Property Renovation

When people talk of home renovation they are talking of a wide range of different things. For some people renovation is adding insulation in an attic, replacing some slipped roof tiles, fitting a new kitchen or perhaps refreshing the interior of a property with some paint. For others it is buying a complete ruin or a derelict farm building and starting to construct a home from almost nothing.

For most projects, renovation falls somewhere between the two of these options.

Commonly, a building ‘for renovation’ suggests a building that has fallen into disrepair or been empty for some period of time. Also common are buildings that have been inhabited until recently, but have no modern conveniences, 50 year old electrical systems, no insulation and so on.

Luckily France can offer buildings in all possible states of repair. True, in some popular areas it is now hard to find a ruin to renovate at a bargain price, and in some areas at any price, but this is simply because the price in a popular area represents the value of the final building less the costs involved in restoring it, rather than the value of an old heap of stones in a field. Most areas still have plenty of places to renovate, but they might be a bit hidden away, and they might be a bit rural.

That bargain property you saw on the TV for £20,000 and needing a few hundred spending on it to convert it into a house worth a fortune may or may not have existed. To say the least you will be lucky to find it nowadays. The French (especially the estate agents) have certainly got wise to the idea that a pile of rubble with planning permission can actually be worth quite a lot of money.
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