Navigate the Housing Market with Simply Annecy.
- Bernie
- Jan 23, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Jan 24
We all know how exciting and stressful it can be to move house but moving to a foreign country brings it to another level. In this post I will share with you my experience, I will explain the current housing market in Annecy, the rental process and briefly touch on how to buy a property.
Addressing your Concerns
You’re an expat and you've decided to move to Annecy. Good choice!
I'm sure you can't wait to explore the area and all that it has to offer but...... before doing so, you need to organise your move. Aside from the actual logistics of the move itself, finding suitable accommodation is likely to be one of your main concerns especially when:
you don't know the local area that well so you don't know where to look
navigating the French property market is different from what you’re used to
you don't know much about French administration
you don't know whether to rent or buy
French isn't your first language.
My family and I moved to Annecy nearly 7 years ago. We spent 12 months hopping from Airbnb to Airbnb. It was an exciting albeit stressful time because of the constant uncertainty of finding somewhere to live. On the plus side, I learnt a lot about living in different parts of Annecy and made some wonderful friends along the way. Clichéd as it sounds, as R.W. Emerson said:
"It's not the destination, it's the journey."
Annecy is a popular place to live and therefore the housing market is under constant pressure. The council continues to build and expand neighbourhoods around Annecy but there is still a shortage of housing and given the lay of the land i.e. a lake surrounded by mountains on either side, some of which are protected, there are limitations as to what can be built.
Why Annecy?
Before we dive into the nitty gritty of the housing market, lets first look at your motivation. What brings you to Annecy? This will in part help determine where you might want to live.
For example, if you are moving to retire here, you may prefer to be near the town so that all the local amenities are within walking distance or, you may decide you want to be in the countryside but within a short drive of Annecy.
If you're moving for work, you will want to know what kind of commute you’re going to have. Many people commute to and from Geneva and if this is your plan, you will definitely want to live more towards the northern end of the lake so that you can access the motorway relatively quickly.
This map shows the most direct route using the toll road to the border crossing near St Julien en Genevois. This relatively short stretch of road costs €8,90 one way.
The amount of time that it takes you to drive into Geneva will vary depending on where exactly in Geneva you need to get to, the time of day that you travel, whether or not you take the toll road and if customs are doing spot checks.
Morning traffic at the border from France into Switzerland and likewise evening traffic coming back into France, can be manic on work days, so if you are able to stagger your working hours, it will be to your benefit. Otherwise, a drive which generally should be +/- 30mins may take twice as long.
Before you enter Switzerland, you need to have a vignette. This is basically a road tax which runs from Jan-Dec and needs to be renewed annually. It costs about 50 Swiss Francs and you can buy it at the border. It's in the form of a sticker, with the year on it, which you have to stick on the inside of your front windscreen.
A word of warning, if you are returning a hire car from France and heading back to the airport, be careful that you don't accidentally head into Switzerland because if Swiss customs spot you, you will still have to pay for a vignette even though they know that you took a wrong turning. Yes, I'm talking through experience. Grrrr!
I digress, let's get back to preparing for your move by looking at what you expect your new home to look like.
Envisage your new home
Before you start looking at housing websites, write down the things that you definitely want to have, followed by those things which you’d like but which aren’t a deal breaker and lastly, any choice extra’s which you’d be happy to have but can live without.
For example:
Do you want a house or an apartment?
How much space do you need; in- and outdoors?
How many bedrooms do you need?
Do you need a garage and/or a storage space? If you go for an apartment, usually there is some storage space with it (un cave).
Do you want to rent or buy? This takes us back to your motivation. Are you coming for a 'short' period i.e. a few months, maybe less than 1 year, or are you seeing this as a permanent move? Whatever your timeframe, it will help you narrow down your search for either a rental or for buying.
If you want to rent, what is your maximum budget per month?
If you want to buy, what is the maximum that you can afford?
Do you want to be able to do everything by foot or bike?
Do you need one or more parking spaces?
Do you want to live in Annecy town, a village around the lake, a suburb of Annecy or in one of many small communities in the countryside but within a short distance of Annecy?
Do you have animals to consider?
If you are moving for work, how will you commute and what’s the maximum time that you are willing to allow for this?
Now that you have a clear set of criteria, lets talk about the housing market.
Annecy's Housing Market
Before you even set foot in Annecy, take some time to research the local market. Understanding the current rental and housing trends will give you a better idea of what to expect in terms of price and availability.
The cost of living is high in Annecy but more affordable than Paris. According to livingcost.com whose data is partly crowdsourced by visitors to its site, the last update being October 10th 2024; "the average cost of living in Annecy for one person is $1563, which is in the top 37% of the most expensive cities in the world, ranked 3415th out of 9294 in our global list, 53rd out of 151 in France, and 5th out of 14 in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes".
This blog from Alpine Property gives you an overview of property prices across Haute Savoie and Residences-Immobilier offers statistics on the price of apartments vs houses in Annecy.
To give you an idea, according to Seloger, the price per m2 for a rental in Annecy can be between €11 and €25 with the average being €16. The average in Haute Savoie is €15,80.
Just a quick heads up, you might be surprised to find that some rentals don't include a kitchen! The landlord is not obliged to provide anything and certainly not the white goods but more about this on another post.
