Building in the Minervois 2013

There has been a slow start to the year for most contractors, many wondering if this was going to be a bad year. Now that the warmer weather has arrived order books have filled. This year we have been involved in repairing works carried out on the cheap (leaking terraces, bathroom problems etc...) for several clients. Once again sometimes going for the cheapest quote involves cutting corners or using cheap materials.
        Property prices are falling slowly, however rental prices remain steady. We are seeing people buying properties with apartments or properties that can be divided providing an income.
        Estate agents tell us that the market is slow but that properties below 130 000 euros and high value properties are selling but the mid range properties are not selling, however this has not yet led to falling prices.

Property market in the Minervois 2012

This year appears to be a little better than 2011, however as usual it is difficult to evaluate as we probably spend the last three months of 2011 preparing work for 2012.

The market, at least seems to be moving however speaking to local estate agents the number of enquiries from buyers appears to be down. We have also heard that the buyers that are showing up are real buyers rather than just property visitors.

The local tradesmen all have shorter waiting lists, however this has not led to prices coming down (this may be to do with the rise in prices of building materials and fuel prices .

The cold weather has led to a large increase in plumbing and water problems, this means in turn that plumbers are extremely busy repairing leaks and restoring water supplies. Builders and other tradesmen have all been affected in different ways, they are mainly involved in urgent repairs to water damaged properties.

Property prices are coming down around here we know of several properties for which the asking price was lowered by up to 50% to ensure a quick sale.

It seems inevitable that prices are coming down, unless sellers are prepared to wait? for the property market to rise.

The changing face of building in France

In our local area work for some builders appears to be drying up and several local builders have closed down. The august break means that a there will be no change in this situation. It appears that medium to large sized companies are being affected the most at the moment. We have seen offers of 30% discount in prices for building work being offered by some unknown or newly formed companies, however 30% of what is not clear.

The introduction of a new way of registering a company in France means in effect anyone can set up a business as a tradesman without any qualifications or experience and without the need for a ten year guarantee for building work. All this means, in a roundabout way is that the customer takes on the responsibility for vetting the competence of tradesmen.

This seems to imply that in case of faulty, bad or dangerous workmanship the only option open to the dissatisfied or injured client is direct legal action against the tradesman concerned, whereas at present, a claim is made against the insurance company that the registered tradesmen has to have.

As far as the liability of these new businesses are concerned it appears that certain assets can be declared as "unseizeable" which means that any claims for damages may be limited, or non-existant.

Latest updates

We have just started a new service, a listing of properties in the Langudoc-Rousillon for sale, all of which require renovation, http://twitter.com/Bill_ding
visit frequently for news of properties as we hear of them.
You can also follow our dedicated Blog at http://bill-ding.blogspot.com
As always we will answer any questions about buying and building in France at www.french-building.info

The weeks go by

Well its been an eventful few weeks Our main computer crashed a few days ago, unfortunately I was unable to salvage much. I am now planning to get an external drive and use some backup software so that it will not happen again...
Our new panoramic photos have gone onto the back burner for a while however they will all be up soon.
I am thinking of buying a new panoramic head so that I can make even better panoramas.
While some of the building tradesmen that we work with are worried about a slowdown, none are suffering yet.
There are still clients out there.

Loans & planning permission

It appears that bank loans for buying properties are becoming more difficult to obtain, and now decisions on the availability of loans are taking longer.
Decisions on applications for planning permission appear to be taking less time than previously in some areas. In spite of the new simplified applications it seems that the process is still not simple.

We are now back on line after storm damage on the network somewhere. We shall try to maintain a more consistent presence from now on.....