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.
From 1 October 2026 every new French lease gives a non-paying tenant six weeks, not two months, to clear the debt after a commandement de payer. What the new contrat type changes, which clock governs your existing lease, and the procedure that actually gets a property back.
INSEE's Q2 2026 IRL is 148.37, up 1.15% in a year and accelerating for the first time in two years. What foreign landlords can claim, the DPE freeze that still bites, and the one-year deadline.
A third of France's best-rated homes turn into ovens each summer. What the DPE letter actually measures, the summer-comfort indicator nobody reads, and the checks that spare you from buying a bouilloire thermique.
From 1 October 2026 every new French lease gives a non-paying tenant six weeks, not two months, to clear the debt after a commandement de payer. What the new contrat type changes, which clock governs your existing lease, and the procedure that actually gets a property back.
INSEE's Q2 2026 IRL is 148.37, up 1.15% in a year and accelerating for the first time in two years. What foreign landlords can claim, the DPE freeze that still bites, and the one-year deadline.
A third of France's best-rated homes turn into ovens each summer. What the DPE letter actually measures, the summer-comfort indicator nobody reads, and the checks that spare you from buying a bouilloire thermique.
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. 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.
A plain-English calendar of every French tax deadline a British property owner will meet in 2026 — income tax, IFI, GMBI, taxe foncière, taxe d'habitation — plus the 7.5% post-Brexit social-charges carve-out and the taux moyen election.
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.