The English Investor

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.

Exclusive Content

Démembrement: Giving Your Children a French Home While You Keep the Use

Giving your children the bare ownership of a French home while you keep the usufruct cuts French gift tax and leaves nothing more to pay on your death. Here's who pays for repairs, why the wealth tax still bites, and how HMRC may see the same deed.

UK Moves to End Double Tax on French SCIs: What Changes for UK Owners, and When

If you live in the UK and own a let French property through an SCI, the same rent can be taxed twice. The UK now plans a credit for the French tax, with claims from early 2028: what it could save, and what is still open.

France Writes Your Rent Schedule for You: Below-Market Rent and the Maths of Keeping a Good Tenant

In France you can’t lift a sitting tenant’s rent to market whenever you like: the law sets the timetable, and in tight-market zones even a new tenant’s rent is capped. We run the numbers on when keeping a good tenant beats chasing the market.

Selling a French Property From the UK or Abroad: the Steps in Order

Every step of selling a French property while you live abroad, in order: the reports, the agent, the preliminary contract, signing remotely, the French tax the notaire takes, and the UK side.

Can Your Neighbours in France Force You to Soundproof Your Flat?

A French court can order an owner to soundproof a flat when the noise from it is abnormal, even where a new floor meets the national standard. We explain the rules, two key rulings, the four steps from complaint to court order, and what tenants can and can’t demand.

French Home Prices Fell 0.8% in a Year to June 2026: What It Means If You Own From Abroad

French home prices fell 0.8% in the year to mid-2026, with houses down 1.3% and flats almost unchanged. We break down the notaires’ figures by city, explain why the 4% mortgage line matters, and what it all means if you sell or buy from abroad.
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Six Weeks, Not Two Months: France Rewrites the Unpaid-Rent Clause in Every New Lease

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.

IRL Q2 2026: French Rent Revision for Foreign Landlords (+1.15%)

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.

Your DPE Says A, the Thermometer Says 36°C: France’s Heat-Trap Homes and How Not to Buy One

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.

Buying or Selling a Tenanted Property in France? The Lease Survives the Sale

In France the lease follows the walls. Article 1743 hands the tenant to your buyer, deposit obligations included, and the congé pour vendre is the only clean way to sell empty. What buyers inherit, what sellers keep, and where the traps are.

Who Can Actually Sign Your French Lease? Indivision, Usufruct and SCI Traps That Get Tenants Evicted

After an inheritance or through a family SCI, many foreign landlords sign French leases without fully owning the property. Article 595, article 815-3 and the two-thirds rule decide whether that lease stands - or gets the tenant evicted.

The Senate Just Rewrote France’s Renovation Deal – and Left Your LMNP Alone

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.