How French Finance works, from first enquiry to mortgage offer

Last reviewed 22 October 2026

What are the steps?

1. Tell us about your purchase

   Use our enquiry form to tell us about the property and its price, your deposit, your income and your timing. It takes two short steps and there is no credit check.

2. We prequalify you against real lender criteria

   We check your case against the criteria used by the lenders we work with, and we tell you honestly if it will not work. Those lenders usually look for:

   • a deposit of around 30%, so a loan of about 70% of the price
   • a loan of at least about €200,000
   • the loan repaid by about age 70, so a 20-year term works up to about 50 and a 25-year term up to about 45
   • all loan repayments within 35% of income, including borrower insurance and any mortgage you already have
   • a solid income

   Few lenders take on new borrowers over 65. If your case does not fit we say so before you make an offer, and where it helps we point to other routes such as paying cash or raising money against a UK home instead.

   Lender criteria from the specialists we work with, January 2026, with the minimum loan as at October 2026. The 35% limit is set by the HCSF.

3. We introduce you to a specialist

   With your consent we introduce you to one of the specialists we work with.

   The specialist sources a lender for your case and works with you through to a firm loan offer. We only pass your details on with your consent.

4. Decision in principle from a lender

   Your case goes to a lender that takes UK and international buyers. Some lenders can issue a written decision in principle once they have assessed your documents. It is not a loan offer, but it shows you, the estate agent and the seller that a lender has looked at your case. French agents and sellers may also ask for an attestation de financement, and our financing certificate guide explains the difference.

5. Compromis, full application and documents

   Loan condition typically 45 to 60 days

   Once your offer is accepted you sign the compromis de vente, the binding sale agreement, and usually pay a deposit of 5% to 10%, which the notaire holds. You then have a 10-day cooling-off period. The compromis should include a loan condition, the condition suspensive d’obtention de prêt, for the amount, rate and term you need. The legal minimum is one month and 45 to 60 days is typical.

   The specialist then works with you on the full application. The lender will want your documents, a copy of the compromis and borrower insurance in place. Some lenders want sworn French translations, which can take 2 to 3 weeks, so gather your papers early.

6. Firm loan offer

   Open for at least 30 days

   The lender sends a firm loan offer, the offre de prêt, on paper or another durable medium. Under the Loi Scrivener you cannot accept it until a 10-day reflection period has passed, starting the day after you receive it, so you can accept from the 11th day. You accept by a dated and signed letter sent by post unless the lender agrees another method. The offer satisfies the loan condition in the compromis. If the purchase does not complete within four months of your acceptance the loan falls away.

7. Completion at the notaire

   Usually about 3 months after the compromis

   The sale completes when the deed of sale, the acte authentique, is signed before the notaire. A few days to a week before, the notaire calls for the funds. Any payment over €3,000 must go by bank transfer to the notaire’s account at the Caisse des Dépôts, and international transfers can take up to five working days, so plan the timing of your own money. The notaire must check where both the loan and your own funds come from under anti-money-laundering rules.

   If you cannot be in France for the signing you can give someone a notarial power of attorney, a procuration, which can be signed fully remotely by video with a qualified electronic signature. The deed itself cannot be signed remotely.

Sources: Service-public.fr on the compromis, April 2026; on the loan condition, August 2026; on the loan offer; notaires.fr on paying the notaire; Ministry of Justice on remote procurations; checked September 2026.

What do we need from you?

At the start we only need the basics: the property and its price, whether you have found it yet, your deposit, where you live and pay tax, your income and the currency it is paid in, your type of work and your timing. We ask for your consent before we pass anything on.

Later the specialist and the lender need full documents. For applicants living outside France these typically include ID and proof of address, payslips and tax returns (a P60 or SA302s in the UK), three months of bank statements, statements for any existing mortgage and loans, a credit report from your home country and proof of where your deposit came from. Our documents checklist has the full list.

How long does a French mortgage take?

There is no fixed timetable, because it depends on the lender, the notaire and the seller. These are the typical and legal periods that shape it.

Sources: Service-public.fr pages on the compromis, loan condition and loan offer; a notaire’s guide to completion dates; translation and transfer times are commonly quoted estimates. These are typical or legal periods, not promises.

What does it cost?

• Our fee: most overseas lenders do not pay brokers a commission. The fee for our mortgage service is a success-only 1.9% of the loan, which you agree in writing before any work starts. You pay nothing if you do not get a loan.
• Other payments: we charge you nothing else. Suppliers we introduce you to may pay us a fee when an introduction leads to business. We tell you before we make an introduction.

Our regulatory information page explains who we work with and how we are paid.

The costs of buying are separate from these fees. On an older property notaire fees and purchase tax come to about 7% to 8% of the price. The lender will also charge an arrangement fee, the frais de dossier, usually 0.5% to 1.4% of the loan and often capped at around €2,000 to €2,500, plus the cost of registering its security on the property. Our buying costs guide explains notaire fees in detail and the notaire fees calculator estimates them for your purchase.

Sources: notaires.fr, July 2025; Meilleurtaux on arrangement fees, March 2026.

Can you help with insurance, currency or the move?

Yes, through the leading, reputable suppliers we work with. On the second step of the enquiry form you can ask to be introduced to an insurance broker for borrower or home insurance, a currency transfer provider or a removals and relocation firm. We pass on only your name and contact details and the firm deals with you directly. Our services page explains each one.

What does French Finance not do?

• We do not lend money. Any loan offer comes from a French lender and depends on its own criteria.
• We do not give personal advice on which loan to choose. Our guides and calculators are general information.
• We do not make the lending decision. The lender does, and nobody can promise you a loan offer in advance.
• We do not handle or hold your money. Your deposit and purchase funds go to the notaire.
• We are not tax advisers. For tax on French rental income or on the property take advice from a tax adviser.

French Finance is a trading name of Propertas Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 09828477, 2nd Floor, 105 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3BU. Propertas Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Mortgages on property outside the UK are not currently covered by UK mortgage regulation.