A guide to buying a holiday home in France

My experience of purchasing a holiday home in France

Our search for a French holiday home took almost two years and spanned much of southern France. We finally found what we were looking for in the Lot, a lesser-known department north of Toulouse. We fell in love with a small, easy-to-maintain rural cottage with a swimming pool, a manageable plot of land and the most peaceful views across a patchwork of green farmland.

Where we bought isn’t the Mediterranean coast, nor is it the Dordogne (in fact, the Lot is nestled between the two), and because of that our budget went much further. We paid around half what we would have paid for the same property in more popular areas such as the Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône.

The roads that lead there are good, and Toulouse airport is an hour and a half away. There’s a year-round community and an active international crowd, which were important criteria for us. Our estate agent also pointed us towards local businesses who look after the property when we’re not there, and who can manage it if we choose to rent it out.

Rules for UK and other non-EU buyers

Can UK citizens buy property in France? The answer is yes. There are no restrictions on non-EU nationals owning property in France. What has changed for British buyers since Brexit is how long you can stay.

How long you can stay

As a non-EU passport holder, you can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area without a visa. Owning a home in France doesn’t change this, and the 90 days cover all Schengen countries combined, not just France. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) now records your entries and exits digitally, so overstays are easier to detect. Your fingerprints and photo are taken the first time you cross.

If you want to spend longer at your holiday home, you can apply for a long-stay visitor visa (visa de long séjour visiteur), which covers stays of between three months and a year. You’ll need to show proof of sufficient income, health insurance and accommodation, and you can’t work in France on this visa. Many second-home owners apply for a new one each year.

If you want to live in France

If you plan to make France your main home, you’ll need a residence permit. British citizens who were already living in France before 1 January 2021 are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and hold a specific residence card. Anyone moving since then applies under the same rules as other non-EU nationals.

Rules can change, so bookmark the French and UK government pages to keep up to date.

Best types of property for a holiday home

France offers huge diversity in landscapes, culture and experiences, and this is reflected in the types of property you can buy. Perhaps you’re dreaming of an alpine chalet for cosy winters and fresh summers, or a lock-up-and-leave apartment close to the beach or in a city centre, as a base for exploring. Or maybe you’re in the market for a run-down château that you can turn into your very own Escape to the Château.

For many, though, the classic holiday home is a detached house with land and a swimming pool for the summer months, with enough bedrooms for you and any guests who come to stay. Winters are spent around an open fire, and summers are full of laughter from the pool. You’ll find this type of home all across the country. If you want everything on one level, look for the term plain-pied (single-storey) on property listings.

Before you buy, check the property’s energy performance certificate (DPE), which the seller must provide. Poorly rated homes can be a bargain, but they can cost more to heat and may need work if you ever want to rent them out.

Lock up and leave options

Security is something to keep in mind when you buy a holiday home in France, especially if it will sit empty as much as it’s in use. Apartments are often a good choice for this reason, but remember that there are usually service charges paid to the syndic, or building manager.

For detached properties that you plan to leave for long periods, check for metal shutters, secure locks on all doors and a gate. If there’s a swimming pool, it must by law have an approved safety device, such as a fence, a cover, an alarm or an enclosure. You may prefer to buy in a small hameau, or hamlet, where your neighbours live there all year round and can keep an eye on things.

Best places to buy a holiday home in France

When it comes to the best places to buy a holiday home in France, there’s no right or wrong answer. Your budget, the attractions and services you want nearby, and friends or family already in the area can all shape your decision.

There are some universal questions to ask, though, especially if you see your holiday home as an investment. Will the property hold its value? Will there be demand for it as a rental? How close is it to airports, train stations and other transport links?

Most property experts will tell you not to buy in France expecting big price rises. It’s a lifestyle choice rather than an investment. Across much of the country, prices have been broadly stable in recent years, while international hotspots such as the Côte d’Azur, the Alpine ski resorts and central Paris follow their own course, driven largely by foreign demand. Check out Kyero’s guide to the Côte d’Azur and the best destinations to buy a holiday home in the south of France.

Among Kyero users, the Alpes-Maritimes has long been the most popular area for holiday home buyers, followed by the neighbouring Var and the Dordogne in the southwest. Nice and Cannes on the French Riviera are the most searched-for cities.

Other sought-after areas include the Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude and Hérault in the south. All three are Mediterranean departments with good transport links, but prices are still well below those on the French Riviera. In Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Charente and Charente-Maritime, on the Atlantic coast, also attract plenty of international buyers. Check out Kyero’s best destinations to buy a property in France.

