Peta Matthews
and her property
in Brittany. For
sale through
Leggett. Search
reference:
78727DH22
TOP TIP
"Consult an
accountant
to explore
the most
tax-efficient
way to
operate the
rental
activity"
33
for your own use. France is a
huge country but access is very
important to those with limited
time, so think about transfer
times to the nearest ferry ports,
airports and TGV station.
When considering location,
consider seasons (how long
is the typical rental season
there?), proximity to amenities
and attractions, and also look
at what sort of properties are
typically in demand there from
tourists. Are you going to target
couples, or families?
When choosing a property,
think about how it will be used,
how easy it will be to maintain
and does it having something
that will make is stand apart -
part of the appeal of France is
its abundance of charming historic properties
- people want
to stay in a petit château or a
Brittany longère or a Dordogne
pigeonnier.
Bear in mind that many
people now seek character
properties with mod. cons.
inside - decent wifi, modern
showers, coffee machines - and
having any stand-out features
(hot tub, pizza oven, games
room, etc) can help attract
paying guests.
Once you have your property and have
kitted it out appropriately for
rental guests (and
remember that swimming pools
must have alarms or be fenced
off), how do you go about
renting it out? You will need
to make sure you set it up as a
rental property before you have
your first guests. "You must
register with the local Tax Office
in readiness to declare the
rental income to be received.
This is the case even if you are
not resident in France and are
receiving the rental income
in GB pounds sterling rather
than in Euros," advises lawyer
Barbara Heslop of Heslop &
Platt. "An accountant should be
consulted to explore the most
tax-efficient way to operate the
rental activity and to assist with
the annual income tax return."
For Peta Matthews, an English-born French
resident, becoming
a "micro-entrepreneur"
(formally auto-entrepreneur) -
small business owner status - is
the best way of renting out her
gîte complex in St Guen, Brittany.
"I do my own tax return and
pay a professional tax of around
£200 a year, but otherwise it
is very painless," she says. She
and her husband have run two
gîtes on their twelve-bedroom
property for nearly a decade.
Before that they ran a B&B in
Normandy. "Running gîtes is
one of the easiest ways to earn
income - it suits a lot of British
people. But you do have do be
practical, as you do need to be
able to fix things that go wrong
for guests."
She says they advertise
their properties on cheznous.
com (for £350 per year) and
they also have their own
website, holidaycottagebrittany.com.
"But we also have
return guests and lots of car
club guests - we sleep 16 and
everyone has their own bathrooms,
which I think adds to
the appeal." The property - that
has bookings for 21-22 weeks
a year - is now for sale through
Leggett for €585,000.
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