The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
Is the French gîte dream dying?
For many Britons, ownership in ‘la France profonde’ is becoming increasingly out of reach, writes Liz Rowlinson
Buy a cheap property in France, do it up and rent it out – while cashing in: for decades this has been the retirement dream of many British people.
The advent of gîte holidays in the 1950s offered a great way for many Francophiles to have an adventure, hosting paying guests in self- contained houses on the property. You could run a gîte to top up your pension, while living a low- cost life in la France profonde. And you could even manage to do it without speaking fluent French, as many of the tourists were British. Plus, there were better tax allowances for gîtes than for longterm lets.
But in the past four years, Brexit, Covid and the cost of living crisis have hit British gîte owners with a series of challenges. With the French government introducing some tax changes to holiday rentals, too, is this the end of the gîte dream?
Boosting your pension with a gîte
The golden age for British gîte ownership was during the 1990s to 2010s – when low- cost airlines opened up locations such as Bergerac and Limoges, and Airbnb began to transform the way many people booked holidays.
A lot of owners bought in the 1970s and 1980s, says Tim Forster, who works for agent Leggett in Languedoc. “The original concept was for early retirees like me to buy a property at great comparative value and boost an indexlinked pension with a gîte or two.”
These were often furnished with family hand-me-downs from the attic and advertised in Dalton’s Weekly, with bookings made by phone.
Gîtes have come a long way from rehabilitated old farm buildings and now include all sorts of furnished cottages, barns and small châteaux.
It seems hard to find a British estate agent in France who doesn’t own a gîte. “Earning a little on the side is a quintessential English fantasy,” says Edward Slark-Hughes, a gîte- owning property finder in the Dordogne. “But few rely on it to make a living. Many have other jobs such as English language teachers or handymen.”
Post-Brexit realities
There are many British gîte owners in France still flourishing and making good money. But the challenges facing British gîte owners have been stacking up, from new visa rules – which require a business plan – to new tax laws.
Many are selling up: estate agent websites targeting the UK market show there are more than 1,300 properties for sale with gîtes – and a good few price reductions; although that’s a fraction of the near 55,000 gîtes for rent, according to Gîtes de France, the body set up in the 1950s to grow rural tourism.
Gîtes are far from a dying breed. While it reports a “steady decline” in the number of B&Bs ( chambre d’hôtes), there were 7,000 new gîtes added to its network last year.
Before Brexit it was easy to move over and get your carte de séjour residency permit. Now it’s necessary for British owners to get a visa if they want to relocate or spend the summer in France running their gîtes. “Back then it was easy to wing it, renovate affordably and know every year what to expect,” says Rupert Springfield, of Gîte Guru, a company that advises owners on strategy.
He sees very few retirees taking on gîtes now. “Brexit has presented many little obstacles, such as British guests being turned away at customs with passport [expiry date] issues; the much higher cost of taking pets abroad. Many owners are questioning whether they are still living the gîte dream.”
In Charente, Leggett’s Hugh McSheffrey says that this Easter the usual flurry of British gîte owners arriving in their expensive cars to open up the gîtes for the summer season was noticeably absent. “Some have sold up, not wanting the hassle of getting a visa,” he says.
Charles Hodson of Beaux Villages in the Tarn says he’s seeing more French people looking to buy gîtes than British. He also now markets his own gîtes towards the French. “At the end of the day we are making around € 20,000 (£17,000) a year. A big disadvantage is not being able to have our family over to stay as we’re fully booked.”
But Valerie Aston, of advisory service Start Business in France, is busier this year than last; she says new gîte clients are going for bigger or higher- quality projects, in Aquitaine or Occitanie. She suggests that British people should “apply for a carte de séjour profession libérale/entrepreneur as it’s the easiest [visa] to get”.
This visa is the popular option for self- employed Britons moving to France, and it requires a business plan projecting your income based on local rates and occupancy levels – with a net income of at least €17,000 net a year.
