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 January 2027 France's new vacancy tax will decide whether your home is empty on the strength of a database, your own declaration and, sometimes, a neighbour's tip-off. What fiscally vacant means, how occupation is proven, and the two defences that actually work.
A draft arrêté would cut the DPE electricity coefficient from 1.9 to 1.7 on 1 January 2027, lifting hundreds of thousands of electrically heated homes out of passoire status with no works and a free updated label. What it changes for foreign owners, and why it is not signed yet.
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.
From January 2027 France's new vacancy tax will decide whether your home is empty on the strength of a database, your own declaration and, sometimes, a neighbour's tip-off. What fiscally vacant means, how occupation is proven, and the two defences that actually work.
A draft arrêté would cut the DPE electricity coefficient from 1.9 to 1.7 on 1 January 2027, lifting hundreds of thousands of electrically heated homes out of passoire status with no works and a free updated label. What it changes for foreign owners, and why it is not signed yet.
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.
Every French estate agent operates behind a licence, a financial guarantee and compulsory insurance. How to verify the carte professionnelle in two minutes, what protects your deposit, and the case law making agents answer for the deals they touch.
France hangs an agent’s entire right to payment on a written mandate, a register number and a completed sale. When the commission is owed, who owes it, and the five decades of case law on agents who tried to get paid anyway.
Owning a French home gives you zero right to stay past 90 days. The visitor visa fixes that: VLS-T vs VLS-TS, what the consulate wants to see, the real 2026 costs, and the two clocks - Schengen and tax - that owners most often confuse.
A landlord's guide to the three legal routes for raising a French residential rent: the annual IRL revision, increases after improvement works, and re-pricing an under-valued rent at renewal.
SCI or your own name? The 2026 decision guide for foreign buyers of French property: what an SCI really changes when you buy, hold, sell and pass it on - and the five questions that settle it.
Spotted an error on your French tax return after filing? You can still fix it. Here is the 2026 timetable for the online correction service, the réclamation route, and the deadlines that matter.
Letting your own French home for a few weeks a year is legal, but tightly framed. Here are the 2026 rules: the 120-day cap, the new nationwide registration, and the tax that follows.
What's the difference between a compromis de vente and a promesse de vente? Here's the structural map for foreign buyers — the 10-day rétractation, the loi Scrivener financing condition, séquestre vs indemnité d'immobilisation, and remote signing via apostille.
In 2004, two buyers won a French house at auction — only to discover the existing tenant had a lifetime clause they'd inherited. The 2010 Cour de Cassation ruling every British investor must know.
Selling French property as a UK resident? A precise 2026 guide to plus-value immobilière: the 19% + 17.2% rate, the 22- and 30-year abattement schedules, the de Ruyter UK national-insurance carve-out giving a 26.5% effective rate, the représentant fiscal threshold, and the loi de finances 2026 LMP update.
What the commandement de quitter les lieux must contain, when it can be voided, and the réintégration risk for British landlords. A precise guide to the French eviction notice and the four mandatory mentions of article R. 411-1 CPCE.
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.