lespetitesgarennes

Our Grand Design in Montemboeuf, Charente, France

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Our request for planning permission – notre demande de permis de construire

Over the last couple of months Tom has been working hard to get the planning documents together to send to the Mairie in Montemboeuf.  Having never put in a planning application in to UK planners before I am not sure how much more onerous this process was – other than the fact it all had to be in French!

Our Planning Application is finally in!

Our Planning Application is finally in!

Along with the application form itself, we had to send 4 copies of the following to the Mairie;

  • Location Plan between 1/5000 and 1/25000;
  • Site Layout Plan (with infrastructure) between 1/50 and 1/5000;
  • Elevations;
  • Written description of the project;
  • Landscape Plan (showing in cross section relation of building local landscape);
  • Photographs of site in proximity and from a distance;
  • Coloured drawing that shows building in relation to surrounding environment
Plan en coupe du terrain et de la construction

Plan en coupe du terrain
et de la construction

In January 2013, the French introduced new energy efficiency regulations called Réglementation Thermique 2012 (RT2012) so we had to submit a declaration (attestation) that our proposed works comply with RT2012.  Thankfully, we know a French Architect who has already set up her own practice near Dijon, so she was able to give us a contact for an engineer!  He was very helpful and gave us a lot of ideas of how we could make our house as thermally efficient as possible.

Once the application is submitted they have 2 months to let us know if we have been successful or not.  If we do not hear with in this time we can take it that we have received tacit authorisation! However, only today did we hear back from the local Mairie informing us that they had received our application on 16th December 2013 – so the countdown to 16th February 2014 starts….

However, they have asked us to show them how we plan to connect to the drainage system and ask that we contact the local ‘technical services’ to discuss the connection work. So once we have confirmed this our 2 month countdown starts.   At least this wasn’t a ‘No’!  So keep your fingers crossed for us.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us get this far. Naik in Tom’s office for help with the French translation and application form.  Also to our good friend Marine at Atelier Zero Carbone Architectes who helped with the process of the French Planning system.  She also put us in contact with Athermia who did our Bbio RT2012 thermal calculations.


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One step closer – un pas de plus

Our most recent trip to the Charente started in Montemboeuf so that we could visit our plot.  This was the first time that we were able to stand there and say, ‘this is ours’!  It was quite a good feeling and very exciting to know that we had got this far.  We were there to take a survey of the land and measure the changes in levels, as well as plot where all the trees were and make a note of what species there were.  It was great to see the land looking in great condition,  maybe that has something to do with the sheep – and as we found out later from the man himself, a local farmer, who has been keeping and eye on things, cutting back the verges and stacking wood for us!  Very kind of him, especially when all we are doing is letting his 4 sheep graze the land!  It seems like a win win situation!

We have a lot of fruit trees on the land

We have a lot of fruit trees on the land

The trees were laden with fruit while we there it was a shame we couldn’t take it with us.  In the hope that not all of it goes to waste we told the owners of our friendly B&B to help themselves.  We worked out that we have apples, quince and hazelnut trees – wonderful!

After our flying visit to Montemboeuf, it was off to Confolens to meet the regional architect and the local planner to discuss our designs.  One of our biggest fears was that they would ask us to site the building nearer the road which would mean cutting down some of those amazing trees.  Our fears were completely allayed when the architect asked us if we planned to keep the trees.  When we told him that we did and that the plan was to site the building further down the hill, he was very pleased!

The meeting could not have gone better, they liked all of our plans and designs and the only comment the architect made was that we should use natural wood if we decide to clad in timber.  The architect is going to write us a letter of recommendation to go with our planning application!  Fantastic news.  Although, next step will be to write that application and send it to the Mairie in Montemboeuf.  Luckily the planner has offered to help us if we need it.  The architect also recommended that we make contact with a group called Futurobois.  They are a professional association of timber companies in the Poitou-Charentes region.  They include firms that deal in everything wood from logging, to architects, to mills, coopers, carpenters, etc – a very important group of people to know if we do decide on a timber construction.

