Paying for house in GBP

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We are in the process of selling our house in France and moving to another. If a buyer from the UK is willing to pay in pounds sterling would there be any drawbacks? Has anyone done it this way and if so how, did they use a solicitor in the UK to receive funds etc. We are resident in France but our bank is in the UK so we could avoid any loss in the exchange rate this way. Any help appreciated.

[Will]

I believe it has been done, but is most irregular. All property transactions in France have to be carried out using a notaire, and all money has to be paid into the notaire's account - which will be a government treasury account rather than an ordinary bank account. So although you may find a notaire or solicitor who will do the sterling to euro conversion for you, various factors (including, most likely, the way that lawyers like to maximise their fees) will  mean that you are highly unlikely to get a better exchange rate than you would through a bank or specialist currency exchange company.

I think the increased hassle involved would more than offset what little you might hope to save on exchange rates through bypassing the French legal system.

[Liz]

Take a look at http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-property/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=2356&printversion=yes

Liz

[Will]

Thanks for the link which proves that it is indeed possible.

However, my doubts still stand that unless it is a particularly high value property where the extra costs (of the two British solicitors which are necessary) would be absorbed in the savings in currency exchange, it doesn't really seem worth it. For an average type of house, best to use the standard procedure and transfer money both ways through a currency exchange specialist I believe. Plus the fact that the more lawyers are involved, then generally there is more hassle and expense.

[Dick Smith]

We paid in UK funds (and with a UK cheque) written out in Francs to the notaire, who did the rates calculations and later sent us a reconciliation. I don't understand why you need a UK solicitor - that seems just to complicate matters and add expense.