10 minutes, by the most delightful (Irish call centre) staff. Most importantly, I was not made to feel I was trying to clean drug money or do something else illegal.

I know this is nothing exceptional : it's just another example of draconian legislation designed to catch the big baddies (and signally failing) which simply inconveniences ordinary people with ordinary requirements.

paul

[Me0wp00]

If your talking about Lloyds, which I think you might well be, I had the same situation but luckily we have both business and personal accounts with them and have banked for the last 19 years with the same branch. On threatening to move both accounts they *managed* to set up a fax list codeword setup, I have money mover forms here I fax them to them with the next codeword on the list, they check it off their copy and process my instructions.

I had to open a business euro account with them and they will transfer money between the two although only by written instruction. Then it takes ages to credit in france as they are drawn on uk banks.

I wasn't told about the 10k per day limit though so perhaps it isn't lloyds. I know they are a right pain in the B......... though.

[rog... in france]

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your replys, sorry I have not responded sooner but I went to France 2 weeks ago to take a builder friend to look at the property i am buying and had a nasty car crash on the way back, we rolled the car, wrote it off and ended up in hospital being stitched up and x-rays.

Ok now, but due to kneck problems I have been a bit out of it since I got back.

Thanks for the private messages and e mails.

Rog.