Brexit: The British Exiting Britain for France…Permanently

When the British voted themselves out of the EU with the Brexit Referendum, and the value of the sterling plummeted, my first thoughts were that the British owners in France would sell their properties and repatriate the money at a higher value. That seemed logical to me from a financial perspective, but what I overlooked was the emotional aspect of the Brexit vote.

As it turns out I was more than wrong in that assumption: “Half of British house hunters in France wanting to leave the UK permanently” is told in an article on PRWeb. The article reported on a poll taken by Leggett Immobilier, a major player on the British French property scene. The poll shows that 50% of their clients purchasing property in France will be making a permanent move.

The headline in an article on the Notaires.fr website titled, “Property sales: Non-resident foreigners purchasing accommodation in mainland France,” the proportion of non-resident buyers in mainland France fell in 2015 while in Paris it has remained stable for 10 years with a slight increase in 2015. Britons, Italians and Belgians account for about 60% of the foreign buyers, with the British about one-third of those. They are particularly purchasing in the west and central France. In the northeast and southeast, they are rivaled by the Italians. Paris differs as it is more diversified — the Italians outnumber all others, followed by Americans, Britons, Algerians and Moroccans. Belgians purchasing in France is growing in greater proportion than Italians since 2012. Italians tend to sell to one another, according to the statistics, whereas other nationalities do not have the same tendency.

You may recall that the EU Court of Justice issued a formal communiqué to France in October 05 2015 that “social security contributions were no longer payable on capital gains made by non-residents registered in a social security system in the EU.” Those who erroneously paid the tax have up to two years to make the claim for a refund. But, France was able to get the law reversed in December of 2015 and continues to charge social security contributions despite a seller’s residence.

According to the July report, prices remain stable and with interest rates at their lowest, the market is ripe and favorable. First quarter sales have increased and the price of houses has gone up, while apartment prices fell slightly on the mainland. In Paris, property prices are up on older apartments. Projections based on pre-sale agreements, Paris prices will continue to rise to a predicted €8,180 per square meter, a variation of 2.2%.

At the end of April 2016, sales volume continued to grow by 19%, but stock has increased by 12.5%, meaning a shortage of properties on the market. That may lead to increased prices.

To learn more, you may read the entire article and download the most recent report issued in July 2016. 

A bientôt,

Adrian Leeds
The Adrian Leeds Group

Respond to Adrian: [email protected]

P.S. I will be in New York City in September and am welcoming personal consultations September 21 through 24th on the subjects of working, living and investing in France for the special price of $330 for up to two hours (normally 330€. That’s a $42 savings.) If you are interested, please email me at [email protected]