Newbie introduction

[natlie]

Hi

My name in Natalie I am 31 yrs old, in September I am making my first trip to view properties mainly in Quillan.

I am taking my family with me - patner and 2 children.

We are looking for a new life my partner has not worked for yrs now due to depression and is mostly housebound. I am working to keep us in our house really - 2 jobs which is exhausting. I have a lot of equity in my current house and we would be mortgage free in France and have enough savings to live for two years comfortably - will be looking for a job/setting up business though.

I am very familiar with France I have been travelling to Biarritz for 9 years and worked in Bordeaux as a student. I have AS level french my conversation is basic but can read and write French ok.

We cannot afford Aquitane unfortunately and Quillan seems much more affordable. I am hoping this area is the one for us - my girls are very active - and the sports available in the area look good.

I am a bit scared about this move as my house here is really nice but thats the only nice thing about living here, there is no community spirit - no sense of belonging no culture or atmosphere.

I am looking at everyone elses posts now to see everyone's experiences and questions and look forward to "meeting" you all

Nat

[misplacedperson]

Places are usually cheap because there isn't a whole lot of work available. Two years isn't very long and you're ultimately going to need a pretty well-paid job to support four people - I'd research employment opportunities before you do anything else, and go where the work is.

[NickP]

 France in my opinion is a wonderful place to live if you are retired ex-pat, But for younger people who need to work, be very careful where you settle.Unemployment here is very high; and employers favour local people.  Before you burn your boats in the UK why not let out your UK property and rent somewhere in France while you look around. Whatever you decide please do lots of homework first. Best of luck and hope all goes well. [:)]

[Russethouse]

We are looking for a new life my partner has not worked for yrs now due to depression and is mostly housebound.

 I don't want to assume anything here, but you say your partner has depression and is housebound ? Is English their first language, so that if people call or they do go out they can communicate ?  How fluent is their French, because if it's not good, will further limiting their options be helpful ? Additionally, should anything happen to you ie illness/accident, how would they cope ?

Also haveyou thought about healthcare, especially if you may be unemployed for a while ?

[Quillan]

Welcome to the forum.

Quess which town is near to me? [;-)]

Quillan suffers an unemployment rate of just over 18%. This is due to the fact that the biggest Formica factory in the world was based there for many years and closed a while back making 6,000 people from in and around the Quillan area unemployed. There was also a big factory called Huntsman Engineering (don't know what they made) which employed around 2,000 and that closed as well. There is only a small Formica factory now employing about 60 people, the big factory has been demolished for some time now.

Lots of Brits came to Quillan to retire and what with the exchange rate dropping so much many have packed up and gone back and the French are leaving to get work elsewhere hence a lot of houses for sale at cheap prices. All the expat builders have left, no work, any job here has about 40 people applying, things are so bad that even the Notaire has 'laid' staff off (my mates wife worked there) so all in all I think your husbands employment opportunities are virtually zero. A good test s to visit La Poste on Thursdays whe people get their benifits, its a big place but you just can't get in, all a bit sad really.

Don't mean to be negative but its best you know now. On the plus side its a fantastic place to bring kids up, excellent schools, sports ground, pool etc and very safe. Hot in the summer, up to 38 deg and cold in the winter, -17 deg. Not far from the family orientated ski slopes either and its great if you love rugby, so many teams to choose from. Quillan is in easy reach of four airports, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Perpignan and Girona (just over the Spanish border) so its very handy to go back and forth to the UK. We have one couple live nearby where the husband commutes bi-weekly to London to work, he does 14 days 'on' and 14 days 'off'.

Good luck

[suein56]

[quote user="NickP"] Before you burn your boats in the UK why not let out your UK property and rent somewhere in France while you look around.[/quote]

IMO that is excellent advice. Renting out your home in the UK and renting a house here has many advantages. Do think about it.

My OH and I came here 5 years ago, a lifestyle change after OH survived a nasty health incident. We sold our home in the UK but rented a house here for a number of reasons; one of which being that it is easy to move - or even leave - if life doesn't work out the way you thought. We lived off savings etc for 4 1/2 years until OH started to receive a pension; during that time we have seen house prices rise and then fall in our area, but everything else has risen in price especially food. We have found living in France far more expensive than we thought it would be.

Sue

[Sprogster]

The single best and most often repeated piece of advice given on this forum, is rent before you buy. The reason being is that house purchase costs in France are considerably higher than the UK, to the extent that on average you need to own the house for at least five years to break even, if you decide to sell. In addition selling a house in France can often take years rather than months, severely limiting your flexibility if you decide you need to move elsewhere, even within France.

I don't want to appear unduly negative, but I would worry about your ability to earn a living in France for the reasons given by previous posters, and your husband's illness may make it impossible to obtain private health insurance, as is now required by inactive Brits who move to France before retirement age.

Interestingly, you will note that most members of this and other similar French forums seem to fall into either the retiree or second home owner category and there is probably a good reason for this, in that whilst France is a fantastic country to retire or holiday in, it is not an easy place for a foreigner to find meanungful employment, unless they have specialist skills in demand and are fluent in French.

Last but not least, France is not as small business friendly as the UK, with high levels of social security charges.

[suein56]

[quote user="Sprogster"]France ...  is not an easy place for a foreigner to find meanungful employment, unless they have specialist skills in demand and are fluent in French.

Last but not least, France is not as small business friendly as the UK, with high levels of social security charges.[/quote]

Sprogster your whole post is, IMO, an excellent description of life-as-it-is in France, warts and all; especially the part I have quoted. Many, if not most, of the well-educated children in their late 20's of our French friends have found jobs in the UK, Ireland, other European countries or the US after not finding employment here in France.

Edited: though without exception the offspring all want to return to France at some point.

Sue

[Sprogster]

Please could I add one further piece of advice, in that one of the main mistakes Brits moving to France, who need to find work often make, is deciding their location on the basis of inexpensive property prices, not as they should on where employment opportunities are best.

There is no point buying a house in an area of cheap property, if that is a result of high unemployment, as if after two years you cannot find work you will have spent your savings and will be stuck with a house you might not be able to sell.