Macron elected French president

There was a palpable sigh of relief all over France last night, as Emmanuel Macron was finally elected President of France, with a convincing 66 per vent of cotes cast in the second round. Even though many remain sceptical of his plans to 'revive' France, in line with the policies outlined by his group En marche there us also a feeling that 'at least it's not her' - referring to the far right Marine le Pen who gave the country another first-round scare in a close vote, as she did with the election of Francois Hollande five years ago. Some commentators are now writing that her election would have been 'chaotic for France'.

Also worrying is the high level of voter abstentions, approaching 30% of the electorate, though many are questioning the wisdom of holding an election on a Sunday, in the middle of a three-day holiday weekend in May (today is a public holiday), where many have taken advantage of the fine weather (at last) and are away from home.

Also interesting at the time Britain is learning not only that Brexit is is going to be vastly more complicated and expensive than anyone dreamed, Macron's second emphasis is on reforming and strenghtening the European Union and it will be interesting to watch this happening alongside Brexit.

France will also have to come to terms with a whole collection of new faces in politics, as Macron's likely team of future ministers, many of them unkown to the wider public, take up their positions in government. France goes to the polls again in June to elect deputies to parliament, before settling down for the summer recess and the traditional European shutdown during July and August.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Buying a French apartment? Beware of management costs!

Buying an apartment in France, as opposed to a freehold house, may seem like an attractive low-cost alternative - until you come to add up the associated 'management fees'. Many seemingly cheap apartments can turn out to be an expensive investment.

In my home town I have been looking at lost-cost apartments, many of them located in the best part of town, facing south onto a park (the old bit of open urban space there is) and many priced at under 50,000 euros for a small studio under 25 square metres, and attractive as a 'pied à terre' or as an income earning buy-to-let investment.

Part of their attraction can include a balcony or terrace, high levels of security, sometimes a resident concierge, central heating and hot water, car parking, and a lift (many are eight storeys or more high). Occcasionaly extra amenities such as a swimming pool, gardens or tennis courts form part of the package.

All these attractive extras however come at a price. Buying an apartment in a share building involveds purchasing the freehold in your individual apartment and in addition a number of shares in the building itself - sometimes refered to as tantièmes - the quantity calculated according to the size of your apartment. You effectively own part of the freehold and details will be written into your contract of purchase - the equivalent of title deeds to your property.

Buildings may be managed by a committee of co-owners - you become one on purchase of your apartment and become entitled to vote at the annual general meeting or indeed become a member of the co-owners' committee. Within smaller buildings, day to day management as well as major decisions such as external painting or renewal of the lift, may be handled by the (voluntary) 'syndic' (committee of co-owners). This can work well for buildings comprise, say, up to ten or twelve apartments. (I currently live in a building with just four co-owners, the largest owning two whole floors, and we meet and discuss informally any needed expernditure. There are no fixed annual costs, other than the obligatory building insurance, which we all share in proportion to our share, in addition to the insurance of our invidivual apartments).

Above this figure it is more usual to employ a firm of external building managers, some of whom are part of a larger group of insurance companies, banks or property investors. And they charge for their services. Many of these organisations have come in for criticism in recent years - for overcharging, poor management and in some cases downright fraud. They succeed in getting away with it because apartment owners are not interested in how the building is run and will pay the monthly bill of charges to the managers without raising too many questions. Until active individuals or members of an alert co-owners committee start to investigate.

The first thing you will know about the level of 'building charges' will be in the state agents' details of the apartment you are interested in buying (in addition of course to local property taxes paid to the commune). And it is at this point you will realise that the 'cheap' apartment you are being shown round may be subject to management charges from 500 to over 1000 euros per year - and possibly additional costs planned in the near future, to pay for external painting or replacement of the lift.

As a general rule the larger the building the higher the cost to maintain and pay for unforeseen contingencies, and as a result the higher the charges demanded - once again in proportion to the size of your apartment. As a result, as part of your French property hunting, if you are looking at apartments you need to be fully aware of the likelihood of additional management charges, which over the years are most likely to rise, while the value of your apartment may fall.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Ecological and organic - but not quite.......

