Author Topic: Small holding: which european country (Read 2485 times)

justahobby · « **on:** November 16, 2019, 12:56:07 pm »

About to embark on starting a smallholding, and would love to hear back from those who've either ventured onto the continent or looked into doing so.

Options I'm currently looking at is the French Pyrenees/Alps or Portugal. I'm partial to a good cold snowy winter and mild summers so looking at a high altitude holding.

Would love feedback, and your experiences.

Thanks

Anke · « **Reply #1 on:** November 17, 2019, 05:26:35 pm »

If you only hold British citizenship I would hold off for the time being...

chrismahon · « **Reply #2 on:** November 18, 2019, 07:32:41 am »

The French healthcare system is very difficult to get into Justahobby and after Brexit may become impossible. There is also an issue of residency developing and there is a risk that you could buy and only be allowed to stay for 90 days in any 6 month period. After a seller has accepted an offer on a property with land it is then offered to the local Farming Society. If the land is good they can buy the property and take the land off- this happens a lot now, so it may be near impossible to buy a smallholding in France anyway. There isn't much useable land at altitude in the Pyrenees- it goes from flat flood plane to near vertical mountains. You should fly over to Lourdes (from Stanstead) and check the area out first.

arobwk · « **Reply #3 on:** November 19, 2019, 09:54:27 pm »

Quote from: chrismahon on November 18, 2019, 07:32:41 am

The French healthcare system is very difficult to get into Justahobby and after Brexit may become impossible. There is also an issue of residency developing and there is a risk that you could buy and only be allowed to stay for 90 days in any 6 month period. After a seller has accepted an offer on a property with land it is then offered to the local Farming Society. If the land is good they can buy the property and take the land off- this happens a lot now, so it may be near impossible to buy a smallholding in France anyway. There isn't much useable land at altitude in the Pyrenees- it goes from flat flood plane to near vertical mountains. You should fly over to Lourdes (from Stanstead) and check the area out first.

An interesting difference in the way some things work within the EU on mainland Europe and how things work here in the UK !!!
May I, chrismahon, send your post to Cornwall Council ??

chrismahon · « **Reply #4 on:** November 20, 2019, 08:40:42 am »

Send it by all means Arowbwk. Whilst the EU sets a basic framework, the details are down to individual member states. In France EVERYTHING is different to the UK and you would be very surprised, as we were, when you discover that and by how much. Some things are better and some are not. Would be nice if France had a 999 system as we have to call one or more of four different emergency numbers- fortunately we've never needed to and they are installed on the contact list of any mobile you buy here.

The differences between member states is analysed a lot on TV. Strange that doesn't happen in the UK- perhaps it would spark unrest. For example state unemployment benefit is about 3X more and is paid for 2 years, although they have recently tightened up on job seeking evidence. Pensions are also much higher. The daily coverage of Brexit is extremely embarrassing for us and the locals are very understanding of our position.

Not sure why Cornwall Council would be interested? And that's another huge difference- local government.

Possum · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2019, 12:33:34 pm »

High altitude land in most of France is not good for cultivation. (Although you are right about the snowy winters

) The soil is shallow and not very fertile. Even the lower slopes are only good for vines. You would need to be down in the valley bottoms e.g Ceret, near Perpignan, if you wanted good growing conditions.

arobwk · « **Reply #6 on:** November 21, 2019, 07:02:59 pm »

Quote from: chrismahon on November 20, 2019, 08:40:42 am

... Not sure why Cornwall Council would be interested? And that's another huge difference- local government.

I have no intention of sending your prev' post to Cornwall Council (LOL): I was just thinking that we could really do with a few restrictions on "outsiders" buying various property here in Cornwall if they will not actually contribute much to the local economy.

chrismahon · « **Reply #7 on:** November 22, 2019, 03:20:39 pm »

This should make you smile Arobwk. We've just been told our address is changing completely and we need to inform dozens of people at our own expense. Now, we are the only property on the road, but we have been given the number 162

Reading the small print we are told that the number actually represents the distance in metres from the junction where the road starts to our post box. To make it more confusing they have changed the name of the road as well !!!

arobwk · « **Reply #8 on:** November 22, 2019, 05:17:39 pm »

I did

actually chrism'.
I hope the satnavs catch up soon. "In 200m turn left onto ... onto ... just turn left now and proceed 162m to ... proceed to No. 162 ... If it is safe to do so, undertake a U-turn and ... "

chrismahon · « **Reply #9 on:** November 29, 2019, 11:25:53 am »

And the saga continues Arobwk. The idea (now law) of giving every house a number and road name is to to help emergency services find places quickly. But we've been to the mayor's office today to correct the spelling of our road name and then realised that, although it appears on the local map index in the right area, it is wrong on the map itself. We haven't got a sign at the bottom of the road to tell anyone what the name is either. So how does that help anyone?