Plans and elevations

Plans and elevations

Our next stop was to meet some builders.  Tom had set up a meeting with a local company called Bati Paille-Constructions.  These guys are specialised carpenters who build low ecological housing and build with passivehaus consumption principles – and they are 30 minutes drive away!  We were both really impressed by their design and knowledge and clearly a lot of other people are as well because they are busy until September 2014!  We are also impressed by their time scales – the house would be pre-fabricated in their factory which takes about 6 weeks.  It then takes them about 2 weeks to put the building up and make it watertight!

 Tom plans to send our designs to them so that we can get a quote…..so quite a lot to be getting on with before our next trip!


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New designs to take to the French planners

Apologies that things have been a little quiet on here of late, but this is because Tom and I (well mainly Tom) have been working hard on our new designs.  We are off to France soon for the Medoc Marathon and we have managed to book a meeting with the planners in Confolens on 5th September to show them our ideas before we submit our formal planning application.  The idea behind this is that they will make their comments there and then and if there are changes then we can make them before we submit in the hope they will grant planning permission with no delays or changes….nous souhaitons!

Garden perspective

Garden perspective

The new design is similar to the old with the idea of a living space at one end and sleeping at the other, but it now has more of a barn style feel.  It also takes away the flat roof in the living end of the house and now incorporates a double height space – something Tom has always been keen on.  We have also included a covered outdoor area which has easy access from the living end of the house.  Tom has also found a building company close by that specialises in ‘green architecture’ and can also make pre-fabricated straw bale walls!  This is something that we are both interested in so I think we will be paying a visit to their factory as well.

We have also asked my brother-in-law, Al, a talented young Landscape Architect to draw up some plans for our garden.  He has come back with some initial ideas which we are very excited by.  These designs will appear here and on our design pages soon.


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It’s ours! C’est le notre!

Ready to design our own Grand Design!

Ready to design our own French Grand Design!

Hooray – the land in Montemboeuf is ours!

To get through this final stage we had to sign a proxy form with ‘lu et approuvé bon pour pouvoir’  which directly translates as ‘read and approved for good order”  but basically means  “valid as a power of attorney” (to be American about it).  This meant that we gave permission for someone else to sign the Acte Finale (usually the Notaire’s clerk) for us because we would not be there.  I don’t think that this really mattered because we were there for the signing of the Compris de Vente and this was very important to us.

I think we have mentioned this before, but do shop around when looking for a money transfer agency.  We were going to use the same company for our final payment as we we used for our deposit, but asked another and got a better deal.  With the sums we were talking it wasn’t a massive difference, but enough to have made it worth while.

I don’t think I can stress enough how much our Estate Agent helped us though the whole process.  If you do decide to buy property or land one of the most important things is to get a decent Estate Agent and one that is bilingual, especially if your French isn’t great.  Ours was and she helped us through the buying process every step of the way and was always responsive to our emails.

So we now have our CU (in writing) and the deeds… I can’t believe that we own a little corner of France!

Let the designs and planning application begin!


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Almost there….y est presque

So the French Bank Account is open and we even have a French Mastercard which I think will come in very handy, even when we are not visiting monsieur bricolage or Reseau Pro!  Our certificat d’urbanisme has been approved and we have fixed our pounds sterling – euro exchange rate and we are ready to transfer the money to the Notaire.  All we need to do now is sign the  Acte Finale and the land is ours!  As we will not be there to sign the Acte, the Notaire’s clerk will sign it on our behalf.  It really is within touching distance…

View from northern side looking south

View from northern side looking south

 

We have also managed to fix a date to meet the planners in Confolens, (where our local préfecture) is based again to go through our final designs with them before we submit. Tom has revised our original drawings in to something that I think will work much better, but still makes the most of the views and the space that we have.  I am sure that they will change again as we get closer to submitting our plans, but in the meantime, I think what we have is fantastic.  Visit our design page where we will post the updates.


