Join the Paris express

From the TimesOnline (UK) - A SURGE in the popularity of second homes is set to follow the Chancellor’s tax concessions unveiled this week. Anyone selling such a property after nine years will benefit from the new low rate of capital gains tax on the profits – only 18 per cent. According to Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s head of residential research, “this could have the effect of raising investment volumes – and hence underpin prices in investment and second-home locations”. Paris, which is already receiving a boost from the high-speed Eurostar train link from St Pancras starting next month, is set to be one of those locations. House prices in the French capital rose by 9.9 per cent last year.

They rightly address in the article the best method of renting for increased returns and security as a landlord that you should concentrate on furnished rental property of a one year lease - see our own article.

A standard lease on an unfurnished flat includes clauses that can dissuade investors. Tenants can only be expelled before the end of the lease if the owner wants to move into the property – they cannot be expelled between November and March.

An unfurnished property contract has a minimum duration of three years (if the proprietor is a person), or six years (if the proprietor is a company or society). An individual owner can make a shorter contract (one year minimum, except in the special case of holiday lets) only if he needs to recover the property for professional or family reasons, e.g., retirement, return from abroad, need to house a family member. If no limit is fixed in the contract, three years are automatically applied.

Furnished property benefits from slightly different treatment. The contract duration is for one year; at the contract end it is automatically renewed, unless notice has been given by either side. That aside, furnished contracts are less regulated as concerns deposits, charges, the obligations of landlord and tenant, and the documents to be attached to the contract.