The English Investor is the go-to English-language resource for foreign property investors in France. Written by a tri-qualified lawyer, our guides cover legal structures, tax strategy, rental regulations, and practical advice for buying and managing French real estate.
The French Senate adopted the Relance Logement bill on 8 July 2026 - swapping the works threshold for a two-class DPE test and halving the copropriete shield to 18 months, while the landlord amortissement statute lives in the budget law, not this bill. What changes, what does not, and what September can still undo.
The bail Code civil is the correct lease for a French second home - and the contract Paris's mayor calls industrial-scale fraud when it dodges rent control. Where the line runs after the 2026 rulings, the DGCCRF campaign and the bill in parliament.
The French Senate adopted the Relance Logement bill on 8 July 2026 - swapping the works threshold for a two-class DPE test and halving the copropriete shield to 18 months, while the landlord amortissement statute lives in the budget law, not this bill. What changes, what does not, and what September can still undo.
The bail Code civil is the correct lease for a French second home - and the contract Paris's mayor calls industrial-scale fraud when it dodges rent control. Where the line runs after the 2026 rulings, the DGCCRF campaign and the bill in parliament.
The English Investor is a lawyer qualified in New York, England & Wales and Paris (Georgetown Law, Sciences Po), with more than a decade in private practice and French property held through his own SCIs. Anonymous by professional obligation - which is why every claim on this site is backed by an official source you can check. More on the About page.
A 2025-26 walk-through of every legitimate route to a lower UK Council Tax bill or an outright refund — band challenges, single-occupier and SMI disregards, the new 100% second-home premium, CTR, and moving-out refunds.
What the TEOM and REOM actually are, who pays, how they're calculated, whether you can recharge them to tenants, and how to claim a refund when your French property sits empty — a complete 2026 guide for British investors.
France's IFI wealth tax on real estate catches out British investors faster than they expect — a €1.3M threshold, a worldwide-income cap that does not apply to non-residents, and a 21 May 2026 online filing deadline. Here's the complete 2026 guide.
Get the free one-page tax calendar for second-home owners: every bill, deadline and quiet trap of the year, verified against official sources. Plus one short email when the rules change.