It`s starting down here....

[le bouffon]

Yesterday while talking to our neighbour about the death of her sister-in-law and what do we do about signning the book on the table outside  a young couple stopped their car to look at the house next door which is for sale,after the bonjour they asked if we knew if we knew any more houses in the village as next door was to expensive,the only others we knew of were even more expensive.They turned out to be living in Ceret some 20km,s the other side of the mountain and living with the girls parents,anyway we got round to talking about all the houses have been or are being bought up by the brits and pushing the price,s up way out of the reach of the local "first time"buyers and how the brits do not mix and the houses are left empty.Thet told us what there budget was,and how they had to look outside of Ceret because they could not afford to buy anything in the town or nearby because they did not want to rent,I felt for them.

[Viv]

So the Brits buying houses are pushing the prices up? Who are selling these houses are over inflated prices, I wonder?

There is nothing stopping the French people selling their properties at a price locals can afford, and advertising them in a way that no Brit would ever see the advert, but they don't do they?

They can't have their cake and eat it too . I am sorry but  this attitude of blaming Brits, really narks me!

 

 

[Gastines]

Many French B&Bers have bought this subject up with us while staying. They usually blame the UKers for the price rise. We point out that the UKers usually buy properties to renovate,and usually the type of property that the Locals don't want. Plus inflation and wage rises over the last 10-15 yrs must also play a part.

I think that the prices of some of the wrecks will start coming down when UKers realise that any work they do themselves + cost of materials bought from UK, is not allowed against CGT. At the moment if you find a small renovation project,with a galvanised or asbestos sheet roof,no water/electricity on site around here,you can start at 100.000e and go up. We also point out the horrendous price rises going on in UK. Unlike Mrs Jowett and her partner,we can't all afford,or get, £400.000 mortgages.

Regarding the same problem in the UK,the only person who seems to gain is Mr.Brown,from extra VAT on materials,extra tax from builders wages,extra income from council tax,VAT on gas and electricity and to cap it all ,a nice little earner from Inheritance Tax when you cop it.The only way the man in the street can gain it seems is by selling up and moving to another country with cheaper houses ,and luckily here, a better life style.

So endeth this weeks lesson.

Regards. By St Malo.

[le bouffon]

Thing is down here there are very very few wrecks to be had where anyone would want to live,sure if anyone likes to live on top of a hill miles from anywhere while on holiday there are a few.The rumour that it is the french that are being greedy is a false on,anytime a house comes on the market in an area with a sizeable brit contingent there are at least 5 brit "estate agents" flashing it up on there web sites,after all the higher the selling price the higher their commision.

[Viv]

[quote user="le bouffon"] The rumour that it is the french that are being greedy is a false on,anytime a house comes on the market in an area with a sizeable brit contingent there are at least 5 brit "estate agents" flashing it up on there web sites,after all the higher the selling price the higher their commision.[/quote]

 

Surely these French sellers have some control over who and where their houses are advertised?

 I would not want / allow some one to advertise my house and make a fat profit at my expense without my explicit say so;

[le bouffon]

No the french do not have much say,where would you go if you wanted to sell a house?an estate agent,just like most folk.My point is that the brits are buying the houses up mainly in the same area of Ceret and are forming an "enclave"  forcing out the likes of young couple we met yesterday.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Something that occurs to me, and I've no idea of the scale of this on a

national basis: there seem to be a depressingly large number of empty

properties (at least a dozen I can think of quickly in this commune and

the next) that are effectively out of the market because they have been

inherited by (generally) large groups of related individuals who would

rather eat their own children than come to some agreement  about

selling them. And since all title holders must agree, they remain

unsold, often falling into disrepair.

Many of the places I'm thinking of are prime locations - village

centres, three or four bedroom houses - that just never get sold. OK,

so a dozen houses over two communes of about three hundred houses

apiece doesn't amount to huge percentage, but across the whole country

it could run into thousands of homes that are tied up in inheritance

arguements. That's plain stupid, and a terrible waste of real estate.