I watched a fairly in-depth documentary on French television last night, featuring two groups of citizens who had decided 'to go ecological'. The first concerned a largish family who had built their own house, using the latest materials, to ensure that it was self-sufficient in terms of heating, cooling and maitenance. They had installed a series of solar panels in the garden (fairly ugly and I am surprised they got planning permission!), had built a water wheel in a fast running nearby stream (unclear who it belonged to or again whether planning permission was sought or given), and were in the process of improving the drain pipes and guttering on their roof to collect rain water in an underground tank.

What I found most disappointing is that their whole set-up was built around producing and consuming meat - chickens were reared for their eggs and their meat, along with several sheep and cows whose destiny was not explained.

The second case study appeared to revolve around hydroponics (growing plants in water rather than in the soild) and again seemed to be centered on producing feed for animals, which were reared for their meat.

What the documentary failed to tell viewers is the high cost of feeding (vegetable) protein - 50% of which goes to feed animals - in order to produce meat (10 grams produce only 1 gram of meat) when it is clearly cheaper and ecologically sound for humans to eat the vegetable proteins direct and reduce the production and consumption of meat, currently estimated at 100kg per person per year in France!

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

France - record high property prices?

Two reports in France's LeFigaro* newspaper higlight the continued rise in French property  prices - now at record levels in major French cities, and why it is a good time now to put your property on the market if you are thinking of selling.

First, property prices approaching record levels.  The evidence is onverhwelming, and following a recovery of the property market in 2016 - by over 5% in the Paris area and over 2 per cent elsewhere - the trend seems to be continuing in the first three months of 2017, despite the common belief that election years are bad for property sales (the French go to the polls in two weeks to begin the process of electing a new President and a new parliament).

Paris still holds the record for the highest average price per square metre - currently just over 8,500 euros , followed by Nice (3,800), Lyon (3,440), Bordeaux (3,2776) and Toulouse (2,640). Most of these prices reflect an increase of 5% or more over 2016.

Traditionally springtime and the arrival of warmer weather help boost sales, as buyers prefer to get their house move organised and settle before the July/August holiday break and ahead of the la rentrée in September/October when children return to school and students start at university. Job changes are also popularly organised with a September start in mind and may involve a change of location.

Another group of buyers are the retired who need to get their house hunting done before the July/August recess when second homes may be occupied by their owners or let to summer tenants, and unavaialble for viewing. The traditional holiday period may also delay completion of the property sale as lawyers and much needed public officials themselves go on hliday. Hence the need to get your property selling or buying done before the end of June!

*LeFigaro.fr

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

French cities going green ....literally!

French cities are vying with each other to create more wide open, green spaces, as part of their effort to combat air pollution and help reduce excessively high temperatures such as those  of the 40 degree heatwave in 2003, responsible for the deaths of over 15,000 people.

Not surprisingly one of the pioneers of this movement is the city of Paris, with a mixture of tree planting, opening up more green spaces and encouraging the installation of 'green roofs' - the use of grass and other vegetation on the roofs of schools, office blocks and other public buildings.

Although the city is well blessed with open spaces, the two largest being the bois de Boulogne and the bois de Vincennes, both located far from the city centre,  Paris lacks a variety of smaller open spaces, easily reachable by the public, for examples during a lunch break.  The two famous bois alone account for 70% of the city's open spaces.

Paris's norther outskirts are particularly short of open spaces and the city also suffers from suburban blight due to the apparently unrestrained development of huge out of town shopping centers which ring the capital, and increasing demands for more transport infrastructure such as roads and rail.

As a result during a typical summer heatwave there can be a difference of 8 degrees or more (higher) between parts of the inner city centre and a typical built-up sector. Cooling these spaces is not cheap and uses large amounts of energy - for example for refrigeration and air conditioning - and to provide insulation and double glazing increases construction costs.

With 75% of French now living in urban areas (compared to the countryside) inner-city pollution is becoming an increasing threat and a drain on healthcare costs. However some successes are already being reported including a reduction of the incidence of asthma.

Another encouraing sign is the growth of healthy eating and organic food production* and the development of small urban 'grow your own' allotments managed by the local community.

Finally it goes without saying that greener cities make more pleasant places to live in and can add to the value of your property investment.


