The market is picking up in France — at least in the places we like to buy — and the exchange rate is in our favour, says local Anthony Peregrine reporting in The Sunday Times on 6th April 2014.

The good news sweeping in from France — or, at least, those bits of it favoured by Britons — is that the property market may be stabilising. In short, this may be your best chance for years to buy into rural France and annoy the hell out of everyone by raving about the joys of French village life. It drives listeners nuts. You know the sort of thing: marvellous little place, just like English villages were 50 years ago; nobody locks their doors; locals are so colourful; salt-of-the-earth neighbours always ready with a lettuce; you should see the village carnival... and so on and on, until you long for them to get hit by le TGV.

The truly irritating bit is that much of this is true. Let me tell you what I did last Sunday morning. After a sunshine stroll by vineyards and through garrigue scrub, I arrived at the village centre, then bobbed into the bakery for a baguette and, as it was Sunday, a cake or two. Generally I go for pets de nonne and têtes de nègre (respectively, nuns’ farts and negroes’ heads: France remains unrepentant in the pâtisserie department).

I bought meat from the general store and, from the tobacconist, the regional Sunday paper, which takes about three minutes to read. Then, in true weekender slacker’s mode, I joined those milling about the square, greeting some, avoiding others. As church came out in a flow of Sunday best, senior faithful surprised themselves, as they do every week, by noting there was time for an apéritif. I am easily led. After more minutes than necessary in the sunny, fuggy bar, I wandered home. There was a barbecue to light and the prospect of Sunday lunch.

I could go on about sports associations, full-blooded village fetes, the OAPs’ society and the fact that even the smallest of France’s 36,552 communes runs its own affairs, with a mayor and council. As I said, astoundingly irritating — and the particularly irritated might insist that there’s not much in the above that can’t be done in Britain. But, I’d argue, you couldn’t do it in such warmth, so routinely, or in a place comparably pleasant, anywhere I could afford to live. Whereas it’s all available in France, right now, and — here’s the point — at what remain knockdown prices.

The post-2008 slump in property values and sales lacked the drama that swept Spain. But, notably in rural areas, some drops have been startling, especially in pretty little towns in the profoundly rustic Creuse department. Pre-2008, there was a silly bubble. Prices were grossly overinflated. Then they dropped back to what they should have been, and then dropped some more — up to 30%. There have been some shockingly low deals.

Yet there are signs of change in early 2014, and even (whisper it gently) of an uptake. This is not what the headline national statistics are saying. These are predicting continuing bad times — or poor times, at best — with 4% drops and sales volumes falling, too. For the individual buyer, however, national figures are meaningless. They include cities, suburbs, towns and parts of the country where no foreigner would live unless obliged to.

According to most agents, Britons these days are looking for bucolic properties mainly in the west and southwest — from Brittany down to Midi-Pyrénées, by way of Poitou-Charentes, the Limousin, Gascony and Aquitaine. In other words, they are intent on retaking, by stealth and property deals, land we lost in the Hundred Years’ War.

And here the market appears to be firming up, the past few months have seen signs of mild recovery, no stampede, as between 2000 and 2006 — it’s more of a crawl, but the strength of the pound has jolted people into thinking it’s make-your-mind-up time.

Most movement is around the €150,000 (£124,000) mark. That won’t buy you the rural idyll of a stone farmhouse with an acre of land, but it might get you close if you’re prepared to do some work.

Over in the Dordogne, things are also improving in loftier reaches — from €300,000 upwards. Late last year was the nadir, but in the past three months, inquiries and visits have picked up, especially from the UK.

There are reasons for all this. Britain’s economy appears healthier, so we’re more confident shelling out for the French house after which we’ve long been lusting. At the same time, hardly anyone trusts Spain, what with its vertical price dive and authorities itching to knock down seaside homes that upset them. Interest rates in France remain low (about 3% for a 20-year mortgage) and — an unexpected bonus — favourable rates of capital gains tax on second homes have been extended through to next August.

