If a property will need extensive restoration or renovation, you should check that there’s access to the site for the necessary machinery and materials. Ask yourself whether vehicles can pass safely under overhead cables and whether they will be able to turn round or reverse out, for example. It also means checking that there’s room for the storage of demolished and new materials.
The condition of a garden should be taken into consideration. A badly overgrown garden can take years to restore to an acceptable state, let alone turn into an orderly and attractive garden, especially if most of your time is taken up with renovating the house. Bear in mind that grass, plants, trees and weeds grow quickly in most parts of France.
Planning Permission
If modernisation of an old building involves making external alterations, such as building an extension of more than 20m2 or installing larger windows or new doorways, you will need planning permission (permis de construire) from your local town hall. If you plan to do major restoration or building work, you should ensure that a conditional clause (clause suspensive) is included in the preliminary contract stating that the purchase is dependent on obtaining planning and building permission (copies of the applications must be sent to the notaire handling the sale). It usually takes a number of months to obtain planning permission and, once it’s issued and published, the public usually have two months in which to lodge an appeal if they have an objection.
If the built area is less than 170m2 (1,829ft2), you can make the planning application yourself, but if it exceeds this an architect must make it. Never start any building work before you have official permission.
It’s also wise to obtain permission from your local town hall before demolishing buildings on your land, irrespective of how dilapidated they are. Note also that you may be able to sell the building materials or get a builder to demolish them free of charge in exchange for the materials.
Once work is completed, a certificat de conformité is required to confirm that it has been carried out according to the planning application and building regulations. Further details of the intricacies of French planning permission can be found in Renovating & Maintaining Your French Home.
DIY or Builders?
One of the first decisions you need to make regarding restoration or modernisation is whether to do all or most of the work yourself or have it done by professional builders or specialist tradesmen. A working knowledge of French is essential for DIY, especially the words associated with building materials and measurements (renovating a house in France will also greatly improve your ability to swear in French!).
Tip: You must have third party insurance for anyone working on your property and you’re advised to pay casual workers using the chèque emploi service system (ask at your French bank for details).
When restoring a period property, it’s important to have an informed and sensitive approach. You shouldn’t tackle jobs yourself or with friends unless you’re sure that you’re capable. In general you should aim to retain as many of a property’s original features as possible and use local building materials in keeping with the style of the property. When renovations and ‘improvements’ have been botched, there’s often little that can be done except to start again from scratch.
Even if you do much of the work yourself, you will still need to hire specialists for certain jobs.
There’s a wide choice of DIY equipment and building supplies in France, although they can be more expensive than in some other countries, e.g. French paint and varnish are expensive and not always good, although imported paint is also available. There are many DIY (bricolage) shops and supermarkets in France, which in addition to stocking most DIY materials also have a wide range of tools and machinery for hire. Most DIY stores accept credit cards and have plenty of knowledgeable staff. Look out for promotions; even if something appears not to be on offer, it’s worthwhile asking, as offers aren’t always advertised.
Trade Suppliers
DIY stores are relatively expensive for some items, so it’s also worth checking trade suppliers. Most towns have a hardware store (quincaillerie) that’s handy for tools and small items. Second-hand stores such as the ubiquitous trocs are good for plumbing parts and porcelain, doors and mantelpieces. There are also specialists in reclaimed materials, such as old floor tiles, doors and windows. Ask your neighbours about where to buy fittings and materials, as they usually know the best places locally. Lists of suppliers of reclaimed materials and details of DIY supermarkets in France can be found in Renovating & Maintaining Your French Home.
When it’s a choice between French and foreign builders, most experts recommend using local labour for a number of excellent reasons. French tradesmen (artisans) understand the materials and the traditional style of building, are familiar with local planning and building regulations, and usually do excellent work. There are few jacks of all trades in France, where all tradesmen have a specialist trade, such as bricklayer, stonemason, joiner, roofer, plasterer, plumber or electrician. If you employ local builders, you can virtually guarantee that the result will be authentique and it could also save you money. French builders’ quotations are binding and their prices are usually reasonable. Finally, bringing in foreign labour won’t endear you to the local populace and may even create friction.
Nevertheless, finding a French builder who is available can be difficult, finding one who will give you a quote for anything other than a major restoration project even more so, and getting a job done within a set time next to impossible. Communication may also be a problem. There are many excellent foreign builders who have built up a good local reputation and can be relied upon to do a good job within a set period for a competitive price.
You should employ only registered tradesmen and never employ ‘black’ labour (French or foreign): apart from the fact that an unregistered worker won’t be insured, there are stiff penalties for avoiding tax, VAT and social security contributions.
Cost
All building work, including electrical work, masonry and plumbing, is costed by the metre or square metre. The cost of total restoration by professional builders varies, but you should expect to pay a minimum of €600 per m2 and as much as €1,000 per m2 to bring a ruin to a habitable condition (or around half this for outbuildings), although the exact cost depends on the type of work involved, the quality of materials used and the region.
You should expect the cost of renovating an old ‘habitable’ building to be at least equal to its purchase price and possibly much more.
