Overall life expectancy at birth in France is 81.7 years and health is of an exceptionally high standard. In many ways, it excels and overtakes healthcare in countries such as the UK, with better access to new drugs, less hospital infections and pioneering research. However, that said, there is a lot to be said for the quick and easy access to free healthcare enjoyed in the United Kingdom.

The French health care system provides universal health care that is largely financed by way of national health insurance. The country is actually prepared to spend an average of 11% of GDP on its healthcare according to a report in the year 2005. This figure is much higher than the average spent by countries in Europe. Approximately 77% of health expenditures are covered by government funded agencies.   more ...

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, France is home to some of the most luxurious property on earth, a fact that would still hold true even if the commercial center of Paris were excluded from the picture (some might say especially if Paris were excluded from the picture.) Destinations like the Côte d'Azur - more popularly known as the French Riviera, and with unofficial eastern and western boundaries of Saint-Tropez and Cassis - were seen as luxury resorts since the dawn of such a concept, serving as a health spa since the late 1700’s and (after the introduction of continental rail transport) as a prime gathering place for the landed aristocracy and royalty of the 19th century. In spite of the fact that certain of France's most renowned non-Parisian commodities are often produced in amounts exceeding foreign demand (do an internet search for "wine lake" for a good example of this), the region itself remains a rare gem in which the best of nature and man-made artifice melt together in a manner both dramatic and sublime.   more ...

Though most readers will know that world-class prestige does not come cheap, it is still worth mentioning the fact that residency in Paris can be at the pinnacle of the world 'cost of living' index. France, as a whole, remains the country with the world's most expensive residential property (La Leopolda Villa on the French Riviera, with a price tag of over half a billion U.S. dollars, is the most expensive single property on Earth.) Land within Paris itself has been estimated as having an average cost anywhere from $2,100 USD per square foot to $3,300 USD. U.S. residents bemoaning high land prices in that nation's most popular destinations have it easy in comparison - the average price per square foot in New York City is about half of the low estimate above - and Americans seeking out Parisian properties to rent or own will be quickly reminded that investing in a comparatively richer national history involves a comparatively higher price.   more ...

The huge surge of British families pulling up roots and moving lock stock and barrel to France, has largely petered out. During the 1980s thousands of families re-located to France, mostly because property was so cheap - sometimes incredibly cheap - and the bargains seemed too good to miss. By the 1990s numbers started to dwindle, though there were still a great many . Now it has all but stopped.

The British who moved to France had some things in common and made the same mistakes:-

- property was very cheap, an entire little smallholding for the price of a garage in the UK (though of course that depended on which part of France. In the centre of the country I once sold a little farmhouse with ten acres of land for about £4000) But there was a good reason why it was so cheap: nobody wanted to live there!   more ...

by Deborah Kent

For UK buyers considering entering the French market, there is one purchase option that stands out in terms of investment potential and the ability to get on the property ladder despite the lack of an initial deposit. If this sounds too good to be true - read on!

In actual fact, while nothing similar exists in the UK, the leaseback scheme available in France is worth looking at. The leaseback is a curious mixture of tax incentive and rental guarantee, which is designed to encourage buyers to take on new build homes.

UK buyers will be familiar with developers in the UK offering rental guarantees, which are generally at attractive rates and have a finite life of 1 or 2 years. However, the new build French market differs from the UK in one significant area, namely VAT. Whilst new homes in the UK do not carry VAT, in France that is not the case.   more ...