Now is a fantastic time to buy, there’s still oversupply — but that will even out over the next couple of years. In other words, you’re buying relatively cheap, with a decent expectation that properties won’t get cheaper — not in the west and southwest, anyway.

So there we are. Welcome to France. If you decide to have a crack, may I mention a couple of considerations? You’ll need an English-speaking estate agent and, ideally, an English-speaking notaire, the lawyer who handles the paperwork and charges handsomely for it. (Their average annual salary — admittedly boosted by big Parisian earners — is not far shy of £200,000.) Bite the bullet. There are pitfalls out there, and not all French sellers are as honest as they look. And they don’t look that honest.

Keep the mayor on side. He or she is the person who can smooth edges or render life rocky. Most are highly intelligent, deeply charming, extraordinarily helpful (this is “keeping the mayor on side” in action), and may appreciate an invitation to apéritifs.

Don’t be afraid of resentment. At some stage, some bloke whose family has lived in the village since 1567 will cut up rough against you as an immigrant. It happened to me when my red setter carelessly impregnated a neighbour’s standard poodle. “You immoral foreign b******” was the least of it. Yet most of the village saw the flaw in his reasoning, life carried on, and, a few years’ later, the poodle-owner and I now exchange bonjours.

Avoid feuds. Every village has them, especially those in remoter spots. A history of tough living hasn’t always disposed inhabitants to love all their fellow men. Boundary disputes last for generations. Smile at everyone, but keep well clear. I’ve known people who are not above poisoning enemy neighbours’ dogs.

Finally, if you don’t speak French, consider learning. Otherwise you’ll be confined to an expat ghetto and will miss the essence of local life. Imagine a Frenchman moving to Derbyshire, unable to speak English. Derbyshire people would find this odd. They might even grow annoyed that this person comes into their shops and pubs and talks at them in French (and, Lord knows, Derby folk are tolerant).

This is the same as monoglot Britons living in Aquitaine. We may be numerous — 20% of house purchases in the Dordogne last year — but this is not our country. We are also famously polite. It’s not easy, but we know where our duty lies.

NOTE: The bulk of this article was originally published in The Sunday Times "Home" Section on 6th April 2014.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

The Welsh retailer whose floral prints evoke Victorian England is to open websites in France and Germany to try to overturn a slowdown in annual online sales.

Laura Ashley reported a fall in profit before tax and exceptional items from £20.1 million to £19.3 million in the year to January 25 after like-for-like sales dipped 0.4 per cent.

The shares rose sharply, however, after the company said that sales had risen 2 per cent in the first two months of the year and the dividend was increased from 2p to 3.5p.

Seán Anglim, the chief financial officer, said that online sales had increased by 20 per cent in its British retail business in 2012, but that online sales were “broadly flat” last year.

“Over the last four or five years we’ve seen this [online] grow extremely well, he said. “We know there are enhancements we need to make.”

Laura Ashley offers customers a click-and-collect service, which is one of the fastest growing areas of the retail sector. Mr Anglim said that the company could do more to improve the way customers navigate the website.

Overseas markets are a key opportunity for the retailer, he said. A local language and currency website will open next month in France, where it has reduced its stores from 24 to 5, and in Germany, where it will return in the third quarter.

Cle France says this is great news for Ex Pats living in France and should cut down on delivery costs when ordering from the UK. This would have perfect when I lived in Haute-Vienne department of Limousin especially for the soft furnishings and even during our last 12 year stint in the Mayenne department near to Lassay-les-Chateaux in the region of Pays de la Loire it would have been welcoming.

But will it confuse the 'French interiors' design the Brits go for and instead be picked up by the young French who love all things 'Anglais'?

Blog submitted by: Sharon at The French Property Network - Cle France. 

François Hollande has let it known that he intends to become a bachelor president without a first lady, for the time being at least.

