Sooo, long story short I want to move to France. I work from home for a large global pharmaceutical so I’m not tied to living in the U.K. however with aging relatives here I don’t want to be too far away. I’m also obsessed with tractors and would love to have a small holding, something which I’d struggle to do in the U.K.

My partner speaks fluent French and has family in Paris but I’m thinking about moving further south as the properties are cheaper and small farms seem to be in abundance. I’ve recently sold my house here and am living in a rented property so it’s not like I have to sell up.

Has anyone does this? Am I looking at this through rose tinted Oakleys or is this a fantastic idea? £300k seems to bag a pretty decent sized plot of around 15ha which will allow me to live out my tractor driving fantasies without requiring full time involvement (I intend to continue with my current employer).

Any advice welcome, even if it’s ebay links to tractors…specifically Fords of the 8210 variety..

I can only add that I’m very envious.

If the stories are true it’ll take many years and the deaths of dozens of Bothan’s to actually complete all the paperwork to buy anything and of course, in theory you might be asked to leave next March, but I doubt it.

1. Go for it

2. Maybe rent in France first? Or have a massive explore to find the right area.

watches with interest as we’ve also got dreams of moving to france but somewhat further behind in terms of job (currently tied to a desk in the UK) and kids (don’t want to move them out of school at the mo – exam related).

I intend to continue with my current employer

Watch out on this bit.  They will have to pay French health/social security/employers contributions if you are physically based in France (even if performing a job remotely that is exclusively related to the UK entity, for example).  Make sure they’re able and OK to do that.

It’s a fair point – strangely I’m currently registered at the office in Brussels so I think I can transfer to the French office if needed and I’m already paid in Euro’s so that’s not (potentially) a huge issue. Of course they might want me to actually go into the French office just outside Paris which would ruin my plans a bit but there’s not much chance of that.

Ive done a bit of reading on the potential affect of Brexit but as they don’t actually know what they’re doing, it’s hard to say.

Beware! France is a. eyewateringly expensive for day to day items (except houses – and there’s a reason for that) b. even if you are fluent in French, the culture is VERY different and takes a whole lot of adjusting to. No two departments deal with things in the same way – a classic example is the list of documents you require for a Carte de Sejour. The Interior Ministry produced a “definitive” list. At least two prefectures that I know of have a different list and deny all knowledge of the Ministry list! Impots who deal with your taxes have a similar approach. Having said all that, its a lovely place, most people are great and the weather is a few degrees warmer in summer. We are selling up (Stealth Ad!) and moving back for a number of reasons – a. above included – any questions, PM me and I’ll do my best to help. By the way don’t even dream of spending £300,000 on a property, you’ll never see it again and you don’t need to.

Renting is a good idea, certainly some exploring will be needed. I’m not fussed about being near a large town having grown up in the sticks but the other half is more of a townie. That said, she’d keep her house in the U.K. so we could always come back for a few months here if required

Jerseychaz- much appreciated. Might drop you a PM if that’s ok to pick your brains! Interesting about the cost of living, is that mainly food related or taxes and such?

Food is one of the biggest ticket items in our budget. Taxes less so as the allowances are pretty good. It’s social charges you need to watch out for as depending on how your income and work status is classified they can be around 25% of gross income and start from Euro Zero!

Lurking with interest, as it’s also a (pipe)dream in the IHN household

France is a. eyewateringly expensive for day to day items

This intrigues me, as from time spent in France (admittedly, on holiday, but quite a lot of time spent there and always camping so a fair amount of supermarket shopping), it’ not something I’d particularly noticed.

(except houses – and there’s a reason for that)

What’s the reason

Sounds like a brilliant plan.

Except you might be better to get Fendt rather than a Ford.

France is a. eyewateringly expensive for day to day items

I’m surprised by this, as INH said I go there most years on Holiday, and I haven’t noticed any great differences in the big supermarkets at least.

I did once spend a small fortune on the French equivalent of Savlon, but I think we were tucked up a bit there, the Pharmacist wanted us to buy some weird stuff, and my Wife wasn’t have any of it (she’s a Specialist Wound Nurse) and I think we ended up paying a bit of arsehole tax ha ha.

I’d love a Fendt but they’re mental money!

Isn’t it a bit early to be jumping on the World Cup glory bandwagon..?

My best man moved to southern France recently, he & his wife are loving it,  they’re good financially so were able to buy a place before selling up here, their kids are all in their 20’s & London based at the moment so they’ve now sold the family home and rent a place for the kids in London & keep the aging relatives at arms length but still only a plane journey away if needs be ☺️ we visited for a few days in May and he didn’t give us any indication of any particular difficulties in the process. Do it 👍

My parents retired out to France https://goo.gl/maps/BeFNDbfrS8U2

They are loving it and will definitely not be coming back to the uk. They enjoy a great lifestyle out there and have met many friends some French, some British. Flights are cheap and easy from Pau Toulouse or Lourdes.

Do it!

Just do it. The Langudoc is full of journalists and IT bods all working from home or commuting to various countries. But be prepared for last minute changes of mind. Looked forward to retiring to France but when it came to the time one of us wouldn’t go – cherchez la femme tant pis – not that I’m bitter honest.

A couple of our friends in France needed a tractor for their vineyard. Near them is this amazing scrapyard correction repair yard where the do up old cars tractors vans yni. Doing up old vehicles is big in France.

They have a narrow tracked crawler type thing for ploughing between the vines and a fully restored 2CV Van the one with the corrugated van part.

Bon chance.

I know someone who goes out to France all the time to get parts for old Citroens, which he restores back in the UK – I think he will move out FT to France soon. I wonder if there is a market to do the same thing for tractors.

Sounds like a fabulous idea.

I wonder where you are posting the enquiry from ?🤙

Moved back to France Last year and yes day to day expenses are higher but higher quality.

Internet can be crap too which can be an issue when working from home.

Dont see why you need a carte de séjour, UK still in the EU.

Paperwork takes time but once you are in the system, it is fine.

We are south of massif central, 1h30 from the Mediterranee , for 300k you would get lot of land and nice house. To buy a house buyer and seller go to the notaire, sign a first agreement, wait 3 months and go back to complete the sale. That is it.

We rented a gite in the midi pyrenees a couple of years ago owned by a british couple, they had bought an old farm and done up one house to rent and were slowly doing up their own. The thing that made me want to do it was instead of buying firewood, he worked out it was cheaper to buy a few hectares of steep hillside woodland behind the farm for a few thousand euros. It was absoutely perfect mtb terrain, just like the tweed valley but ancient oak forest instead. Internet there would be unusable for working from home though, super slow rural.

Want to change jobs?  There are tax implications for the company if you work in another country.  Same position and it didn’t work for one of my group. He had to leave pharma and become a consultant. He’s been there 14 years on a farm in south of France. Another had to leave and join a French company.

Employment law might be the most challenging. Unless you retain an adress in the UK

Thanks everyone – all advice is much appreciated.

long chat with the Mrs tonight and she’s fully onboard. Now it’s time for planning (and looking in the classifieds of classic tractor).

BB – posting from Tunbridge Wells, although I remember meeting you in a car park once in the wharf…!

I lived in Bouche-du-Rhone for a while back in the 90s. It was ace.

Go for it.

Do it & you won’t regret it. We moved to the Alps a year ago and it’s awesome. You’ll just wander why you didn’t do it sooner.

Yes some things are more expensive, some are not, paperwork is a pain and things take twice as long. Learn some French and make some friends and life gets much easier.

Niall