Audemaison

September 2002

After several months looking at properties in the South of France, we have finally bought one. Located in a small village in the middle of Les Corbieres, this village house has an authentic rural rambling quality. The house was cheap to purchase. This means that it is not very well appointed internally (or externally for that matter). Indeed, the house has been uninhabited for the last 25 years, so you can imagine the extent of works required to modernise it.

Internally, at the front of the house, there are three double-fronted floors, each floor has two large rooms each. Additionally, at the rear of the property there are two floors of two huge rooms each. These rooms are in a very poor state and the roof is in a very dilapidated state.

Once we completed the formalities at the Notaire, we went to the property and did an initial assessment of what we needed to do. Clearly, this project is here for the long-haul!

We have included some details on how to purchase properties in France and what to consider when purchasing properties.

While at the property on this initial visit, we arranged for an electrician to install a new consumer unit (the starting point for a long saga with power supplies in France!) and found a builder to reroof the front half of the property and render the front elevation.

However, the earliest that the builder could start work was the next April. In France, we learned early to plan ahead where builders are concerned; they are rarely able to do work straight away and usually there is a wait for at least a year. As part of this blog, we will be giving an introduction to the way building work (and most work) is regulated in France.

The electrician managed to do the work fairly quickly, but in doing it, he condemned the existing wiring. We expected it, really. But it means that we have some work to do on a limited power supply.

Filed under: Aude, Property purchase by Audemaison
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