On top of a visa you also need to choose between the micro- BIC or régime réel – tax regimes that have different expense allowances.
Charles Cramailh, of Leggett Property Management, says you need expert advice including from a chartered accountant in the light of changes being introduced (they also impact your capital gains tax burden when you sell).
He warns that more regulatory changes are coming after the Paris Olympics to help reduce the short-term rental stock in favour of long-term lets, amid a housing crisis in France.
Overestimating income
There’s now fierce competition from platforms such as Airbnb. Last year there were 1.2m short-term lets available in France, according to AirDNA, the analyst. That number is growing, with 21pc more listings in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year.
In the Dordogne there’s a lot of competition, but some owners who are raising their game are thriving. It’s less seasonal than areas such as the Charente or Brittany, says Andrew Nicholson of agent Beaux Villages – who is also a gîte owner.
Tony and Natasha Crawley moved to France from Essex a month ago and are aiming to offer high-end gîtes, sleeping 10 for €8,000 a week in Castelnaud-laChapelle. “We’re taking lots of advice,” says Tony, 58, an electrician. “The tax regime changes are a minefield.”
Gîte owners often overestimate how much income they can make – and underestimate how much work it takes. Zoe Lowther Moll, has been running two gîtes in the Charente for four years with her Dutch husband Robert. “It was a romantic dream, but the flipside was being a cleaner, laundry maid and loads of admin syncing booking platforms,” says Zoe, 49, from Marlow, Bucks, who runs a business consultancy and is a yoga teacher.
“Last year we had 84 nights booked in one gîte, 80 in the other; this year [so far] it’s 89 and 44. Around 60pc to 70pc of what we make is eaten up in costs.”
Don’t expect hefty capital appreciation on rural properties: prices have fallen by 1.1pc in both the Dordogne and the Charente over the past year, according to Meilleurs Agents.
‘We’re selling at a loss’
Valerie and Ian Wright, from Shropshire, are also selling up – after buying a near- derelict property with gîtes in the Charente 12 years ago which they renovated. According to Valerie, 59, it always was a “10-year plan” to supplement their pensions by around £ 30,000 a year. She says: “For Ian [now 66] it was a retirement dream while I commuted back to the UK with my job in global facility management.
The cost of building materials sky-rocketed post- Covid and they are selling the property “at a loss” – it’s for sale at €520,000 (Leggett). “We’ve had property viewings, but I think Brexit has made it harder to sell to Britons.”
‘Property paid for itself ’
Former Somerset farmers Metford and Angela Briggs have been running gîtes for 26 years – and not put their rates up during that time. Finally, they have had enough. They are selling their property with four gîtes in the Dordogne’s Saint-Saud-Lacoussière.
Now they have to get a new longstay visa each year, but you’re not supposed to work on it so they put their property up for sale last year ( for € 499,500, through Leggett). “We enjoyed it and the property paid for itself, but if we spent the money in the UK it would have been a much better investment,” says Metford, 72.
‘You need six gîtes to make a living’
Running a gîte for 22 years has been a “wonderful job”, but Chris and Alison Burns are ready to hand over their 17-bedroom property in the Occitanie to a new family full of ideas.
The couple, from Woodbridge in Suffolk, moved over with their four children – now aged 29 to 34 – with a renovation dream.
“We ploughed the money we earned back into the property and we were never short of funds,” says Alison, 60, who supplemented their income working as a teacher and astrologer. “The key was creating a unique selling point or having regulars – we hosted ecology students from nearby field centres, did yoga retreats. You need at least six gîtes to make a living, but we are getting out as we want another project, not because it’s all gone wrong.” Chateau du Fraissinet is for sale at €1.495m (via Leggett).
ALISON AND CHRIS BURNS The couple have been running a gîte for 22 years ‘The key was creating a unique selling point or having regulars’ ‘We’re taking lots of advice. The tax regime changes are a minefield’