My partner and I are planning to move to France before Brexit is finalised - the whole Brexit thing has actually actually us to ‘hurry up’ our plans. We’ll be able to continue to earn money from my UK business, (though we’d love to be able to supplement that with some gite income in France) so we have the great fortune of not having to worry about jobs. We also don’t need to concern ourselves with things like schools.
What we do want is somewhere great for our horses and dogs and, with ideally, a better climate than our Devon one. We’re really struggling to narrow our search down but we’ve identified houses in our price range in the areas of the midi-pyrenees (between Toulouse and Tarbes) Charante, and Normandy (near Domfront). (I’ve not been able to find properties in the South of Dodogne/Lot area, which might mean they’re too expensive for us.) Although Domfront loses out on climate, it is closer to my very good French friends who live in Sarthe. Does anyone have any experience of living in these areas and/or recommendations.
We certainly would be interested in that area if we could find a suitable property. We keep coming back to one that’s about an hour from Pau - just the other side of Tarbes but so far haven’t found any closer to Pau within our price range in our internet trawl.
Hi Rod,
I have found the property prices to be reasonable around here - I am about an hour from the mountains and an hour from the sea … the weather can be lovely (although it can rain too).
Let me know if you need any more specific details
Phil
Hi Philip, Our budget is up to around €350,000, but we’d ideally like a small gite or annex as well as at least 2 hectares. Does that sound possible in your area? What agents would you recommend? My search has really been on France Property Shop, Leggetts and Green Acres with a couple of others thrown in. Thanks again.
Have a look at http://www.sophiefolley.com (based in Salies de Bearn) and http://www.frenchcharacterhomes.com. Both cover the area around Pau and towards the coast (although prices go up the closer you get to the sea!) - the area Phil mentioned. We purchased our house with Samantha at French Character homes and Sophie Folley is a friend. Both go above and beyond with the service they offer.
Good luck with your search.
Jules
I would use www.seloger.com you can search anywhere in France using the town, postcode or a map.
The Perche area around Mortagne au Perche would seem to suit your needs. It is only about 1.5-2 hrs from Paris and it is extremely horse friendly being (mostly) in the Orne, where the National Stud is based. It is a great area. If looking around the Mortagne/Le Mele sur Sarthe/Belleme areas I would use square habitat, the offices in those three towns are run by a family and are really helpful. Their ads mostly go on Se Loger too. Good luck.
Coincidentally a male couple moved in close to me in the north of the Charente in January bringing two horses and three dogs with them. I was talking to one of them the other day about the horses and his biggest concern was that the grass grew less than he had expected and that the horses had had to get used to the heat and the flies. I was surprised about the grass as we’ve had a very green summer, the grass often dies off in July and August but did not this year. A lot of the places that have been mentioned are further south and even hotter than here so I hope that your horses will cope with the change.
It’s a good point David. The heat is one reason we’ve not looked further South in, for example, Languedoc. I’d assumed we’d be ok in Charante, as long as they had shade. But I have worked on the basis we’ll need more land that we would in wet old England. (Though I’m hoping that less rain, will also mean less mud! lol)
I have seen this house for sale for a while near where I live in the Montagnes Noires in the Tarn. This house is about 1 hour from Carcassonne airport and less than 2 hours from Toulouse airport with the Mediterranean about 1 1/2 hours away. The area is very mild considering how far south we are. The house is near a river and a very popular golf course so I imagine it would be easy to let the apartment to golfers. It’s about 5 minutes from the local town which has everything you could need. Might be worth a look. https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1166718193.htm?ca=16_s
You’re a star for thinking of us. It’s a beautiful house - but sadly, wouldn’t have enough land for the horses. We’d be looking at a minimum of 1.5 hectares I think.
Would you consider Sarlande in the North Dordogne? 30 acres including stables, barns, arena and 3 bed property suitable for B&B? A friend of mine is selling her place and it’s beautiful, and around your budget.