Financial considerations - fees, taxes, insurance and mortgages

Buying costs

You’ve agreed a price on a property. Great! On top of the price, you’ll pay the notaire’s fees to complete the sale. On an older property, these usually come to 7% to 8% of the purchase price, and most of this is transfer tax. Since April 2025, most departments have raised their transfer tax rate, adding around 0.5% to the total. On a new-build property, the fees are much lower, at around 2% to 3%.

Running costs and taxes

Then there are the ongoing costs of owning a property, from electricity, water and internet to insurance and local taxes. As a second-home owner, you’ll pay two annual local taxes:

• Taxe foncière: the property tax paid by all owners.
• Taxe d’habitation: this has been abolished for main homes, but it still applies to second homes. In areas with housing shortages, the local council can add a surcharge of up to 60%, and around 2,400 communes now do so, many of them in popular coastal and mountain areas. It’s worth checking the local rate before you buy.

If you let the property long-term to a tenant who lives there as their main home, no taxe d’habitation is due. All owners must also keep their details up to date on the French tax authority’s online property service (Gérer mes biens immobiliers), including whether the property is a second home or rented out. Remember to declare a swimming pool too, as it increases your taxe foncière, and the tax authorities now use aerial images to spot undeclared pools.

Insurance

Home insurance is compulsory if your property is in a shared building (copropriété), where you must have at least liability cover, and your mortgage lender will insist on it too. Even when it isn’t required, it’s strongly recommended for a home that stands empty for part of the year. The two main types are assurance responsabilité civile (liability insurance), which is the bare minimum, and assurance multirisque habitation, which offers comprehensive cover.

Mortgages

If you’re borrowing to buy, French lenders will also require borrower insurance (assurance emprunteur), which covers the loan if you die or can’t work. In 2026, average rates on a 20-year mortgage are around 3% to 4%, and non-resident buyers usually pay a little more. Expect to need a deposit of 20% to 30%, and your total debt repayments generally can’t exceed 35% of your income. Not all French banks lend to non-residents, so it’s worth speaking to a specialist mortgage broker.

Selling and inheritance

When you sell a second home in France, you’ll pay capital gains tax and social charges on any profit, though these reduce the longer you own the property and disappear entirely after 30 years. If you live outside the EU, including in the UK, and sell for more than €150,000, you may need to appoint a fiscal representative to handle the tax. Your notaire will tell you whether this applies.

It’s also worth speaking to a financial adviser about estate planning, as French inheritance rules differ from those in the UK. The UK government has a handy list of English-speaking lawyers in France.

Renting out your holiday home

Sites such as Airbnb have made it much easier to earn an income from your holiday home when you’re not using it. In most regions, you’ll find English-speaking property managers who can look after bookings, changeovers and maintenance while you’re away.

Other popular sites to list your property on include Vrbo and Abritel, which is very popular with French holidaymakers. There are also boutique sites such as Sawdays, where your property has to be approved before it’s listed. Another option is a home-swap site such as homelink.org, which I can personally recommend. Non-simultaneous swaps are a great way to make the most of a property you’re not always using.

The rules on holiday lets

France has tightened the rules on short-term holiday lets (meublés de tourisme) in recent years, so check what applies before you buy if rental income matters to you:

• Registration: since 20 May 2026, every holiday let in France must be registered on the national online service and display its registration number on every listing.
• Local rules: councils can now limit or cap holiday lets, and in some popular areas, including parts of Paris and the Côte d’Azur, it can be hard to get permission to let a second home to holidaymakers.
• Energy ratings: properties must meet minimum energy performance (DPE) standards to be let, and those rated G can lose their registration.
• Tax: the tax-free allowance on holiday-let income has been cut to 30% for unclassified properties, or 50% for properties with an official tourist classification.

You’ll usually also need to collect the local tourist tax (taxe de séjour) from guests, although booking platforms often do this for you. Fines for breaking the rules can be high, so it’s worth getting local advice.

Summary

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from buying property in France, it’s that you have to be patient. For both our main home and our holiday home, it took more than six months from viewing the property to officially taking ownership, although both purchases were with a mortgage. If you’re a cash buyer, you can expect the process to be somewhat faster. When you’ve found the right French holiday home, though, the wait is worth it.

Ready to buy your holiday home in France? Find your perfect French property with Kyero.