The real cost of owning a French property — and how co-ownership changes the maths

The dream of a French home is easy to romanticise. The reality of maintaining one is less discussed. Here is the honest version of both.

Let's start with the fantasy. A stone manor in the French countryside. Dinners on the terrace. The smell of lavender and old wood. Sunday markets. Your own pool. That glass of local wine at dusk that tastes better than any wine you have ever drunk at home.

All of this is real. The French countryside delivers it reliably. What is less frequently discussed is what it costs to keep the fantasy going.

The honest cost of sole ownership

A five-bedroom French manor with pool — the kind of property comparable to Manoir de Nanthiat — costs in the region of €900,000 to acquire. Add French notaire fees and taxes (typically 7–8% on older properties) and you are at around €970,000 before you spend a penny on the building itself.

Then the annual costs begin. A realistic breakdown for a property of this type:

Property insurance: €3,000–5,000 per year. French insurance is comprehensive but not cheap for character properties.

Taxe foncière (property tax): €2,000–4,000 per year depending on the commune and property value.

Utilities: €8,000–12,000 per year for heating, electricity and water — higher for older buildings with less insulation.

Maintenance: The standard rule is 1–2% of property value per year in maintenance costs. For a €900,000 property, that is €9,000–18,000 annually. For older character properties, budget toward the higher end.

Pool maintenance: €3,000–5,000 per year for chemicals, filtration, and seasonal opening/closing.

Garden and grounds: €5,000–10,000 per year for a property with significant grounds.

Total: €30,000–54,000 per year before any mortgage payments, management fees, or improvement costs. At current exchange rates, that is roughly £25,000–£46,000 per year simply to keep the property standing.

"The real cost of a French property is not the purchase price. It is the £25,000–£46,000 per year in running costs — before you spend anything on improvements, management, or furnishing."

The usage problem

Most British owners of French holiday properties spend four to six weeks there per year. That means the property sits empty for 46–48 weeks. During those weeks, it still costs money — maintenance continues, insurance continues, utilities continue. The pool doesn't maintain itself because no one is swimming in it.

For a sole owner using the property six weeks a year, the annual cost divided by weeks of actual use works out to roughly £4,000–8,000 per week of enjoyment. That is a very expensive holiday.

Why the real cost is the running cost

There is no soft landing on those annual figures. The honest cost of a French second home is what you pay every year to keep it standing, whether you are there or not. Letting the property when you are away is a separate business, with its own work, tax and risk. CoMaison does not run that model. Ownership here is for personal use only.

That means the figure that matters is the running cost itself, not a net figure after income. For most people who use a French house for four to six weeks a year, the question is simply whether they want to carry the full bill alone.

How co-ownership changes the maths

The CoMaison model is designed around this reality. Here is what changes:

Purchase cost shared eight ways. Instead of €970,000 to acquire the property, you pay £138,000 for a share in a five-bedroom Dordogne manor. Your capital outlay is a fraction of sole ownership.

Running costs shared eight ways. Estimated annual costs of around £73,000 divided by eight shareholders equals approximately £9,100 per owner per year. That is the published cost of ownership for Manoir de Nanthiat: flat, with no income offset. Figures are indicative and may vary year to year.

Use that matches how people actually live. Five to six weeks a year in an exceptional French property, without carrying the full running cost of a house that sits empty the rest of the time.

CoMaison manages the property. No maintenance to coordinate yourself. No caretaker to find. Your experience as an owner is arriving to a prepared home and leaving the caretaking to the team.

The honest conclusion

Sole ownership of a French property is wonderful if you can use it extensively and afford the full running costs yourself. For most people, those conditions don't apply.

Co-ownership through CoMaison is for people who want the experience of ownership without carrying the whole burden alone: five to six weeks a year in an exceptional French property, with estimated running costs shared equally among eight owners, and no letting involved.

The fantasy is real. The maths work better when the cost is shared.