Property prices in France have risen by 10% over the last year, pushed in part by British buyers? unrelenting demand for a second home in the French sunshine. In spite of this growth, however, French property remains competitively priced in comparison with the UK, where prices have increased by around 18% over the same period. According to Abbey National France, mortgage applications between March and August 2004 increased by 17% compared with the same period in 2003, and the British now represent 40% of international property buyers, a figure which has doubled since 2000. Italian and Belgian buyers are also taking advantage of the French market, accounting for 12% and 6% of international buyers respectively. Buyers are drawn to character properties, the figures revealed, with old properties accounting for 81% of houses bought by international buyers in 2003. John Woodhouse, Deputy Managing Director of Abbey National France, said: ?Buying a home in France has more appeal than ever amongst UK buyers.? Mr Woodhouse believes that the process of buying a home in France is now much easier: ?That, combined with low mortgage interest rates and easy access to France by train, the Eurotunnel and low cost flights means that owning a property in France may be easier and more achievable than people first think,? he said.
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Five best things to see in the Grand Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower ShowThe show gardens often grab the headlines, but the Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always full of wonders. Country Life's gardens editor Tiffant Daneff picks out five of her favourite things from inside the marquee at the world's greatest flower show.
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David Attenborough and Jeremy Clarkson are the celebrities that best represent our countryside, according to Gen ZWho are the ‘best champions’ of the Great British countryside? It is the farmers, say the youth.
