French mortgage questions answered

Yes, although fewer French banks take non-resident cases and the French lending rules still apply to you. The lenders we work with usually want a deposit of around 30%, a solid income and a loan that ends by about age 70. Read our guide to French mortgages for non-residents.

Plan on around 30% of the price, which is what the lenders we work with usually want. Some brokers advertise loans of up to 80% or 85%, but France has no legal cap and each lender sets its own. You also need about 7% to 8% of the price for purchase costs on an older property, paid from your own funds. See how much can I borrow.

Yes, most lenders set one for non-residents. The lenders we work with generally start at about €200,000, and other brokers quote minimums from about €150,000 at some banks. For a smaller purchase, paying cash or borrowing against property you own at home may work better. See minimum loans and bank accounts.

Yes. French lenders work from your payslips and tax returns, such as P60s and SA302s for UK applicants, but many reduce non-euro income by 10% to 20% to allow for exchange rate risk. All your repayments, including any mortgage at home and borrower insurance, must then fit within 35% of your income. Try the affordability calculator.

Yes. Existing mortgage and loan payments at home count inside the 35% limit, so they reduce the room left for the French loan. Rent from property you already let is usually counted at around 70% of the gross amount. See how much can I borrow.

Yes, if you can show a track record. Lenders usually want 3 years of accounts with a letter from your accountant, along with your tax returns or SA302s. See our documents checklist.

There is no legal maximum age, but lenders set their own limits. The lenders we work with generally want 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. Few lenders take new borrowers over 65, who often buy with cash or release equity at home instead. See age limits and insurance.

Borrower insurance, the assurance emprunteur, is not a legal requirement but almost all lenders require it. You can choose your own insurer if the cover is equivalent, and there is no health questionnaire if your insured share is €200,000 or less and the loan ends before your 60th birthday. Its cost counts in the 35% limit and in the TAEG, the all-in annual rate. See how insurance affects your rate.

Mortgages on property abroad fall outside UK mortgage regulation, and many UK mortgage networks do not let their brokers arrange them. That is why most high street brokers cannot help with a French purchase. We introduce you to one of the leading, reputable specialist mortgage brokers and lenders we work with, who handle cases for non-residents. See how it works.

You can be prequalified and get an attestation de financement, a financing certificate, before you make an offer. It is not a loan offer and binds no one, but it reassures sellers and estate agents. The full application and firm offer follow once you have signed a compromis. See our financing certificate guide.

Allow about three months from signing the compromis to completion when you are borrowing, against about two months for a cash purchase. Once the loan offer arrives you must wait 10 days before you can accept it. Getting prequalified before you offer saves time later. See buying in France step by step.

Expect to provide ID, proof of address, payslips and P60s or 2 to 3 years of tax returns, 3 months of bank statements, statements for existing loans and mortgages, a credit report from your home country and proof of where your deposit comes from. Some lenders want sworn French translations, which can take 2 to 3 weeks. See our documents checklist.

Usually yes. Opening an account with the lender is standard, at a cost of about €100 a year, and your repayments are taken from it. Some lenders also ask you to hold savings with them, for example 12 to 24 months of repayments. See bank accounts and credit checks.

If your compromis includes the loan condition, the condition suspensive d’obtention de prêt, and your loan is refused, your deposit is refunded. You must have applied in good faith for loans matching the amount, rate and term written in the contract. That is why those figures should reflect what a lender is likely to offer. See buying in France step by step.

Yes. You can appoint your own notaire at no extra cost because the two notaires share the same fee. See buying in France step by step.

Not necessarily. You can sign a procuration, a power of attorney, fully remotely by video with a qualified electronic signature, and someone then signs the acte authentique for you. The deed itself cannot be signed remotely. See buying in France step by step.

Notaire fees, or frais de notaire, are mostly purchase tax rather than the notaire’s own fee. They typically total 7% to 8% of the price on an older property and 2% to 3% on a new build. For example, a €300,000 older property in a department charging the 5% rate costs about €23,809 in fees. Try the notaire fees calculator.

Almost all of them are. In July 2026, 99.4% of new French home loans were fixed rate according to the Banque de France. Capped variable loans exist but are increasingly rare. See our mortgage rates guide.

Yes. Early repayment charges are capped at the lower of 6 months’ interest on the amount repaid and 3% of the capital outstanding, and they do not apply if you sell because of a job relocation, death or forced cessation of work. A contract can refuse partial repayments of 10% or less of the original loan. See early repayment charges.

Yes, but rules apply. Furnished holiday lets must be registered in some communes now and in all of them once a national online service goes live, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Lenders often ignore expected rent from the new property when working out affordability, and tax on French rental income is complex, so take advice from a tax adviser. See our second homes guide.