It’s Monday morning, you wake up in the morning, pull the curtains open to reveal the dark, dank morning, then you switch on the TV only to hear yet more depressing news about the falling economy and increasing fuel and food costs. You step outside and head to work, having spent 10 minutes scraping the ice off your windscreen, you pull out of your street and head straight into traffic. You’re stuck in gridlock, you’re late for work and the boss has got it in for you straight away… Only five days of this until the weekend…
I don’t mean to sound like the front page of the Daily Mail but wouldn’t it be great to just up sticks and leave, if only for a few weeks a year? Most people can only dream of living abroad but it isn’t as difficult and expensive as you would think.
Just imagine it, opening the blinds to reveal the blue sky and green pasture of the fields, with the smell of freshly baked bread coming from the village patisserie… That sounds like a better way to start the day!
One of the most inexpensive and risk free investments that is increasing in interest from UK citizens is purchasing a French leaseback property. It has become increasingly popular and is a lot easier than you could imagine – there is a lot less red tape to get through for a start! A French leaseback property is essentially a freehold buy-to-let property, but with a difference – it offers the advantage of a full VAT rebate – 19.6 per cent – and a guaranteed tax-free rental income.
The property market in France is far more stable than in the UK at present, and as interest rates are so low people are looking for other ways of making a more profitable return on their investments. The stock market has never been so unpredictable and at the moment is there really any point to keep thousands of pounds in the building society when interest rates are at 1.5 per cent? And as for the property market in the UK, well it is still sliding and experts lead us to believe that the market is to continue sliding through to 2010.
Of course, as an EU citizen you are welcome to live and work in France. Our friends across the pond, are all-welcoming, which is a main reason behind the French leaseback scheme. It was devised in order to encourage sustainable tourism and encourage the development of local economies.
As a nation the UK seems to be infatuated with property programmes and those which follow families moving abroad. We are The Property Chain was a Channel 4 programme presented by Kirty Allsopp where she used her expertise to find the perfect French property for couples and families who fancied a bit of French living – less hours in the working week, more holidays, more public holidays, more sunshine, cheaper food and drink, particularly wine, and generally a more relaxing way of life.
And buying a French leaseback property offers this without taking much of a risk, because of the guaranteed tax-free rental income and the VAT cashback but also as lending in France is much more confident than in the UK at present. And you do not even have to live in France to own a French leaseback property. French banks have been more responsible in terms of lending, compared to the UK, which means that the property market in France is still strong.
So your dream could be a more attainable reality and a French leaseback property could be the easiest and most risk-free option for you to make that dream come true.
Shaun Parker is a finance expert with many years of experience in property investment. Find out more about French leaseback property at http://www.premierfrenchleaseback.com
[tags]French leaseback[/tags]
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