Stephen Buss is lucky enough to have lived and worked
in Calvados for the last 30 years. His experience within
the local property market is second to none.
No place like
NormandyNormandy
Y
es, I have lived
here for the last
three decades and
have dual English/
French nationality,
so my roots in Normandy are
deep. I'm not sure that I have
seen a property market quite like
this one. Demand for property
here has been manic. Since the
confi nement ended, we have seen
Parisians galore, all with bigger
budgets than we are traditionally
used to. They have been drawn
to the fresh air and clean living
and have been looking for larger
properties with gardens or land
attached. The demand for fast
broadband is a constant; often
they will be looking for a home
offi ce too. Vendors are happy as
some of the larger properties,
which usually take longer to sell,
have been snapped up.
Things are beginning to settle
down now, and international
buyers from the UK, Holland
and Belgium are beginning to get
a look in. My advice to buyers
is have fi nancing in place and be
prepared to move quickly when
you fi nd a property you like. If
not, then you are likely to lose
out to a local buyer.
My colleagues and I have
also seen a strong demand for
equestrian property - something
for which Normandy is famous.
Did you know that Normandy
has a 60km long stud farm trail,
as well as over 700 horse riding
centres and 43 hippodromes?
The larger equestrian properties
on our books have attracted a lot
of interest from Belgian buyers
this year. Normandy has excellent
links to continental Europe, as
well as the UK, and land prices
here are incredibly attractive.
As to my favourite places,
I would have to start in
Bayeux - home to the worldfamous tapestry
and an equally
spectacular cathedral. The
tapestry is a staggering 70m long,
so if you plan on visiting then do
allow enough time to do it justice.
Many of the 400,000 tourists
who come to see the tapestry
also head off to look around the
Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame
de Bayeux. Consecrated in 1077,
it suffered serious damage in the
12th century and the rebuild
took a further 500 years!
I am most fortunate to have a
large variety of other spectacular
places within easy reach, not least
the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel. This
UNESCO world heritage site is
visited by three million tourists
a year - you can probably begin
54 +33 (0)5 53 60 84 88 info@leggett.fr
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Ruines de l'abbaye de Caen
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