Changes to Notaires’ fees makes buying a French Property cheaper.

Recent reforms to Notaires’ fees will be coming into effect on 1st May 2016 and they will allow Notaires to be able to offer discounts to French Property Buyers, making your French property purchase even cheaper, yes that means you!

More Good News.

The reforms are part of the "Loi Macron" which has the aim of making French Property more commercially competitive and this is always welcome news for British buyers of French property especially as compared to the UK, French property is amazing value already.

Maximum Fees in place for the first time.

From 1st May 2016 the maximum fee a Notaire will be able to charge is 10% of the sale price with a minimum fee of 90 euros. This could result in substantial savings of up to 70% on low value property purchases.

As an Example - Buying a plot of land for €3,000 will now only incur a Notaire’s fee of 300 euros instead of the previous 900 euros.

For sales of 150,000 euros or more Notaires will be able to offer a discretionary discount of up to 10% of their fees. A key point however is that they are 'not required to tell the buyer' that this discretionary discount is available and so buyers should establish if this discount is to be applied at the outset and obtain written confirmation of any discount given.

However don't get too excited as these discounts only apply to the actual "Notaire’s fee" part of the Notaire's fee, let me explain...

The discretionary discount is available only on the part of the Notaire's fee that the Notaire earns, not to the taxes and charges which the Notaire collects for the government on completion. The term ‘Frais de Notaire’ (Notaire’s Fees) includes these taxes and charges and so the discount doesn’t apply to the whole amount.

So good news, we all like a discount and a saving after all and as a general point this change will only make the cost of buying a property in France cheaper than before so that is a welcome step.

Ask Cle France a Question.

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Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This week the Government provided every household in the UK with a leaflet that sets out why the Government believes that voting to remain in the EU is the best decision for the UK.

The leaflet was delivered to households in England from 11 – 13 April, ahead of their local election period and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland throughout the week commencing 9 May to avoid disruption ahead of their local elections.

If you did not get the leaflet then download your own copy here.

Keep up to date with the EU Referendum debate and all manner of news by visiting the Cle France 'News in General' Blog pages.

Or Visit GOV.UK for more information and to access the source information for the EU referendum leaflet.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Of all the people of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest.

"De tous les peuples de la Gaule, les Belges sont les plus braves"

– Jules César (Julius Cesar)

After les attentats hier matin (the attacks yesterday morning), all our hearts are with la Belgique (Belgium). La capitale (the capital) is known as le Coeur de l’Europe (the heart of Europe), with many of the most important parts of l’Union européenne (the European Union) finding their home in Bruxelles (Brussels).

La Belgique is also an important part of la francophonie and contributes many of the most famous chanteurs (singers) like Jacques Brel and Stromae.

However, not all of le pays (the country) speaks French, and that can lead to some confusion as to what language you should speak en Belgique.

The country is split between les Flamands et les Wallons (the Flemish and the Walloons). Les Flamands speak Dutch and live in the Northern half of the country while les Wallons speak French and live in the Southern half. There is also a small part of la Belgique that speaks German!

En fait (in fact), le pays is officially trilingual and le français, le néerlandais et l’allemand (French, Dutch, and German) are all official languages!

Pourquoi parle-t-on français en Belgique alors ?

Then why do they speak French in Belgium?

La Belgique entered written history in the year -57BC with the Roman conquest of Gaul by Jules César. Les Romains (the Romans) divided Gaul into different provinces, including Gallia Belgica, an area in Northeastern Gaul populated by the Belgae, which is where la Belgique gets its name.

Les Romains brought their language and culture, which had a huge impact on the history of le pays, and led to une partie de la Belgique (a part of Belgium) speaking French today.

Mais les Flamands ne parlent pas français ?

But the the Flemish do not speak French?

After the fall of l’empire romain (the Roman Empire) la Belgique passed between many different kingdoms and empires falling under the influence of both their French neighbours in the West and their Germanic neighbours in the East.

It wasn’t until 1830 that la Belgique gained independence after passing under French and Dutch control a few more times. All that had a lasting impact and gave la Belgique the trilingual status that it has today.

En plus de cela (on top of that), Bruxelles is a French speaking city, but is located in the Dutch speaking part of le pays!

While there are often many fun things to say about les Belges (Belgians), they are an important part of la francophonie, l’Europe et le monde (the francophonie, Europe, and the world). Les atentats have everyone looking at la Belgique, and it’s a good moment to learn more about ce pays formidable (this wonderful country).

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

EU referendum

Two expats are challenging a decision to bar British citizens who have lived elsewhere in Europe for more than 15 years from voting in the EU referendum.

Harry Shindler, a 94-year old World War Two veteran and Jacquelyn MacLennan say June's vote will directly affect them.

They argue that they have taken advantage of EU rules allowing freedom of movement and could lose these rights if Britain votes to leave the union.

The government said the franchise was agreed by both Houses of Parliament.

The campaigners say up to two million expats are being denied the right to take part in the referendum.

Their lawyers will file papers at the High Court on Wednesday requesting a judicial review which, if successful, could force the government to pass emergency legislation before the EU vote on 23 June to change the franchise.

Under current rules, British nationals who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are unable to vote in UK elections.

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the 15-year rule, but this has not yet been delivered.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said:

"The franchise for the EU referendum was debated, considered and agreed by both Houses of Parliament and is set out in legislation.

"Scrapping the 15-year rule for overseas electors is a manifesto pledge which the government remains committed to delivering.

"It is not connected to the referendum."

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

In this Blog you can find information about the upcoming EU referendum.

The referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is on Thursday 23 June 2016.

What is the referendum about?

A referendum asks you to vote on a question.

For this referendum the question is:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

Can I vote in the EU referendum?

You can vote in this referendum if you are registered to vote in the UK, are 18 or over on 23 June 2016 and are:

A British or Irish citizen living in the UK, or

A Commonwealth citizen living in the UK who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK

A British citizen living overseas who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years

An Irish citizen living overseas who was born in Northern Ireland and who has been registered to vote in Northern Ireland in the last 15 years

How do I register to vote?

If you want to have your say at the EU referendum, you must be registered to vote.

In England, Scotland or Wales, you can register to vote online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

If you are a British citizen living abroad, you can register to vote online in the same way.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.