South Western France Property Piece – Part 2

LAURA HAMILTON
H
ello, I’m Laura Hamilton,
who you may have seen
presenting the new series
of A Place in the Sun that
began in February on Channel 4.
Back then, I had a fantastic time
covering Spain and the Canary
Islands for the winter sun episodes.
I’ve just been filming in sunny
south-west France, covering the
Languedoc-Roussillon region.
Yes, I’m delighted to be joining
Jasmine Harman and Jonnie Irwin
in presenting the brand new series
of A Place in the Sun: Home or Away?,
and, having bought and sold eight
times in the UK, I was really excited
to be looking at property in France.
It’s a country in which I have wanted
to buy a house for some time, and,
after seeing a recent report predicting
that the property market is about to
fall by around 40 per cent, it sounds
like it’s a good time to buy.
Like many of the house hunters I
have met who are wanting to purchase
there, I am attracted by the laid-back
lifestyle on offer and the old stone
character properties among the
vineyards, with a bit of land.
I have been trawling the internet for
a few years, looking for a renovation
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aplaceinthesun.com 69
LAURA HAMILTON
Where: Bequia
Price: £2.6 million
Thirteen-acre plantation with 280-year old
West Indian sugar mill behind Spring Bay beach,
with great potential. Also includes a hotel.
Where: Freedom Bay, St Lucia
grenadinevillas.com
Price: from £660,000
Main
Canigou
Bottom left to right
Béziers, Sainte Madeleine Church in Béziers,
and the medieval town of Carcassonne
project in the Charente-Maritime
region, but after my recent trip to
Languedoc I have discovered a hidden
gem, and another area is on the list
to put in to the search engine.
Unsurprisingly, France is still a
hugely popular place for us Brits to
buy abroad.
properties but has enticed people back
who had been put off by the idea of
buying in France.
Under President François Hollande,
there is talk of a potential increase in
the capital gains tax on building land,
but all we can do is wait and see.
One- to four-bed villas on a new eco-luxury
resort at the foot of the Pitons. Fractions of
the hotel section also available.
freedombaystlucia.com
are some amazing bargains to be had.
As a general rule, what I found was
that property prices in France have
fallen on average by 30 per cent since
the boom back in 2007, and now could
well be the time to think about buying
that property in south-west France,
in an area you had not even thought
about before.
In love with the Languedoc
Why we love France
It has fantastic accessibility from the
UK by road, rail and air, the climate
is good and there are still plenty
of bargains to be had.
Thankfully, the former president,
Nicolas Sarkozy, was forced to drop the
idea of tax on French holiday homes,
which has not only brought relief to
those who have existing second
A TOWN TO WATCH
Villeneuve-Lès-Béziers (4km from
Béziers) stood out for me. With 3,850
inhabitants, a pretty town square
providing all of the amenities you could
possibly need (including local weekly
dance classes), and some typical
French bars and restaurants along the
idyllic canal, this gorgeous place has
some lovely little three-bed houses for
sale £160k-220k. Only 15 minutes’
drive to several beaches, I imagine it’s a
hotspot in the peak season.
The Languedoc-Roussillon area has
long been regarded as France’s bestkept secret for buying property.
The region boasts some of the
prettiest villages in France, the
climate is similar to Provence, and,
with great access to the Mediterranean
and the mountains (the Pic du
Canigou, with its snow-capped peaks,
dominates the southern skyline), it’s
surprising that property can be up to
50 per cent cheaper than Provence.
Perpignan (the capital of the region)
is home to the airport, and, with
regular flights serving the UK, it
makes for a fantastic place to invest
in a French property. For a three-bed
home you are looking at a range
from £180,000-240,000.
On this trip, my property search
started around the areas of Ceret
and Prades (just over the border
from Spain), continued to Limoux
and Quillan, and finished in Agde
and Béziers.
A property owner I spoke to in Ceret
was prepared to take an offer on his
property for £80,000 under the asking
price; yet the owner of a property I
viewed in Quillan was only prepared
to drop by £5,000 – demonstrating
there is no hard and fast rule about
making an offer. Each vendor is in a
completely different situation.
But my research proves there really
“The Languedoc-Roussillon has long been
regarded as France’s best-kept secret,
with a similar climate to Provence, yet
with properties up to 50 per cent cheaper”
70 aplaceinthesun.com
Two gîtes and a vineyard: 276K
My favourite property was in rural
Bessan, where I discovered a twobedroom 200-year-old French stone
house, with 2.5 acres of land and an
attached barn. There was enormous
scope to renovate and extend the main
living accommodation. In addition to
the main house, the property had a
separate two-bedroom gîte and
another outbuilding that could make
another one. All of this came complete
with its own private vineyard
(producing 5,000 litres of wine from
the Merlot grape each year) and was
on the market for just £276,200.
With a generous £150,000 spent
renovating/developing this property
to a high standard, it could have given
someone a very special home and a
couple of amazing business
opportunities. At the peak of the
market in 2007, this property would
have been valued at £500,000, and
that was in its current state.
LAURA’S TOP THREE CASH TIPS
• Remember you pay for position. While chatting to
one of the estate agents I met in Quillan, he made a
fantastic point that he said lots of people don’t
think about. When buying a property that is within
close proximity to a large town like Quillan, the
living costs will be considerably higher. For the
privilege of living close to the town, you have to
pay higher rates, in a similar way that council tax
varies in different boroughs in the UK. However, in
France, just living 1.5km away can make an
enormous difference, sometimes costing as much
as 75 per cent more.
• Use a currency broker. The euro is changing so
frequently at the moment, so be sure to get a
currency exchange specialist on board as soon as
you have agreed a price on a property. You don’t
want to get any nasty surprises, should the
exchange rate change.
• Budget for purchase costs. If you are a cash buyer,
expect to pay around 6 per cent in fees; if you need
a mortgage, it could be nearer 10 per cent.
See Laura’s Hamilton’s property hunts in France
later this year on Channel 4; or watch her previous
episodes on Spain at www.aplaceinthesun.com
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