LEGGETTFRANCE.COM
36 For two years,
the daily news
reports were
dominated by
Brexit headlines
and as time wore
on, it seemed that positions
became more and more
entrenched. People were either
Brexiteers or Remainers, and
families were split. Then, along
came the Coronavirus, and as
we all had a common enemy
to focus on, arguments were
temporarily forgotten. At the
time of writing, we are still in
the midst of the epidemic, and
most countries are either still
in lockdown, or taking the fi rst
tentative steps back to some
semblance of normality.
The clock doesn't stop
ticking, and the 31st of
December is looming on the
horizon. For many people,
moving to the French
countryside needs to move on
from a dream to a reality.
For anyone lucky enough to
have forgotten the gory details
of the Brexit debate, the UK is
leaving the European Union
on 31st December 2020, with
or without a deal. After this
date, you will still be able to
buy property in France easily
enough, but the questions of
healthcare and residency will
become more complicated.
Move to France before the
end of the year, and you will
pretty much enjoy all of the
same rights and benefi ts as
those of us who have been here
for years. But move after the
deadline, and these rights are
not guaranteed. We still don't
know the answers to essential
questions on healthcare,
pensions, and residency. Still,
it's likely that those moving
after 31st December will
need to take out additional
insurances (including private
healthcare) and may not see
their pensions uprated. They
will probably need to apply
for a long term visa (Visa Long
Séjour valant Titre de Séjour)
and pass a "resources" test that
shows they have an income
equivalent to the monthly
minimum wage or SMIC (Salaire
minimum de croissance).
You can see then why
so many people are keen to
get in before the end of the
year. Even in the midst of the
global pandemic, our enquiry
levels from the UK are up on
2019, which itself was a record
year! This at a time when
travel to France is still not
allowed unless for exceptional
circumstances. These enquiries
are fl ooding in from our own
website, through portals such
as Rightmove and from people
calling our sales support team
direct.
Our research shows that
Property enquiry levels go through the roof, as
Brits covet a move to the French countryside.
British buyers
rush to move
as the Brexit
deadline looms
BREXIT LEGGETT MAGAZINE