[chris pp]

Same here Jond, although sometimes it's the case that all the living inheritors can't be tracked down and the property just sits there decaying. I know of a few really nice, easily saleable places that have been empty for 10 years, so probably longer, no one ever goes near them.

Chris

[Gardian]

We were sensitive to this potential issue when we first arrived here - perhaps, overly so.

All the things that have been said about first-time buyers are true, but where else in the world is it much different? Supply and Demand ultimately rule. The market will always adjust to the youngsters coming in at the bottom of the chain - it has to, or the process just won't work. We can remember agonising over whether we could afford the extra £300 or so for a garage when our 1st house was being built over 30 yrs ago - bet that most of us had that sort of experience. 

We've experienced no antipathy here whatsoever, or at least none that we're aware of and no more so than any other other 'incomer', including French from other areas. Much has been said about we Brits coming in and so on. Well, "Live and let live", Make your own bed" and all that. Abroad around here is 20kms to the north or any other point of the compass, and long may it remain so. That's why we all like it.  

[Quillan]

When we came here several years ago a bloke picked on my wife in a bar and said about the English putting the prices up. She told him much the same as somebody else here has said, the English pay the prices the French pick them. The way I understood it worked in France was that the owner decides hw much he/she wants for their house. The agent will thn decide if they will sell the house for them at the price they want. Of course the Brits have introduced the idea of asking a agent to value a house to sell and many English agents work this way. It does not matter who the person is they all want the same thing, the most amount of money for their house.

Funny thing was about this chap was that a year or so later he stopped me when I was walking the dog and asked if I knew anybody English who would like to buy his house, touch of pot, kettle and black me thinks. I understand where 'Buffy' is coming from but it is a rather sweeping statement, bit like saying all northerns are poofs really which we all know is not true [;)] .

[le bouffon]

Not a sweeping statement, just a conversation with two young french "kids"ps we all know that not all southerners are softies,or do we???

[Turnip]

We have this debate about second home owners in Cornwall and point to the many winter ghost villages due to absent owners. Now Croatia and other countries will see their local people priced out of the market by second home owners. But what is the cure - Economic collapse? Property crash? revolution? What happens when first time buyers are no longer able to mount the first rung of the ladder? Having been around a long time I can forsee tears resulting from this fad of mass second home ownership.

Bet Prescott could solve the housing requirements of many property owning or renting hopefuls. It seems he aims a dart at a map of the UK and say " EE - oop - build 10000 there"................. Apologies for bad accent

[Clair]

[quote user="jond"]there seem to be a depressingly large number of empty

properties (at least a dozen I can think of quickly in this commune and

the next) that are effectively out of the market because they have been

inherited by (generally) large groups of related individuals who would

rather eat their own children than come to some agreement  about

selling them. And since all title holders must agree, they remain

unsold, often falling into disrepair.

Many of the places I'm thinking of are prime locations - village

centres, three or four bedroom houses - that just never get sold. OK,

so a dozen houses over two communes of about three hundred houses

apiece doesn't amount to huge percentage, but across the whole country

it could run into thousands of homes that are tied up in inheritance

arguements.[/quote]

This situation is being adressed in the forthcoming changes in inheritance laws:

[quote] Projet de loi portant réforme des successions et des libéralités

L’objectif du projet vise à adapter aux réalités sociologiques

actuelles des règles de succession directement héritées du Code

Napoléon de 1804.

Les règles de l’indivision sont modifiées : aujourd’hui l’unanimité des

indivisiaires est nécessaire pour l’ensemble des actes d’administration

d’un bien, désormais la majorité des 2/3 suffira.[/quote]

where multiple owners cannot agree, whereas unanimity is

required as present, a majority of two-thirds will be sufficient for

approval.

PS: funny how the word aujourd’hui can corrupt, non?