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A note on finance and opening a French bank account

Buying euros at the right time can make a big difference

Buying euros at the right time can make a big difference

When we first started the buying process we went in with our eyes open.  We had been to a lecture about the pitfalls of buying a house/plot in France so knew some of the things to look out for and we also read this guide.  The guy giving the lecture gave some very sound advice, such as making sure you buy your Euros at the right time so that you don’t up paying more for your property than you had budgeted for.  It is amazing what a few points in the pound/euro can do to the cost.  It is therefore worth shopping around or more preferably, as we did, use a specialist currency broker.  If your experience is anything like ours, they will call you a lot.  However, so far, although they will benefit from our business and the good exchange rates as well, I think they are being helpful by telling us when there is a ‘spike in the market’.  I will not advertise any one broker on this blog, but there is plenty of advice here.  This site is advertised by one of them, but not the one we used.

So although we had thought a lot about what we needed to do and taken lots of advice, one of the things I hadn’t thought about was opening a French bank account. For some, this may seem obvious and to me it would have done if we were living in France.   What I hadn’t factored in was that when we start paying the taxe fonciere it would have to come from a French bank account!  Our Notaire also needed a copy of our RIB number or ‘Releve d’Identite Bancaire’ to complete the sale.

Opening a French bank account is not nearly as difficult as you might think.  They do need a lot of information from you (as do our banks) and some of this has to be certified (copy of driving licence and copy of passport) so if you can do it in person while in France it is a lot easier.  However, we did most of it via the internet and post.  Whichever bank you chose, you will most likely need the following;

Certified copies of your passports or identity card (by a lawyer, a police officer or by your bank Manager)
Certified copies of your driving licenses, (lawyer, (by a lawyer, a police officer or by your bank Manager)
Copy of your recent utility bill,(less than 3 months old), water or electricity or gas
Copy of our last 3 payslips
Copy of your last 3 bank statements
Copy of your last P60’s
An original blank cheque with a line drawn through it
An original reference letter from your bank manager

We were able to fit in a visit to the bank when we were last in France which helped with some of the last few bits, such as confirming how many debit cards we needed, did we want a cheque book, did we want internet banking etc?  It was all very straight forward – all we need to do now is transfer €100 and we will receive our French bank card!

It may not be that surprising for you to hear that all the issues we had with providing the information and getting our account opened came from our UK banks!  French bureaucracy….what French bureaucracy?


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Planners and runners

Our designs are moving on a bit and we will be adding them to the Design page soon.  In the meantime Tom has contacted the planners to arrange another meeting.  So far the fabled ‘French bureaucratic system’ has not caused us any problems.  It has all be quick and efficient.  Maybe it is just that, a fable, then again we have all seen Grand Designs…..On which note we watched a bit of a classic Grand Designs abroad the other night all about a couple who were planning to build a timber framed house in The Lot.  Our design we will very different from this, but it is still interesting to see. Anyway, we will be updating these pages shortly with more news on the planners and our designs.

A marathon through the Bordeaux vineyards?

A marathon through the Bordeaux vineyards?

On another note, we have booked our next trip to France for September. We will be combining this with the marathon du Medoc.  A crazy marathon through the vineyards of Bordeaux, where a bit of dégustation on the way round! And you ask why people love France….!


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The current tenants of our land

So we have the land, but we don’t quite know when we will start building. Thankfully, the farmer has very kindly agreed to keep his sheep on the land until we are ready. We do not know when this will be at the moment, so we are very grateful to him. I would like to be able to say that we own the sheep, but sadly we don’t, one day maybe…..


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March/April 2013 – The signing of the Compris de Vente

Arrival

Our flights, car and accommodation were booked for a week’s holiday to south west France. However, this wasn’t going to be your usual holiday as it involved a trip to see the Mairie, Bank Manager, Notaire and local planners! Before we got there, we stayed and ate in what has become my favourite restaurant. It is near Thenac in Dogdogne and is an experience that should be had by everyone, at least once.   This was our second time here and this time we stayed the night in their chambre d’hotes and could therefore take more time over our meal.  Just don’t be put off by the simple website.

Dordogne Feast

Dordogne Feast

We then headed to our B&B in Montemboeuf.  The Lavender House  is amazing, you don’t have to take my word for it, have a look at their reviews on TripAdvisor.  Anyway, we took this time to visit our plot and take some more photos.  Driving there again after a about 6 weeks was quite nerve wracking.  Fortunately, as soon as I saw the plot again, this time in the sunshine, I knew that we had made the right decision!