But Valérie Trierweiler, who was France’s de facto first lady until Mr Hollande ended their relationship this weekend, believes he is making a mistake.

In a conversation with French journalists, she said the head of state needed a women at his side – although she refrained from saying which one.

She also denounced the sexism and the treachery which she says reign in French politics – comments likely to anger Mr Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party, which claims be egalitarian and honest.

“How will we manage if there is no longer a first lady?” she said, according to iTélé, the rolling news channel. “Who will look after the Chinese first lady?”

Peng Liyuan, the superstar folk singer whose husband, Xi Jinping, is China’s President, is expected in Paris in April when she will accompany him on a keenly anticipated state visit.

French presidential aides now face the unenviable task of concocting a programme for Ms Peng in the absence of a first lady to show her around Paris, as usually happens on state visits.

The protocol conundrum is the latest consequence of the revelation by Closer, the glossy magazine, that Mr Hollande, 59, was having an affair with Julie Gayet, 41, the actress and film producer.

Ms Gayet, who has avoided public appearances since the disclosure, has reportedly told friends that she has no more desire to become first lady than Mr Hollande has to give her the role.

The assumption in Paris is that Mr Hollande will travel to Washington next month to meet Barack Obama without her and will continue to see her away from the Elysée Palace.

Ms Trierweiler, for her part, insisted that she remained good terms with the Socialist leader.

“We are not at war and we are continuing to telephone each other,” she said.

This was taken in Paris as a sign that he was likely to accept her demand for compensation for ending their decade-long relationship following Closer’s revelations.

However, her decision to meet journalists at the end of a long-planned charity trip to Mumbai will have appalled presidential advisers, who hope that she will disappear from the public eye.

Ms Trierweiler, 48, was described as relaxed by RTL radio, but tired and weak by Europe 1 radio. Alexandre Kara, its political correspondent, said her hands trembled as she spoke.

The former first lady, who was admitted to hospital for a week after discovering Mr Hollande’s affair said she was better but added: “I will perhaps suffer the repercussions in a month’s time.”

Ms Trierweiler said she had underestimated the sexism and bad faith prevalent in politics when arriving at the Elysée after Mr Hollande’s victory in the 2012 presidential election.

She said male politicians had little consideration for their female counterparts and even less for political wives.

“People don’t realise how much treachery and hypocrisy there is. You get hit without doing anything. That is not my way. In politics, a traitor is sometimes worth more than a friend.”

She said that her relationship with Mr Hollande might have survived if he had never been elected president, and added that some staff at the Elysée were in tears when she left on Saturday.

Ms Trierweiler, a journalist at Paris Match magazine, said she had no intention of going back to her previous post as political correspondent, but would carry on writing book reviews.

Her main aim, however, was to undertake charity work, she added in a comment that will fuel speculation that she hopes to become the French Diana, Princess of Wales.

She also rebutted claims that she was behind the unforeseen ascension which took Mr Hollande to the presidency. “I didn’t push him to become president and I never dreamt of entering the Elysée.”

In a final shot across her former partner’s bows, she rejected a claim by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the centre-right candidate to become Mayor of Paris, that Mr Hollande’s announcement that he was leaving her read “like a redundancy letter”.

“My separation is a break-up not a redundancy,” she said. “There was no notice.”

Article originally appeared in The Times newspaper.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Councils in France are the last in line for cashing in on household waste.

Unofficial scrap dealers get richest pickings from items left out for collection, forcing city councils to change strategy

Furniture in good condition is often scavenged before French waste collectors can get to it. Photograph: Alamy.

Every year Paris city council collects 90,000 tonnes in bulky household waste, including some 43,000 sofas, 930 stoves and 4,600 dishwashers. But the return on this service is very poor as unofficial scrap dealing becomes more common. Growing numbers of bounty hunters and semi-professionals are scouring the streets in search of valuable goods, before the council trucks have time to collect them. In France there is no law against picking up waste on the public highway. Anywhere else it counts as theft.

