Property in France has always been popular with foreign purchasers, but largely due to increased communication links, areas such as the Languedoc on France’s Mediterranean south coast have become more popular than ever.
Only a few years ago, your choices for travel down to the Languedoc were rather limited. You could fly into a couple of main airports such as Montpellier, which was expensive, or you drove down through France, which was hard work.
With Ryanair seemingly opening a new route every other week, and many other airlines offering direct, low cost flights, travel down to the south of France has never been easier.
You can now fly to Carcassonne, Montpellier, Nimes, Perpignan, Avignon, Rodez, Marseille and Toulouse direct from Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Gatwick, Liverpool, Luton, Southampton and Stansted.
With flight times of around two hours, and flight prices as low as £20 or £30 return, this part of France really could become the new “Riviera”.
And it’s not just the airlines that are making this part of France more and more accessible. Train travel is now a real alternative. You can get from London to Montpellier in around seven and a half hours, departing at 08.30 hrs and arriving at a very respectable 17.00 hrs.
It’s these communication links that have helped to make Languedoc property a very appealing investment. Holiday rentals here are more popular than ever and although you have to put a bit more work in to get the bookings this method can very often more than pay for the mortgage.
There are also more and more new developments being offered for sale with guaranteed rental returns. A real case of buying something and then sitting back and watching it pay for itself.
In many cases, you can even choose to block out several weeks during the year for your own occupation. So get the benefit of using your holiday home as you had intended, plus the bonus of knowing exactly how much money you’re going to get on your investment for the rest of the year and in many cases, years to come.
It’s exactly this concept that has seen more and more interest in buying off plan in the Languedoc. Whether it is a ski apartment in the Pyrenees, a beach front apartment in Cap D’Agde or a city pad in Montpellier.
Of course new build isn’t the only way to invest in Languedoc property. Indeed many people prefer a character village house or villa with swimming pool. It’s really a question of personal taste versus pure investment.
With a new build you’re rental could be guaranteed, which makes for a safer investment, whereas with an older property you may get 12 weeks bookings per year, or, you may only get 2. But you of course may prefer to holiday in a typical French village house or villa with it’s own pool.
So what about buying inland versus buying on the coast?
Well, if you’re buying a new build with a guaranteed rental return this isn’t so important. The further inland you go the cheaper it will be, so you’re going to get more for your money.
However, if you’re going to be renting it out yourself rather than relying on a guaranteed rental return, then my advice is to buy something that is within 30-45 mins drive from the beach.
Towns such as Pezenas, with it’s collection of neighbouring villages are very popular for this very reason. You’ve got the character of a pretty French Mediterranean village with all of it’s cobbled streets, busy Saturday food market and cafes, with the ease of communication that will appeal to your customers.
You can drive to a beach in around half an hour. Drive to four airports (Carcassonne, Montpellier, Nimes and Perpignan) within just over an hour, and even drive to the ski slopes in the Pyrenees in around two and a half hours.
It’s important for most people, when choosing their purchase location or their holiday destination, to be within easy reach of a “Hub” town such as Pezenas. Most villages won’t have much in the way of commerce, so to be able to drive into the town in ten minutes or so is a big bonus.
So how do you go about finding your ideal property in the Languedoc? Well, you can either make direct contact with a local estate agent (if your French is good enough), or you can use a specialist company such as Languedoc Property Finders.
Companies such as ours will act as an intermediary between you and the local agents, arranging appointments for you to meet with the agents, accompanying you and being your translator, guide and devil’s advocate all in one. We are also on hand to give help and advice right up to the point of completion.
This article was written by Simon Kerridge, the Managing Director of Languedoc Property Finders, a specialist property search Agent with offices in the pretty market town of Pezenas. www.languedocpropertyfinders.com