Buy Now and Beat the Brexit Deadline!
First and foremost I hope all our clients, subscribers and website visitors, and of course your families are in good health and good spirits despite the difficult times we are all currently experiencing.
None of us know how long the current restrictions will last. And for UK buyers there is the added complication of a Brexit deadline of the 31st December. Of course it is entirely possible that the UK will request an extension to the Brexit deadline given the current situation, but as of today that is not our Government’s policy. So there is a real anxiety for those of you who fear that if the restrictions continue you will not have the time to purchase of your home and start the process of applying for residency before the deadline.
And that is why we have collaborated with our colleagues and found a possible solution, and that is to buy your property without first visiting it, i.e to buy ‘unseen’.
I should say that this is not something I would recommend in normal circumstances. And for those of you who are planning to buy a holiday home my advice would remain the same; that it is in your interest always to view any property you are considering buying. For those clients the lockdown will end at some point, and you can look forward to travelling again.
But for those wishing to make France their permanent home, buying ‘unseen’ will mean that you can start the process of purchasing your property straight away, with a possible completion of around the end of June - mid July, ahead of the traditional August holidays in France, and then to start your residency application when the local authorities re-open at the beginning of September, thus ensuring that you are within the current expected deadline.
THIS WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE ON EVERY PROPERTY ON THE WEBSITE, AND IT WILL NOT BE A COURSE OF ACTION I WILL BE RECOMMENDING TO EVERY CLIENT.
Anyone considering this as an option must be clear that the buyer will be judicially and financially committed relatively quickly, possibly within two weeks of the process beginning, and that failure to complete on a purchase would result in the loss of the 10% deposit. So it is not a course of action to be casually embarked upon.
But where our local agent and notaire colleagues feel we can facilitate this approach, whilst still maintaining the highest duty of care towards our purchasers and of course towards vendors also, we will endeavour to assist.
If you feel that this may be a route for you, please feel free to email me for further details.
In the meantime Stay Well,
We’ll stay in touch!
Click here to contact me direct
Kind regards,
Sharon Evans
Founder of Cle France
Read Up about French Healthcare in English
All of us at Cle France hope that you are all keeping well, and coping with staying at home, I hope our property newsletters at the weekend kept your spirits up!
We are taking advantage of updating our property listings this week and adding all those new agent listings that we never had time to add before, so you will see another 2000 to 3000 properties being added during April.
Hopefully this situation will not go on for too long, and you will be thinking about your next trip to France very soon.
In the meantime this crisis has certainly made us all think about our general health, and whilst we usually live our lives thinking that the worst probably won’t happen, this virus has proven that we all need to be prepared in the event that it does. So for those of you thinking about and planning your new life in France, health care will be one of your priorities.
My colleague Ceri Hollingworth at Exclusive Healthcare can take all the stress out of getting registered for health care in France: she is English, but has been brought up in France, and is perfectly bi lingual; not only that, she is a specialist in French Health Care and helping English speaking clients, so the ideal person to help you navigate your way through the system.
Ceri can even offer you temporary cover, from the day of your arrival, which will be in place until you are able to be registered fully into the French system.
Make sure that ‘Contact Ceri’ is at the top of your ‘to do’ list, and she can ensure you have one less thing to worry about!
Stay Well and if you want some interesting reading then you can of course Get Your Free PDF Guide to Health Care in France here
Kind regards,
Sharon Evans
Founder of Clé France.
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Cle France and Key Currency - Here to help you
We at Cle France and Key Currency have been overwhelmed with thoughts and messages from our loyal clients, we really appreciate your kindness.
The most important thing for us all at the moment is to stay happy and well at home and we will of course keep your spirits up by sending you lovely properties to browse through.
Our colleagues at Key Currency will continue to keep you updated on the currency markets.
And don't forget they can lock-in an exchange rate for you ahead of any transaction you might make in the future, giving you even more peace of mind.
Some of you may indeed be in the middle of the process of buying or selling a property abroad: we are on hand to answer any questions you might have, regardless of whether you are buying or selling through us or not.
Some of you may also need to be paying international bills on your existing properties abroad or indeed need to send money to family:
Key Currency will happily chat to you and assist you in any way they can.
Kind regards,
David Evans
Co-Founder of Cle France.
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Coronavirus Travel Update
As of 17/03/2020, the UK Government is advising against all non-essential travel abroad for an initial period of 30 days.
At the moment most cross channel services are still operating including Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Eurostar and The Shuttle, albeit on reduced timetables, in both directions.
However travel in France is severely restricted by Presidential decree: people are not allowed to leave their homes or be on the roads unless they have a printed off declaration with them, to explain why they are out.
There are five reasons the general public are allowed outside their homes and they are as follows:
- travel to work, only if working from home is impossible.
- going to pick up essential supplies, from Government approved establishments.
- for health reasons ie. doctor or hospital appointments (though increasingly patients are taken to hospital by the army).
- for family reasons, to attend to someone vulnerable, either a dependent child or elderly relative.
- taking a dog for a walk, or individual exercise but people must remain close to home to do this.
In terms of travelling through France (say driving off the tunnel or ferry), this is only permitted under the following circumstances:
- If you are returning to to your main residence.
- Essential work in France.
- If you are medical staff.
So yes, you can enter for those reasons but once there must abide by the restrictions above, which initially remain in place for two weeks.
So at the moment in France, every time you leave your home you need to fill in a form, and it needs to be a new form for each trip. The form can be downloaded here (although the Interior Ministry's site was clearly struggling with traffic levels on Tuesday morning).
Hope that helps to clarify the position, we will keep you updated as the situation develops, and of course keep sending you lovely properties so that you can enjoy browsing from home for the time being!
Stay Well and if you want some interesting reading then you can of course Get Your Free PDF Guide to Health Care in France here
Kind regards,
Sharon Evans
Founder of Clé France.
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