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IN PICTURES: The five places in France with the highest percentage of second homes

France has more second homes than any other European country, and there are a lot of places where a majority of properties are only inhabited for part of the year. Here's a look at five spots with the highest percentage of maisons secondaires.

Published: 19 June 2019 16:53 CEST
IN PICTURES: The five places in France with the highest percentage of second homes
Do you dream of a second home somewhere sunny and French? Photo: wavebreak media/Depositphotos
France has 3.3 million second homes, representing 10 percent of the country's housing stock. 
 
That's four times more than Germany, and over the past five years, the buying of second homes in France has gone up 1.7 percent.
 
And it means that some of France's small, rural areas have far more temporary residents than permanent ones. 
 
Here's a look at five places in France with the highest percentage of second home owners in France, according to Le Telegramme. 
 
READ ALSO:
Uvernet-Fours
 
The tiny town of Uvernet-Fours in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France is so popular with second home owners that a whopping 92.3 percent of the properties there are owned by them. 
 
Photo:  Sébastien Thébault/Wikicommons
 
 
Orcières
 
Another small town in southeastern France, Orcières is located in the Hautes-Alpes department. A total of 90.5 percent of properties here are second homes. 
 
Photo: Nirv75/Wikicommons
 
La Fajolle
 
Still in the south of France but this time in the Aude department of the Occitanie region, La Fajolle is a beautiful spot to drink a cool glass of white wine during your summer holiday. But it's more than likely you'll be surrounded by others who have had the same idea, with 92 percent of the properties here owned by second home owners. 
 
 

Photo: CartesFrance.fr
 
La Faute-sur-Mer
 
It isn't only the south of France which is popular with second home owners, of course. The west of the country also has a high number of temporary residents during the summer season. 
 
A total of 85.2 percent of properties in La Faute-sur-Mer, a coastal town in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region, are second homes.
 
Photo: Pantoine/Wikicommons
 
Vars
 
Nevertheless southern France does dominate, with Vars, a town in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France dominated be second homes, which make up a total of 91.5 percent of the properties. 
 
Vars is famous for its ski resort and benefits from good weather in the summer. 
 
Photo: Gargantua/Wikicommons
 
However, not everywhere in France is in such high demand, which means there are bargains to be had. 
 
The Indre-et-Loire department in west-central France has next to no second homes and the nearby department of Loiret is similarly unpopular with second home owners. Who needs the sunshine when you can have peace and quiet?

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PROPERTY

How to avoid French property rental scams

Finding a place to live - or even to stay - in France can be difficult, and to make it more complicated scammers often prey on unsuspecting property seekers.

Published: 16 September 2024 10:46 CEST
How to avoid French property rental scams

More and more people head online to begin their search for a new rental property in France – whether they’re seeking a long-term rental to live or somewhere just for a few months.

But this can be risky with scammers active in the market – such as the 40-year-old Paris man accused of swindling 64 victims by illegally sub-letting properties that he did not own.

So how can you avoid falling victim to online criminals?

The golden rule

There’s one golden rule: don’t hand over any of your hard-earned cash before you sign a lease. This may seem obvious, but if you have found an ideal property it could be more difficult to say no if the person you think is the landlord, or their representative demands money – perhaps to ‘secure the property’. That’s a red flag, right there.

As is paying for the privilege of viewing a property. A genuine landlord would not charge you just to look round.

It is, however, completely normal to be asked to send documents such as proof of income/legal residency in France before a viewing. While in some countries you view the property and then undergo financial checks, in France landlords often want to see your dossier before they spend their time showing you around.

READ ALSO A beginner’s guide to renting property in France

Low rental

Rental prices can be high, especially in Paris which regularly tops international comparisons of the world’s most expensive cities. It’s therefore tempting to look for a bargain, but that too-good-to-be-true rental price probably is.

If an property ad has a monthly rental price that is lower than you would reasonably expect for a place in a certain area, beware.

Some legitimate reasons for a lower price might be that the property is shared (colocation), is a sub-let (sous-location) or is the short-term rental known as bail mobilité. However, these types of contract all have their own rules and limitations and – in the case of bail mobilité – are not available to everyone.

First contact

Beware of long emails from the ‘landlord’ of a property you’re interested in, especially if they seek to demand certain conditions on property visits.

It has been reported that some criminals try to scam victims into sending deposit money on the strength of a viewing video. If you can’t physically visit a property, wonder why.

READ ALSO What you should know about paying rental deposits in France

Watch where you’re sending your money

If you’re asked to pay any money by cash transfer, Western Union, or to a bank not based in France, watch out. This could be evidence of a scam.

Note also that deposits are dictated by law. The deposit for an unfurnished rental property can only be equal to one month’s rent, while a furnished property deposit is two months’ rent. 

READ ALSO 9 things landlords in France can never ask of tenants

Remember too: sign the lease before you pay even the deposit. 

Contractual obligations

There are rules about French property rental contracts. They must include the landlord’s contact details (or those of the property manager), and include information on the size of the property, co-ownership regulations, asbestos, lead and energy performance diagnostics, and the effective date and duration of the lease. 

Model contracts are simple to find on the internet. Search for contrat location modele

READ ALSO The vital French vocab for renting property

Google Lens

Online reverse search tools such as Google Lens are your friends. You can check to see if photos purporting to show the property you’re interested in are also being used to ‘advertise’ different properties in other towns or cities. 

Online liability

Platforms on which landlords can post properties for rent may also be used by scammers. The platforms themselves have repeatedly said that they are not responsible for content published on their sites.

But some short-term rental platforms – notably Airbnb and Abritel – have in the past been found liable for content on their site.

READ ALSO Renting property in France: Should I go for furnished or unfurnished?

But protect your data

The government’s Dossier Facile website allows prospective renters to prepare and build their rental file, and gather all their supporting documents in one online storage place – and, crucially, watermarks them to protect you “against fraud from unscrupulous owners”.

And if you are a victim

If you are the victim of a fake online ad, you may be able to file a complaint online on the Thesee platform. Alternatively, get in touch with the police. 

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