Londoners who own holiday homes in France today hit out at a proposed swingeing tax grab on their properties by the French Socialist government.
An estimated 30,000 people in the capital are believed to own a “maison secondaire” in France in areas such as the Dordogne, Normandy, Brittany and Provence. They now face hugely increased levies on rental income and any capital gains when they sell up.
Property developers Raphaël Hoet, 57, and his wife, Sarah Redding, 42, from Greenwich, said they had anticipated the higher taxes coming as Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency ran into trouble and sold two properties last year, leaving them with a pair of investments homes near St Tropez.
Mr Hoet said: “It’s going to put Brits off investing. When you buy a house in France, that’s the sort of risk you’re taking. Unfortunately now there is no exit; the market is not depressed but it is not liquid either. There’s a sense of redistribution in France and that everyone has to make some efforts.
“The Socialists have been clear that the rich are going to pay and that’s what’s happening.”
London-based journalist Rosie Millard, who has owned a flat in the Pigalle district of Paris for the past 10 years, described the proposals from the Government of new president François Hollande as “a classic socialist move, having a go at all the greedy capitalists and Right-wingers”.
She said prices in Paris had rocketed in recent years “so the temptation for a French government facing a huge deficit is very strong”. She added: “Paris is like the goose that laid the golden egg but the risk is that it is going to kill the goose. The danger is they will calm the market so much they will bring it to a halt completely.”
The French government plans to increase tax on rental income from foreign-owned second homes from 20 per cent to 35.5 per cent and on capital gains from 19 per cent to 34.5 per cent.
About 360,000 homes in France are owned by foreigners including Hollywood star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
The taxes will also hit people dreaming of relocating to France for good. Rachel Scott, editor of Living France magazine, said: “This is a big blow to people seeking a new life in France.
“It seems unfair because British home buyers are often doing up homes the French don’t want any more and breathing life into the countryside. The French usually welcome them with open arms because they throw themselves into community life with gusto.
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“But it won’t put people off completely. The great love affair with France is enduring — it will just make a little bit harder.”
