Running Costs

[guest5234]

Has anyone a house in france that they use just for holidays?
What are the running costs?
i understand all the electricity water,etc,but what are the community charges, taxes etc.
what would you say the total cost for a year is? including everything.

[0bill thomsonddMMyyyy0Falseen-USTrue]

You need to pay taxe fonciere, which is a sort of annual land charge, and (if the house is habitable) taxe d'habitation, which is the nearest to the UK's community charge. It's impossible to give any ball park figures as these are local taxes, set locally, and vary greatly from area to area. In our part of Normandy we pay the same local taxes in a year as we do in a couple of months in the UK (West Sussex), for a house that is probably roughly the same size but in France we, like just about everybody, have a lot more in terms of land and outbuildings. Other areas may well be even cheaper, while some parts of France, particularly in the South, are very much more expensive places in which to live.

Don't forget insurance, which we find is also considerably cheaper in France than at home despite the house being empty most of the time.

Bill



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