Almost as soon as it was mooted in parliament, the proposal to introduce a new tax on those with second homes in France has been scrapped.

The decision by President Nicolas Sarkozy was made over the weekend under pressure from both English speaking expatriates and French nationals living abroad.

Currently, non-French residents with second homes in France have to pay taxe habitation and taxe foncière and the threat of additional taxation provoked much anxiety from second home owners.

If approved by French MPs at the vote that was to take place in July, the proposed tax would have been calculated as 20% of the valeur locative cadastrale – an estimation of the property’s rental value.

The tax would have applied only to those who do not live in France all year round and choose not to rent out their French property.

Prior to the announcement made this weekend, estate agents Knight Frank issued a report that estimated a villa worth €700,000 would be charged around €280 per annum.

Since the tax was first suggested by Sarkozy in May, there has been speculation that his plans to fund national services in this way could prove unworkable under EU law.

Non-resident second home owners do not contribute to the French economy through income tax but it had been suggested that the new tax could be deemed discriminatory to foreigners.

But as recently as two weeks ago, the tax seemed to have the support of French MPs who approved the idea on 6 June this year. A final vote was scheduled to take place next month.

As part of his campaign to be re-elected as President of France next year, Sarkozy is keen to come up with policies that will appeal to voters and as of 2012 French expatriates will have their own MP.

Property in France can be reached from Southampton via new routes with airline operator Flybe.

The company has announced three new summer routes for 2011 departing from the south coast airport.

Seats can be booked now for journeys to property in France’s south western destinations of Pau and Beziers and the more centrally located Clermont-Ferrand.

Flights are scheduled to take place between May and September, with Clermont-Ferrand the first route to commence on May 21st.

It is also the busiest of the three routes, with three flights per week, compared with two weekly flights to each of the other destinations.

Jan Halliday, director of marketing and communications at Southampton Airport, says: “Flybe is famous for its services to regional French cities and the introduction of Clermont-Ferrand, Beziers and Pau will establish links to new areas of central France.”

She adds that the extension to Flybe’s network will also open access to new areas of the south of France and the Pyrenees.

LD LINES ANNOUNCE PASSENGER SERVICE TO CEASE BUT LOOK TO RETAIN FREIGHT ONLY OPTION

LD Lines has announced the ending of its Dover – Boulogne passenger service from 5 September 2010 but confirm they are considering options to continue the link with a freight only service from 6 September 2010 onwards.

The company is currently examining commercial opportunities to operate a reduced frequency, primarily unaccompanied freight only service and expect to make a decision and announcement in due course.

An ongoing review of a possible re-structuring of the service, follows a previous announcement of the transfer of one of its two ships from the Dover – Boulogne route, Norman Bridge, to open a new link between Saint Nazaire (Nantes) in North West France and Gijon in Northern Spain from 7 September.

LD Lines’ Managing Director, Christophe Santoni, said :

“Whilst we are disappointed to have to announce the ending of a tourist passenger service between Dover and Boulogne, as the addition of a second ship has not generated the extra traffic volumes we had hoped for, we will continue to explore every option to try and maintain some form of ferry service to Boulogne.”

He added : “A return to profitability can only be achieved for the ferry industry by adjusting supply to demand, increasing prices and market consolidation. Whilst there remains huge over capacity on the Dover Strait, we are addressing this issue now by looking to see if such a revamped service is economically sustainable, despite a continually difficult trading climate.”

Both Norman Bridge and Norman Trader will remain operating a combined passenger and freight Dover – Boulogne service until 5 September inclusive and all passengers booked up to this date will be unaffected.

Passengers booked to travel after this date will be provided with alternatives, including the company’s other routes, and compensated with travel offers for future channel crossings.  

LD Lines’ three other cross channel ferry routes ; Portsmouth – Le Havre, Newhaven – Dieppe and Ramsgate – Ostend, are all operating normal sailing schedules as advertised.

For more information : www.ldlines.com

CityJet in conjunction with Air France KLM opened a new route to France on the 24^th June 2010 which is proving very successful. Flights are from London City Airport to Deauville, with the advantage of shorter check in times and 50 minute flying times. Flights start from €59 one way, flying on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday’s.

For more details please visit www.cityjet.com or www.deauville.aeroport.fr

Are you looking to buy a property in France, click here to view our properties for sale in Normandy.