Advice on long term renting

[Woodg]

My family and I are looking to move to France from Ireland for around 6 months (from around March to Sep 2008) to the area of Vieux Boucau (north of Biarritz) and are trying to sort out accommodation (3-4 bedroom house).

Does anyone have any advice of how to go about this?There is obviously a huge amount of holiday homes for rent in the area but these are usually for weekly hoilday rents which would be too expensive if applied to a 6-month period.

Are owners of holiday homes likely to accept an assured 6 month rental income at a much lower rate rather than taking the risk to rent out their homes on a week by week basis?

Anyway - any advice on how to go about this, who to contact etc would be much appreciated.

[Bevdeforges]

One possibility might be to try for a home exchange (or house exchange). I know people who do this, though I don't know the names of any agencies. You might be able to find some information through Google or another search engine.

One thing you're up against is that the rental laws in France differentiate between the kind of short-term situation you're looking for and a true housing "lease." If the property is furnished, it is treated like a hotel (which may account for those by-the-week rates you're seeing).

A "normal" housing rental involves a lease, usually for a 3-year period. So you're kind of stuck in the middle - especially since the period you're planning on being in the area includes the height of the tourist season.

There are rental and estate agents in the south of France who cater to the English-speaking visitors, and they would definitely be the place to start.

[Woodg]

Thanks for the quick reply and the useful information which does seem to make the quest somewhat harder than expected!

[giantpanda]

Originally Posted by Woodg

My family and I are looking to move to France from Ireland for around 6 months (from around March to Sep 2008) to the area of Vieux Boucau (north of Biarritz) and are trying to sort out accommodation (3-4 bedroom house).

Does anyone have any advice of how to go about this?There is obviously a huge amount of holiday homes for rent in the area but these are usually for weekly hoilday rents which would be too expensive if applied to a 6-month period.

Are owners of holiday homes likely to accept an assured 6 month rental income at a much lower rate rather than taking the risk to rent out their homes on a week by week basis?

Anyway - any advice on how to go about this, who to contact etc would be much appreciated.

Hi!

See all the legal part about it ( in French )

Moteur de recherche service-public.fr : résultats de la recherche

Make sure that you make an " Etat de lieux d'entrée " and also when leaving an ' Etat des lieux de sortie " if you want to see your caution payment again.

Yours,

giantpanda