To get a better idea of current monthly rental prices take a look at:
Renting
Annecy is a popular place to live and where demand exceeds supply, property owners and agencies can pick and choose their tenants. Renting in France isn't easy if you're not a tax resident and it's even harder if you're self employed. It's not about discouraging self employed foreigners from settling in France, it's just the system. I know of locals who have struggled with this same issue i.e. the main earner was self employed and the couple couldn't rent a property because they were seen to be less financially secure compared to someone on a permanent Swiss or French contract.
When we arrived 7 years ago, rental agencies asked for 3 years of tax records as my husband was self employed but they wouldn't accept our records from the UK. Furthermore, they wouldn't accept our bank statements as proof of financial independence because of the risk of fraud where people have fudged their accounts to make it seem that they have a vast sum of money but then don't pay the rent.
In this instance, you need a guarantor, someone who will be liable for your rent should you not pay. This person needs to earn or have proof of financial assets worth 3x the amount of your rent and they need to reside in France. Third Party Guarantor
If you don't know anyone or prefer to organise things independently, there are third-party organisations who offer a service as an insurer e.g. garantme.fr. They vouch for your financial security and in the event that you default, cover the shortfall with the landlord. As client, you pay a yearly fee of 4.5% of the yearly rent.
To use this service, you fill in a form with your financial details and provide the following documents:
Proof of identity (compulsory): National identity card or passport / visa / residence permit or driving licence
Proof of savings (working or retired only): bank statement less than 2 months old (with name, date and balance visible)
Proof of income (working or retired only)
Once everything has been checked, all being well, a certificate of eligibility will be issued. You can then present this to a landlord or agent as proof of your financial security. If you are offered a rental, before signing the lease, you sign a contract with the guarantor and the landlord and pay the yearly fee. Only then can you sign the lease with the landlord. The certificate is valid for the entire term of a lease (subject to correct payment each year).
N.B. I am sharing this information with you so that you are aware of this option however I do not have personal experience of such service providers and cannot vouch for their business practices. I strongly recommend conducting your own research before making any decisions.
Paperwork
Whether you rent privately or through an agency you will be asked for certain paperwork. An agency will ask for your 'dossier' or file which should include the following documents:
a copy of your passport and/or visa
a work contract
proof of earnings (salary slips)
proof of assets
proof of a French address (usually an electricity bill).
a telephone number - it will help if you have a French one
bank account details. As far as I know, a virtual bank account is also acceptable.
I advise you to:
have your file compete and up to date
do your research, know what you want
know what you don't want
be patient
don't be afraid to ask for help
Furnished (or meublée) properties usually come with a one year contact whereas an unfurnished (non-meublée) one is usually for 3 years and continues on an annual rolling basis.
In the past, French landlords have tried to pass off an unfurnished property as furnished in order to benefit from shorter contracts and fewer tenant rights but the French
government has stipulated that a furnished property needs to meet certain criteria to be classified as such. This means that by law, it should include bedding, cooking facilities i.e. an oven or microwave, a fridge, freezer, crockery, kitchen utensils, a table and seating, storage shelves, lighting, and housekeeping
equipment.
N.B. If a tenant fails to pay the rent, the landlord has to give 6 month's notice of an eviction and they cannot evict someone during the winter months i.e. from 1st November - 31st March. This is known as a winter truce 'la trêve hivernale'.
Buying
With regards to buying a property, this is a bit more complicated as the paperwork and process will vary depending on where you're from and your personal situation, particularly if you need a bank loan. If you want to find out more, read this article from Expatica which provides quite a good insight into what you might expect.
To give you an idea of the cost of houses in Annecy, according to Seloger, you can expect to pay between €5,092 and €10,354 per m2, with an average of €7,602, which is above the average of €4,976 for the Haute Savoie area.
In Veyrier du Lac, the price goes up from €4,625 to €16,750 per m2 with an average of €11,058.
(Figures are from 24th January 2025 and are variable).
Other resources
For more information about local rentals or properties for sale, try expat forums i.e. Expat.com, Expatexchange.com.
Facebook is a good source of information for local networks where it's possible to find private rentals or properties for sale:
This is by no means an exclusive list of resources but hopefully it will be a good starting point for your research. Together with your list of criteria, you should be on the right path to determining what you're looking for and where you might want to locate. Once you know this, you can start contacting agencies and/or property owners.
To conclude
I know it's not easy moving, I've experienced it first hand and to be honest, if I'd known what I know now, I would have saved myself a lot of time and stress. It's difficult to move to an area when you don't know it that well so if you're still unsure about where to settle, take a look at my posts:
'Simply Annecy Explores the area for your New Alpine Home' to learn about the neighbourhoods around Annecy or the post
'Simply Annecy Explores the Villages around the Lake' to find out about lakeside villages such as Sevrier, Menthon Saint Bernard, Veyrier du Lac and others.
Should you have any questions or comments about the above, advice on a local issue or if you simply need a sounding board for your move, feel free to get in touch as I'm on the ground as it were and I'm happy to see how I can help. I'll leave you with another of my favourite quotes, this time from Brian Adams:
“Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping-stones to greater experience....when one door closes, another always opens; as a natural law it has to, to balance.”
À bientôt......
Email: info@simplyannecy.com
Tel: 06 28 13 82 60
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