Mortgages in France for British
Published on 25 July 2007
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The thought of buying a home in France is one thing – but when it comes down to actually considering the practicalities of obtaining and raising a mortgage or loan to buy French property, for most people beads of sweat pop out on their forehead and they take a look at their finances and see whether they can just buy outright!
But in practical terms it seldom makes sense to pour all your hard earned cash into one fairly illiquid commodity and also, there is very little difference between mortgages in France for British people and mortgages back in the UK for the purposes of buying a home in England…so there’s nothing to fear from a French mortgage and in this article we take a look at how real estate finance in France works.
At their most basic levels mortgages in France and in Britain are similar – both use the property being bought as the security for releasing the funds required and there are set rules relating to the eligibility of a person and a property for a mortgage (these rules differ between lenders), and there are also fixed requirements for actually obtaining the mortgage such as the ability to prove a certain level of income, prove personal ID, prove the value of the real estate being bought and so on…these are the commonalities between British and French mortgages.
Most mortgages in France for British buyers are taken out locally with a French lender – although if your French isn’t up to much or you’d prefer to speak to an English speaking lender, buyers can now also approach Barclays Bank, the leading UK banking institution for their French mortgage. This is because Barclays also has a local presence in France specifically to be able to assist British buyers with their French mortgage requirements.
Click here to learn more; just complete the short form that you’re redirected to and Barclays will get you a wealth of information all about the options that are open and available to you. They will then either email or call you back and you can take it from there and seek advice from them about every aspect of your proposed purchase.
As you can imagine the French mortgage service from Barclays is incredibly popular among Brits buying in France because Barclays are in the unique position that they understand the British and French systems and can give advice about French mortgages and the buying process by relating it back to the British equivalents.
Additionally, Barclays’ branches in France all have English speaking advisers happy to assist Brits buying French property - making it far and away the easiest way to go about obtaining a mortgage in France!
And finally – just a quick word about the two main differences between British and French mortgages – they relate to interest rates and currency. British interest rates are influenced by the Bank of England whereas rates in France are linked to Euribor rates and have historically been lower than British equivalents. And because the currency in France is the euro, so mortgages are valued and paid out in euros – again, those who favour the Barclays Bank French mortgages get the advantage that they can effectively arrange a loan in euros with a British bank thus avoiding currency fluctuation issues whilst at the same time dealing with a tried and tested, well known institution where everything is explained in clear terms in English!
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