# Moving from Uk To France



## Don777

Hello Everyone we are family of 4 decided after 4 trips to France to move over few questions how easy is to start a property management/maintenance business without proper French we been running this kind of business in Londone for the past 15 years originally from EU Lithuania but after living in Uk for over 20 years I think it’s time to move to more relax life some will say it’s not but we believe it is


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## Crabtree

Well as you are an EU citizen there is no problem with you moving and setting up a business.The problem would be your level of French as all the paperwork tax returns etc will be in French and of course you will be restricting your customer base .The days of Brits moving over and doing up that old farmhouse have virtually disappeared. In addition you should note that French deductions/tax are higher than in the UK but you get so much more -pot hole free roads an excellent health system etc .I assume as a family there are kids How old?
I would say you can go for it but make a determined effort to learn French You will get so much more out of your move


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## Don777

Thanks for taking time to comment . Kids yes 11 and 15 years old. Our main concern it’s probably how the kids will adapt . Language is main issue but it can be learned I believe.


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## Crabtree

Whilst I cannot comment on the school system in France and how teenagers adapt to it (others have experience in this) I do think that you need to think about the qualifications and further/higher education for the kids and have a plan for this You should also bear in mind that if either of them want to go to a UK UNI they will be regarded as "overseas" students if you are in France then so will have to pay full fees


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## Peasant

Crabtree said:


> Whilst I cannot comment on the school system in France and how teenagers adapt to it (others have experience in this) I do think that you need to think about the qualifications and further/higher education for the kids and have a plan for this You should also bear in mind that if either of them want to go to a UK UNI they will be regarded as "overseas" students if you are in France then so will have to pay full fees


There are other European countries (Norway and Germany are two) that offer university educations, in English, for free or for very little money (compared to the UK and the US). Are your kids Lithuanian citizens yet? If not, you should think about starting the process.


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## Don777

Peasant said:


> There are other European countries (Norway and Germany are two) that offer university educations, in English, for free or for very little money (compared to the UK and the US). Are your kids Lithuanian citizens yet? If not, you should think about starting the process.


Kids have dual nationality .We choosing France only because we thinking it’s better quality of life and you don’t need to rush and spent half of your life in traffics for example today I drove to central London for my work spent nearly 2 hours in traffic and it’s only 20 miles and it’s schools holiday that’s one way .


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## Bevdeforges

Driving into and out of Paris is a similar nightmare (from where we live "in the Paris region" it can take 3 hours to drive in - finding a place to park just adds to the "fun"). But in any event, the first thing you may want to do is to research the legal and business requirements for all the various components of your proposed "property management" business here in France. There may be differences based on whether you're into managing residential or commercial properties, and to what extent you will need to develop business ties with local trades for repairs, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Customer expectations may be more or less than you anticipate and certainly with residential properties, there are some legal requirements involved in dealing with renters and residential properties.

Good sources for this include the CCI (Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie), though most of the available information is likely to be in French. https://www.cci.fr/ for the national website, with links to the regional and departemental ones, if you have a specific location in mind.


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## EuroTrash

I think that when you compare two countries to decide which would suit you best, you need be sure you are comparing like for like. You say


Don777 said:


> start a property management/maintenance business... we been running this kind of business in Londone for the past 15 years


so I guess you are envisioning running an equivalent business in France, ie property management company in a big city where there are a lot of properties and a lot of potential clients?
On your visits to France when you appreciated the quality of life and the slower pace, were you in cities or were you in more rural areas?
Would the business work equally well in a more rural location, be that in France or in the UK?
And as said, look into the different taxes / legal obligations etc and work out how much impact these would have.
Not trying to put you off France, but if your main objection to the UK is that London and the Home Counties commuter belt have too much traffic and life there is too stressful, you might be able to solve that problem by moving to a quieter and more pleasant part of the UK which would be less disruptive for your kids. However I realise that you may well have other issues with the UK that you haven't mentioned.


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## Don777

EuroTrash said:


> I think that when you compare two countries to decide which would suit you best, you need be sure you are comparing like for like. You say
> 
> so I guess you are envisioning running an equivalent business in France, ie property management company in a big city where there are a lot of properties and a lot of potential clients?
> On your visits to France when you appreciated the quality of life and the slower pace, were you in cities or were you in more rural areas?
> Would the business work equally well in a more rural location, be that in France or in the UK?
> And as said, look into the different taxes / legal obligations etc and work out how much impact these would have.
> Not trying to put you off France, but if your main objection to the UK is that London and the Home Counties commuter belt have too much traffic and life there is too stressful, you might be able to solve that problem by moving to a quieter and more pleasant part of the UK which would be less disruptive for your kids. However I realise that you may well have other issues with the UK that you haven't mentioned.


The Place to move will be in Dordogne in small town near Périgueux I’m 45 my wife 40 and as I mention life to busy becoming in UK we really thinking it’s better have little bit les income but more quality in life don’t get me wrong we bought running our separate business and making good income her in UK. And the kids I belt they adapt very quickly I believe.


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## BackinFrance

Don777 said:


> The Place to move will be in Dordogne in small town near Périgueux I’m 45 my wife 40 and as I mention life to busy becoming in UK we really thinking it’s better have little bit les income but more quality in life don’t get me wrong we bought running our separate business and making good income her in UK. And the kids I belt they adapt very quickly I believe.


I think it depends very much on what you mean by property management.


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## Don777

BackinFrance said:


> I think it depends very much on what you mean by property management.


It’s more like Property maintenance repairs works and some property management


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## BackinFrance

Don777 said:


> It’s more like Property maintenance repairs works and some property management


There are various things in France that you will not be legally allowed to repair.


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## Bevdeforges

OK, I would strongly suggest getting acquainted with the CCI website in Dordogne to see what you can find. One big surprise I had when DH (the French guy) decided to set up his own business many years ago here is that they really do expect you to declare the nature of your business using a classification number (currently called an APE I think, but the system has gone by a few different acronyms over time) that must cover all the sorts of work you are going to do. Depending on which number you select and register under, it determines which national contract your business falls under, which determines certain taxes you have to pay, etc. etc. We wound up having to change our APE number (which is another exercise in French bureaucracy) to escape a rather bizarre set of obligations for "continuing education taxes" (or something like that). 

Be sure to get some guidance from the folks at the CCI before you set anything in stone. They genuinely can be very helpful in these sorts of matters.


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