How much you spend on restoring a property depends on your purpose and the depth of your pockets. If you’re restoring a property as a holiday or permanent home, money may be no object. On the other hand, if you’re restoring a property as an investment, it’s easy to spend more than you can ever hope to recoup when you sell it. Keep an eye on your budget (which will usually be at least 50 per cent below the actual cost!) and don’t be in too much of a hurry. Some people take many years to restore a holiday home, particularly when they’re doing most of the work themselves. However, it isn’t unusual for buyers to embark on a grandiose renovation scheme and run out of money before it’s completed and be forced to sell at a huge loss.
Mortgage
It’s possible to obtain a mortgage that includes the cost of renovation work, but you must obtain detailed written quotations for a lender. It’s also possible to obtain a grant to restore a historic property in some regions (contact the Conseil Régional) or in return for providing low/medium rent apartments for a period of years. Note also that VAT on renovation work (i.e. work on a house more than five years old) is at 5.5 per cent instead of the standard rate of 19.6 per cent until at least the end of 2005.
If you’re renovating a property for a business, e.g. as gîtes, it may be advantageous to buy it through a French company, which will enable you to recover your VAT. Note that, if you buy an old house and completely renovate it, e.g. retaining only the roof and external walls, thus transforming it into a ‘new’ house, you may be liable for VAT. Therefore you should, if possible, retain a small part of the existing internal structure.
Quotations
Before you buy a property that needs renovation or restoration, it’s vital to obtain accurate estimates of the cost of the work involved from reliable local builders. Builders’ quotations may be binding, but extras added or alterations made to the plan after work starts will escalate costs wildly. You should obtain written quotations (devis) from at least two builders before employing anyone, although obtaining quotes from French builders and tradesmen is sometimes almost impossible. It helps if you offer to pay a fee, e.g. €75, which should be reimbursed by the builder who gets the job.
Note that for quotations to be accurate, you must detail exactly the work that’s required, e.g. for electrical work this would include the number of lights, points and switches, their exact location and the quality of materials to be used. If you have only a vague idea of what you want, you will receive a vague and unreliable quotation. Make sure that a quotation includes everything you want done and that you fully understand it (if you don’t get it translated). Look out for any terms in a quotation allowing for the price to be increased for inflation or a general rise in prices, and check whether it’s definitive or provisional, i.e. dependent on further exploratory work.
When you accept a quotation, you should sign a copy of the devis with the builder, which then becomes a fixed price contract if work is started within three months. You should fix a date for completion (fin de travaux) and, if you can get a builder to agree to it, include a penalty for failing to meet it. It’s difficult to get French builders to agree to this, but it’s worth persevering; otherwise, he may take on other jobs and string the work out for ever. After signing a contract, it’s usual to pay a deposit, e.g. 10 to 25 per cent, depending on the size of the job.
Supervision
If you aren’t on the spot and able to supervise work, you should hire a ‘clerk of works’ such as a master builder (maître d’oeuvres) or an architect to oversee a job; otherwise it could drag on for months (or years) or be left half-finished. This will add around 10 per cent to the bill but is usually worth every penny. Many unsupervised French workmen are about as disciplined as French drivers and it isn’t uncommon for tradesmen to work a few hours or a few days and then disappear for weeks or months on end! Be extremely careful whom you employ if you have work done in your absence and ensure that your instructions are accurate in every detail. Make absolutely certain that you understand what has been agreed and if necessary get it in writing (with drawings). It pays to keep everything connected with a job, from the first letters, including old drawings and even bits of paper with scribbles on. It isn’t unusual for foreign owners to receive huge bills for work done in their absence that shouldn’t have been done at all!
Tip: If you don’t speak French, it’s even more important to employ someone to oversee building work. Progressing on sign language is a recipe for disaster!
Make sure that a job is completely finished (including repairing any damage done by workmen) before paying bills. Never pay a builder in advance, particularly a large sum, as it’s possible that he will disappear with your money (particularly if he’s a foreign, non-registered builder). It’s best to pay a month in arrears, which most builders will agree to.
On the other hand, if you want a job doing while you’re away, you will need to pay a builder a sum in advance or get someone local to supervise his work and pay him regularly, or he’s unlikely to finish the job. You may be able to pay in cash without VAT, although you should bear in mind that this is illegal and, if you don’t have a legitimate bill, you won’t be able to offset the cost of work against rental income or capital gains tax when you sell, and you also won’t have a guarantee against faulty workmanship.
Guarantees
All work done by registered French builders and foreign builders registered in France is covered by insurance, which guarantees work for one to ten years, even if a builder goes out of business before the guarantee period has expired. A ten-year guarantee (garantie décennale) is provided for building work such as brick and stone work. A two-year guarantee of ‘good functioning’ (garantie de bon fonctionnement) is provided for all systems (such as plumbing and electrical installations), and a one-year guarantee of ‘perfect completion’ (garantie de parfait achèvement) is given against minor defects that may appear after completion of building work, such as cracking due to shrinkage after concrete or plaster dries out.
Information
No one attempting DIY in France should be without the Oxford-Duden Pictorial French-English Dictionary or the Harraps French Visual Dictionary. A good French/English architecture and building dictionary is the Dictionnaire d’Architecture et de Construction by J. R. Forbes (Lavoisier). There are also a number of books on the market for those brave enough to attempt their own renovations, such as Renovating & Maintaining Your French Home. If your French is up to it, there are many excellent French DIY and home improvement magazines Listed in Renovating & Maintaining Your French Home.
This article is an extract from Buying a home in France. Click here to get a copy now.