Some categories of inorganic waste, which cannot be picked up by the usual vehicles due to size or weight, have almost completely disappeared, upsetting the business model underpinning waste disposal systems. "Items of furniture in good condition no longer get as far as our trucks," an official at Paris city council explains. "Most of what we collect cannot be used. It's just rubbish."

According to the most recent available figures, 86% of bulky items collected in the city is "mixed waste", which is hard to process. The rest is timber (5%), metal (3%), electrical or electronic waste (2%), rubble (2%) and paper (1%).

In Rennes, Brittany, the council trucks pick up mainly old mattresses, beds and scraps of plywood furniture. In 2012 they collected almost 600 tonnes of large waste, either by appointment, through special neighbourhood schemes or from illegal tips.

"Wooden pallets soon vanish from the roadside, much as metal and cartons," says Fabien Robin, head of waste collection at Rennes metropolitan council. "Timber sells well or can be used for heating. Metal is recovered for resale to scrap dealers."

The council, which set up a system for collecting cardboard once a week at an appointed time, soon realised that this material was popular too. "A large share of the potential tonnage disappeared. Semi-professional scavengers were helping themselves before the contractor got there," Robin explains. As the firm was paid according to the weight it collected, this posed a problem.

At first sight this sudden interest in bulky waste might seem providential. With the drop in the volume of waste collected, local councils should be able to cut the cost of the service. But in practice things are not that simple. In the Rennes metropolitan area a third of all the appointments made to recover large items are fruitless, the relevant goods having already vanished when the vehicle turns up. This obviously entails unwanted expense.

Another problem is that the remaining bulky waste is more difficult to recover or recycle. Lille metropolitan council takes care of waste disposal for the 85 municipalities it comprises. Large items amount to 62,000 tonnes a year. The council has recently introduced a new system to cut costs. "We're gradually replacing monthly door-to-door collections, which have been in force for years, with an appointment-based approach," says Denis Castelain, the metropolitan council's senior vice-president in charge of urban ecology.

The new system, which has been adopted by almost half the municipalities, is producing much better results, particularly in terms of recovery. Up to 40% of bulky waste is either reused or recycled, compared with only 10% before. "Residents who call us must be present when we collect their large items," Castelain adds. "That way, our operators don't go out for nothing. It's also an opportunity for a bit of education, explaining what sort of objects qualify and telling them about existing waste collection centres."

A further advantage to the new approach is that it involves less cleaning up afterwards. With the old system, "there was a steady stream of scavengers who would pick up anything of value", Castelain asserts. "Not only were we left with waste of little value, but above all it was scattered all over the place and we had to tidy up."

Household waste disposal is a complex issue and urban authorities are increasingly looking for new ways of coping with bulky items. Many are keen to encourage the use of waste collection centres, with residents bringing in unwanted goods themselves as and when necessary. This costs half as much as door-to-door collection, even if it does deprive scavengers of their main source of supply.

This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

THE president of France, François Hollande, announced his separation last night from Valérie Trierweiler, the temperamental first lady, after revelations that he has been having an affair with an actress.

The confirmation of a split from Trierweiler opened the latest act in a bedroom farce that has riveted France since a magazine published photographs two weeks ago of the president visiting Julie Gayet, a 41-year-old actress.

"I am making it known that I have put an end to the life in common that I was sharing with Valérie Trierweiler," the president said in his statement to the official French news agency, adding that he was expressing himself as a "private citizen" rather than a head of state because it was a matter relating to his private life.

Hollande was apparently never enthusiastic about having a first lady: voters elect a presidential candidate, not a couple, he argued. A poll last week showed that a majority of the public (54%) felt the same way. This may have sealed the fate of la première dame. She appears to be heading to the guillotine.

Article originally appeared in "The Sunday Times" on 26.01.2014 - Read the full article here.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.