[Alan Zoff]

There isn't a right and wrong with this. As demonstrated in earlier comments, both sides have their points and simply getting all high and mighty about it solves nothing.

I would say the best policy if confronted is to be sympathetic while tactfully drawing attention to all aspects. And of course doing as much as possible to fit in and to be accepted for the person you are, rather than where you hail from.

There's no need to be an apologist; but treating their views and feelings with contempt is hardly going to make the situation better.

 

[le bouffon]

The fact is that young french "kids"who want to set up home down here(dito the same through France)cannot afford to buy a house mainly due the prices being demanded by the immobiliers who are asking more and more for the houses they have for sale and the fact once again is that it is the brits etc that will pay the prices they demanded `cause they have the money.My major concern is that the locals do not turn on the brits that live down here,we live and work here send our kids to school hereWe see the houses that are left empty most of the year and like the young couple we meet at the weekend whom cannot afford to "get a foot on the ladder" feel that it is not right.

[Mpprh]

Hi

just worth saying that my first property purchase (in Harrow) , when I was 21, was a small flat for GBP 11,000. The mortgage was a huge lump out of two salaries, so you know how long ago that was ! Our parents said : don't know how you will ever afford to buy a house.

But we did. In fact several.

Isn't this an ongoing old fogey reaction ?

 

Peter

 

[Debra]

.

[Piprob]

I think the French should be able to blame Britts (and particularly the English) for anything they like. Everyone else does. We brought it on ourselves, especially le Bouffon.

People just want to live next door to success!!

[Hoddy]

The situation Le Bouffon describes is almost exactly the one that met me when I first married. I could not afford to live in my "home" village because outsiders with more money had decided to live the country idyll.

I'm still shocked by the disparity between the quality of housing of the members of our family who live in the south and those who still live north of Watford. I can't understand why they stay down there, especially in these days of full employment.

As for the French blaming the Brits, it's about as realistic as it would have been for me to blame "townies" for what happened to me. This is all part of an economic trend which is very hard for an individual to counteract.

Hoddy

[Debra]

.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I confess to feeling somewhat ambivalent towards second homes, in France or anywhere else.

On one hand people who have spent their lives working hard to achieve

certain lifestyle goals should be free to spend their money how they

choose. Frequently the properties that they buy would not suit anyone

as a starter home anyway as they require so much work (and money).

On the other, it is very sad to see villages that have stopped

functioning as communities because so many of the buildings are second

homes. It is not only the Brits who buy second homes in rural areas of

France - other Europeans and the dreaded Parisians buy in large numbers

too. However, I'm not sure that is desirable that every service in a

village drops dead because 40% of the houses are only in use six weeks

a year. But how to prevent it without declaring half of France a

national park or something?

Our neighbour a few hundred yards up the road has had his house on the

market for over a year now at €145,000. The house is in a terrible

state, has the bear minimum of sanitation and a kitchen that only just

merits the word. At best it is worth around €80k. He is not even

entertaining offers as he has an unshakable conviction that a Brit will

turn up any day now and hand over the readies. He cannot be the only

person in this mindset.

[Debra]

.

[le bouffon]

Down here it is not the case that someone will come in and buy a ruin because there are not  that many,no it is the "flock" that amass in the same enclave and  buy there for the reason that they will be near fellow brits.The Ceret area is full of all sorts of brit taylored services,french languge not needed.As an example I know many people who live down here who after 5/6years cannot even speak the most basic french,it is a real laugh when they talk to some french person who understands a little english,it`s true they just speak louder.

[Debra]

I looked on autoroute to try and find Ceret to see where you are, le bouffon, but there are a few - are you at the place that's practically in Spain?  Perhaps that's why!

[Alan Zoff]

I am reminded of something told me by clients in the UK who were returning from Spain as it was losing its attraction. There were now so many Brits in their village that a gang of them had got up a petition to complain to the local town hall that it was catering too much to "the Spanish".