The complete guide to buying a house in France

1. The French rhythm of life: why you want this

The feeling you are looking for exists. Not a fortnight’s holiday, but a way of living.

Picture it: coffee on the terrace in February, in the sun. The bakery a short walk away, the smell of fresh bread as you step outside. Lunch outdoors, still in October, under a hard blue sky. At the weekend you drive into the mountains or nip across the border into Spain. And when evening falls it is quiet. Properly quiet, the kind you hardly find anywhere at home any more.

That rhythm is real, and plenty of people from the UK and Ireland have found it, in the Pyrenees, the Dordogne or the Languedoc. Some buy a second home to spend as much time there as they can; others move for good. Whatever your plan, buying a house in France calls for a clear head. This guide gives you honest, practical information about the buying process, from our own experience.

2. What does a house in France really cost?

The French system works differently from the UK and Irish ones. The extra costs are higher, but they are transparent and easy to work out in advance.

• Budget 7 to 10 percent on top of the price for notaire fees and transfer taxes on an existing house.
• The rates are set by law, so there is nothing to negotiate there.
• Example: a house at €250,000 needs roughly €270,000 to €275,000 in cash or financing.

Mind the exchange rate

You pay in euros. If your money is in pounds, a small move in the exchange rate between offer and completion can change the sterling cost of the house by thousands of pounds.

• Know your number in euros and check today’s GBP rate before you make an offer.
• Compare providers. Many buyers use a currency transfer specialist authorised by the FCA rather than a high-street bank, and some fix a rate in advance with a forward contract.
• Borrowing in euros takes the currency risk out of the loan, but not out of repayments made from a sterling income.

Work it out exactly. In the free buying costs calculator you enter the asking price and immediately see the total you need, including notaire fees, agency fees and an optional mortgage.

3. The buying process in seven steps

Buying in France works differently from home, but it is easy to follow. From first viewing to keys, allow three to four months.

1. Set your budget. Start with a clear view of what you can spend, including all the extra costs. If you do that sum first, you search in a more focused way and negotiate from a stronger position.
2. Choose your region deliberately. The Pyrénées-Orientales, the Dordogne, the Languedoc, Brittany: each has its own feel, climate, price level and community. Spend at least a full week there outside the high season. Not sure yet? Try the region finder.
3. Work with a good agent. A reliable agent immobilier knows the local market inside out. Ask to see the carte professionnelle (the agent’s licence), and check membership of a body such as FNAIM or SNPI and experience with foreign buyers.
4. Assess the condition of the house. For every sale the seller must provide a dossier de diagnostic technique: reports on energy performance, asbestos, lead, electrics and more. Read it yourself and have a builder or surveyor look at an older house.
5. Sign the compromis de vente. This is the preliminary contract, and from then on both sides are committed. As a private buyer you get a legal 10-day cooling-off period after signing, no reason needed. Use it to reread everything calmly; after that the agreement is binding. A deposit of around 10 percent is usual.
6. Arrange your finance. Many buyers from the UK and Ireland pay from savings or equity at home. If you want a French mortgage, expect to put down 15 to 30 percent and to provide a thick file of paperwork. French lending rules cap repayments at 35 percent of income and the term at 25 years, and they apply to non-residents too. Make sure the finance is in place, or protected by a loan condition in the compromis, before you sign.
7. The acte authentique and the keys. The final transfer happens at the notaire’s office, usually two to three months after the compromis. The notaire reads through the whole deed, which can easily take more than an hour. Bring an interpreter if your French is not strong; that is always allowed. After signing you get the keys.

Source for the cooling-off period and deposit: service-public.gouv.fr. Lending rules: HCSF (economie.gouv.fr).

4. Notaires, law and tax

If you understand how the French system works, you buy with less risk and avoid surprises later.

The notaire is not your solicitor

A French notaire is a public official who oversees the transaction as a neutral party. He or she does not act for you, nor for the seller. You are always entitled to appoint your own notaire alongside the seller’s, and on a first purchase that is well worth doing.

It costs you nothing extra: the two notaires share the regulated fee. What you do get is someone who reads the contracts from your point of view and answers your questions in plain language. Some UK buyers also use an English-speaking lawyer who specialises in French property.

Yearly taxes as an owner

• Taxe foncière: the local property tax every owner pays. It varies hugely by commune and type of house, from a few hundred to several thousand euros a year. Always ask for the latest bill; the seller has it.
• Taxe d’habitation: abolished for main homes, but still charged on second homes.
• Letting: if you let the house, extra rules apply and you declare the income in France. Take advice from a local expert-comptable first.
• At home: you may also have tax obligations in the UK or Ireland. The UK and France have a double taxation agreement; a cross-border tax adviser can tell you how it applies to you.

5. The five mistakes we see most

From our own experience and from the stories of many other buyers. All of them avoidable.

6. Which region suits you?

France is big and varied. The right region depends on what matters to you: climate, how you travel from home, and budget.

Our advice: visit at least two regions before you choose and stay a full week, not just a weekend. Go out of season too; a village in November tells you more than a village in July. We chose the Pyrénées-Orientales ourselves and have not regretted it for a day. Flight and ferry routes change every season, so check current timetables.