* For more information see my recent post here about France's 'organic revolution' and my article in 'French Property News' issue 314, April 2017, pp 50-52.
And also Alternatives Economiques No. 367, Aptril 2017, pp 58-60 by Bénédice Weiss, who offers further sources.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

School uniforms - Britain versus France......

Reading the British press - mainly the Daily Mail I have to confess - British school teachers seem to spend a great deal of time checking on how their students dress, measuing the lenght of skirts and shorts, and the colour, lenght and style of haircuts. Being sent home or banished from the classroom appear to be the standard punishment for these apparent breaches of the rules.

Happily the French take a much more relaxed attitude. The majority of youngsters attend free public (state run) schools, from the maternité through to the lycée and dress code is not on the list of requirements for entry - apart from that imposed by current teenage fashions taken from television or the web.

In my home town the current fasion is for leggings (apparently now frowned upon by some airlines as 'inappropirate') worn by both girls and boys, with a draughty few inches of bare ankle displayed in both summer and winter. The top half is generally comprised of a T-shirt or other sports gear, with logos, trademarks or slogans of your choice. When it comes to hairstyle - anything goes, length, colour, shape, style, the boys generally following the trends set by footballers. And the minute the sun comes out, everyon is in shorts.

I was waiting for a friend to join me for lunch yesterday and watched several groups of youngsters passing by - including a greed haired lad with two friends - but his appearance did not attract a second glance from a single one of the (adult) passers-by. Joining groups of friends in a café or bistro is routinely accepted and thse pre-adults have a surprising self confidence, especially when surrounded by their peers. Any suggestion that they should be made to conform to a dress code would be considered laughable.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

French furnished lettings - security for both owner and tenant

French furnished lettings provide a measure of security both for the owner of the property and the tenant/occupier, following a tightening of the rules in the loi Alur of March 2014, promoted by the then housing minister Cecile Duflot.

Many are based on the regulations concerning unfurnished properties but offer a briefer period of tenure - 12 months renewable, reduced to 9 months in the case of a term-time student lettings - with the option to renew the tenancy and the right of the tenant to leave the property at any time at 4 weels notice.

On signing the tenancy agreement, the owner can ask for a security deposit of two months' rent (note that the maximum for unfurnished tenancies is just one month) and other provisions using a standard contract which will include an inventory of the contents. In order for a property to be classified as 'furnished' certain basic items must be provided by the owner, including means of eating, sleeping, heating etc and listed on a standard form which will become part of the lease and agreed between the parties.

If the owner wishes to give notice to the tenant, he can justify this only on restricted grounds,such as non-payment of rent or serious misuse, or his intention to occupy the property for his own use or in order to sell it.

How much to charge? It is possible for anyone with disposable capital to buy a property which has a tenant already in place (either furnished or unfurnished) so the rent will be known. The short-term furnished market is fairly competitive, offering a wide range of choice for a prospective tenant who will normally be well informed about going rates in the locality - from agency websites and informally from friends and colleagues. In some areas, including Paris, rents can be controlled by the local authority under new regulations (2016, 2017) designed to prevent price inflation where there is a known shortgage of available properties. Universities and other institutions may also have their own rules should a property owner wish to have his property added to their housing list.

Short term renters, according to the experts*, often have a different profile from long-termers and owner/occupiers, They may be younger, prepared to live in a small space (say, 20 square metres) on higher floors with no lift, and in cental/mixed areas that might not attract long stayers but which offer quick access to public transport, local shopping and other basic amenities, And if the property is well furnished and decorated and offers something a bit special renters may be prepared to pay an above-average rent.

Furnished lets by their nature mean a higher turnover of occupants than with unfurnished properties, and will need to be constantly refreshed and furniture  replaced. It may be possible to let them on a very short basis as holiday lets (such as through AirBnb) in popular tourist areas. In the case of 9-month student let, a two to three month summer rental might be possible - if the property is large enought for at least two people. If not, you could try attracting a seasonal worker. All these options require hands-on management in order to succeed.

* "Comment je suis devenue rentière" by Elise Franck describes in detail how she became the owner of several short-term rental properties, with numerous tips, illustrations and cost breakdowns. Essential reading, along with her website which cotains a lot of useful advice including before and after illustrations and examples of successful renovations.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr