Is it no longer feasible to buy property in france post brexit?

[user68712226]

We had always planned on retiring to france. We are now in our early 50s and are just starting to think about this but now that we are no longer in the EU is it a waste of time? We would ideally buy somewhere in france and then just have a small place here in the UK close to family but would want to spend most of our time in france. Is this now too difficult post brexit? It seems like there are all sorts of complications.

Well it's much more difficult to spend the majority of your time in France, unless you can meet certain income thresholds to qualify for a visa. For two of you you'd need income of around £35,000 which is quite high (although not unachievable if you have paid off your mortgage and could rent the house out?).

If you'd prefer to spend lightly more of your time in the UK and have a home in France then it's quite easy, as you can make use of your 90/180 day travel allowance. Buying a property in France isn't necessarily more complex than in the UK, although you need to be aware of significant differences in the process.

If you think about your long term prospects in France, you'd be likely to return to the UK after 15/20 years to be near family permanently as you age. I would personally want to have a good foothold in the UK property market and a lesser one in France, because UK property has historically changed price much more significantly than French property. I would want to be able to return to something comfortable.

We could meet an income threshold of £35,000. We are lucky in that DH can carry on with some work and can work from anywhere. So the rules are otherwise effectively 50/50 (90/180)?

Good point about having somewhere smaller in france and larger in the UK.

If your DH is going to work in France then there are additional complications, not least that if he is employed his employers are highly unlikely to want to become liable for French social security contributions and other tax liabilities. And working in France without this being sorted would be illegal.

If he is self employed then getting a visa is a different complication - he'd need to qualify for a different type of visa. You'd have to explore whether you'd qualify to join his as a spouse or not, and what income you would be require to have might be different.

Hmm ok. worth thinking about. thank you. We do have the income to meet the 35k threshold but had anticipated supplementing this a bit.

It's easy and relatively inexpensive to get a six month visa if you don't intend to work, my neighbours do it every year. You get your 90 days on top.

I agree that keeping a UK property is sensible, French houses don't appreciate in value at the same rate, if at all. I could never afford to return now, but I can't imagine wanting to.

If you're intending to make France a permanent home, read up on inheritance tax, it's the recipient who is taxed rather than the estate and you can't disinherit kids.

Wonderful country and people, well worth the admin headaches.

Ive spent lots of time today looking at properties. We need to make a proper plan if we are really doing this.