Not sure where to look? The region finder asks you eight questions and gives you the three regions that suit you best, with travel notes from the UK and Ireland.

7. How to find what is for sale

There is no French Rightmove. Houses for sale are spread across websites, agents, notaires and private sellers, and nobody does the searching for you. With a simple system, though, the listings come to you.

When we started looking seriously, the first thing I did was search for the French equivalent of Rightmove. That evening I learned it doesn’t exist, and that this is not a gap in the market but simply how the French market works. A seller may list with several agents at once, each agent pays to appear on the big portals, and a good share of what is for sale never appears there at all.

The five layers of the French market

More on this: what a French estate agent does, what the commission costs and how to approach an agency.

Your own search system, in one evening

1. Fix your search profile: two or three communes with a radius around them, and a maximum price including all extra costs.
2. Learn ten French words: maison de village, mas, longère, à rénover, DPE, sans vis-à-vis. Otherwise you search like a tourist.
3. Save a search with an alert on each source: Leboncoin, SeLoger, Bien’ici, PAP and immobilier.notaires.fr. By commune, not by département, or your inbox drowns.
4. Go one layer deeper: search for immobilier plus the town name and check the local agencies’ websites every week.
5. Keep everything in one overview: one line per house with link, asking price, floor area, DPE, date and status. After three weeks you see which houses stay unsold and where prices drop.

The check almost nobody does: the French government’s DVF database shows the prices actually paid in every sale over the past five years, down to the plot. It is updated twice a year and does not cover Alsace, Moselle or Mayotte. Look there before you make an offer. An asking price is an opinion; DVF is a fact.

Can’t face the French sites? The Search Helper sets up your search on six French property sites at once, and the Shortlist keeps track of every house you find, with the price per m². The full story is in There is no French Rightmove.

8. The viewing trip

A well-prepared viewing trip makes all the difference. It lets you judge honestly whether the region, the village and the house fit the way you want to live there, and not just how it looks in summer.

• Budget: fix your maximum in advance, including all extra costs.
• Wish list: write down your must-haves and agree them with your partner before you go.
• Time: plan at least four or five days in a row; French regions are bigger than they look.
• Agents: book viewings in advance through local agents; on the spot it often doesn’t work.
• The village: see it on an ordinary weekday too, for an honest picture.
• Amenities: check the distance to the GP, supermarket, station and airport.
• Notes: write down your impressions straight after each viewing, or the houses blur together.

Five questions to ask at every viewing

Take the checklist. The online viewing checklist walks you through 25 points and works fine on your phone.

9. After Brexit: visas, the 90/180 rule and residency

Owning a house in France does not give you the right to stay there as long as you like. Since 1 January 2021 UK citizens are treated as non-EU nationals. Here is what that means in practice, as of September 2026. Rules change, so always check the official sources below before you travel or plan a move.

The 90/180-day rule

• Short stays: as a UK citizen you can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in France and the rest of the Schengen area without a visa. Every day in any Schengen country counts.
• Passport: it must have been issued less than 10 years ago and be valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave.
• Overstaying can lead to a ban from the Schengen area.
• Entry/Exit System (EES): since April 2026 your entries and exits are recorded digitally, with fingerprints and a photo, instead of passport stamps. That makes the 90/180 count automatic.
• ETIAS, the EU travel authorisation, is not yet in operation. The EU will announce its start well in advance.

Staying longer as a second-home owner

• 3 to 6 months: you need a temporary long-stay visitor visa (VLS-T).
• More than 6 months: you need a long-stay visa that acts as a residence permit (VLS-TS “visiteur”), and after that a residence card from the préfecture.
• What they ask for: in broad terms, enough income or savings to live without working, health insurance for the whole stay, proof of accommodation and an undertaking not to work in France. Apply from the UK before you go, through France-Visas.

If you already lived in France before 2021

UK nationals who were legally resident in France before 1 January 2021 are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and hold a special residence card (titre de séjour Accord de retrait). Those cards need renewing online when they expire. RIFT (Remain in France Together), a volunteer association, is a good place to find practical information for this group; it does not give legal advice.

Irish citizens

Irish citizens are EU citizens, so none of the above applies: no visa, no 90/180 rule, no EES. To live in France for more than three months without working, EU law expects you to have sufficient resources and health insurance.

Official sources and support

• gov.uk: France entry requirements
• gov.uk: Living in France (visas, healthcare, driving licences, tax)
• France-Visas: UK nationals after Brexit
• British in Europe, the coalition of UK citizens’ groups in the EU
• RIFT, Remain in France Together
• Your Europe: residence rights for EU citizens

This chapter is general information, not immigration advice. For your own situation, check with the French consulate or an immigration specialist.

10. Your next steps

Buying a house in France starts with knowledge, and knowledge starts with asking questions. Three things you can do today:

1. Run your numbers. Use the buying costs calculator and know within two minutes what you really need.
2. Set up your search. Let the Search Helper prepare your search on six sites and start your Shortlist.
3. Plan your stays. Check how the 90/180 rule fits the way you want to use the house, before you fall for one.

And remember: the biggest risk is waiting too long while the dream is within reach.

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