Press Release Summary: For many years now buying property in France has not just been popular for Britons, but also largely focused on second home ownership.
Press Release Body: For many years now buying property in France has not just been popular for Britons, but also largely focused on second home ownership. But times are changing. For one thing, those buying such a French property are no longer divided simply between those who fancy a nice pad in the French countryside and those who want to buy exclusively to let.
These distinctions are increasingly a thing of the past, Paul Collins, the overseas property editor of property magazine BuyAssociation has said. Now people tend to combine the two activities.
He said: \"Now we are getting something in between those two [the pure investor and the second-home dweller], where you have people that are buying a property, they want to spend a certain amount of time there themselves and the rest of the time they want it to work for them; they want to make some money from it as well.\"
Mr Collins explained that a major reason for this growing trend is a mistrust of the UK pensions system, meaning more and more people are keen to build up their nest egg by maximizing returns on their property. \"That\'s not to say that property prices can\'t go down as well as up, but it is seen as quite a safe investment,\" he explained.
But this is not the only thing which is changing about property investment in the country. Another common trend has been for British buyers to seek properties in the country or on the coast. But for those seeking to make good money on their investments, the cities are a better bet, independent property finders Tricolore Property Finders has said.
Emily Southcombe, managing director of the Paris-based firm, said: \"People before were looking for a second home, a rural getaway. But the market is turning more towards investment. With prices in the UK going up, people are looking to invest in residential [property] in France.\"
She added: \"When you think about buy-to-let, you want to be in a city, somewhere where the rental demand is constant - cities like Paris, Lyon, Marseilles - are getting a lot more interest than they did before.\"
Ms Southcombe adds that there are properties in French cities to be had for €100,000 (£69,000) or less, which with widespread leaseback and initiatives coming from the French government to encourage investment could make this an exciting time to invest in France.
Evidence of this also comes from the latest Global Property Guide, which reveals that Paris properties had an average rental yield of 8.25 per cent as of June this year, while there is also good news on the fly-to let front. Easyjet is to establish two new bases in France, one at Paris\'s Charles De Gaulle Airport and another at Lyon, with 13 new routes planned for the spring, homesworldwide.co.uk reports.
It could just be that this sudden increase in available new flights will arrive at a most opportune time, when the cities of France are seeing a boom in buy-to-let activity.
2025