The next day was spent visiting some of the local attractions.  There is quite a lot to do in the area, but a visit to Angoulême or La Rochefoucauld is definitely worth it.  We are both also training for the marathon du medoc so needed to go for a little run and what better place than the local leisure lakes!

That night, I think we both went to bed feeling knackered a little nervous – the next day was the day of the signing!

The big day

Armed with some outline sketches we visited the Mairie the next morning.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t in but it was still a good idea that we visited and made ourselves known.  The people in the office were very friendly and gave us the name of the local Direction Départementale de l’Equipement (DDE) who would be making the decision on our planning application or permis de construire. We contacted her and arranged a meeting for later that afternoon.

Next stop was a visit to our Bank Manager at Crédit Agricole to finalise the opening of our bank account.  They do require a lot of information from you, but it is fairly straight forward and not as bureaucratic as you might think.  Their head office is in a rather nondescript building on the outskirts of Angoulême, but they were very friendly and the meeting was conducted in English – the only thing that day that was.

Then on to Montbron to meet the Notaire to sign the compromis de vente!  This is basically the ‘contract of sale’ and legally binds together the seller and purchaser.  I will not go in to the finer details of this, but there is a lot of good information here.  We also had to pay a deposit of 10% of the purchase price, the rest will be paid when we complete.  It is important to know though, that when buying land there isn’t a seven day cooling off period like there is with houses.  The Notaire was very friendly (as was the land owner), but spoke in very quick (legal) French. Luckily Tom and our Estate Agent, Sandra understood it all and could explain the bits (all of it) where I got stuck!  I just tried to pick out the odd word that I knew and at least then I knew which part of the compromis de vente they were talking about, for example système d’égout or bourn.  We all (seller, Tom and I) had to then sign every page of the document and that was that!

With the contract

With the contract

As Tom has mentioned in the design page we did put in a ‘condition suspensive’ or conditional clause stating that we did not have to complete the purchase if we did not get our new certificat d’urbanisme (CU) which stated that we had permission to build up to 170sqm.  However, at this point the seller cannot pull out and neither can we unless the new CU doesn’t come through (and the planners said it was just a question of rubber stamping).  I think we can safely say the land is ours!

Next stop the planners!  Tom had prepared some early image/sketches of our initial ideas to show the planner. Tom was amazing and I think charmed her a little. He has gone in to more details of this on the design page. She was very receptive of our ideas and although she said she preferred traditional buildings, she did like to see original ones too!

Next stop – design time…..


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The Chosen Plot

After much deliberation and discussion we decided on the plot in Montemboeuf.  For ages we thought we would go with Tournon, it was an amazing plot with incredible views and from the neigbours we met, a very nice community. It was a tough choice, but the proximity to ‘beer and baguette’ and good transport links finally won through.

Our Plot!

Our Plot!

The site was also very big, 7000 sqm, so there was a lot of scope for doing something really special, while still allowing room to create our own jardin potager!  Our plot was in fact two plots facing each other, one with a north facing slope and one with a south.  We decided that by buying both, we would have control over what was on the opposite side.  Since both plots came with certificat d’urbanisme there was also a chance that we could build something there in the future.

We also liked the feel of Montemboeuf. There are plenty of facilities in the village – the ones you find in most French villages!  A couple of boulangeries, tabac, Spar, post office, Crédit Agricole and a primary school.  The plot itself is only a 3 minute walk from the village, but is still very quiet.

Montemboeuf is very well located to some fantastic outdoor recreation facilities, great for people who like the idea of cycling for 30 miles or so through beautiful countryside, only to come back to a glass of wine, fresh bread, cheese and olives on the terrace watching the sun go down…..

The Charente is the second sunniest part of France and gets 2000 hours of sunshine compared to 1200 in London!  Their winters are short and not too cold and it is often t-shirt weather in February. This along with 35 degrees plus in the Summer, you can see why we would want to have a home there!