EU referendum

Two expats are challenging a decision to bar British citizens who have lived elsewhere in Europe for more than 15 years from voting in the EU referendum.

Harry Shindler, a 94-year old World War Two veteran and Jacquelyn MacLennan say June's vote will directly affect them.

They argue that they have taken advantage of EU rules allowing freedom of movement and could lose these rights if Britain votes to leave the union.

The government said the franchise was agreed by both Houses of Parliament.

The campaigners say up to two million expats are being denied the right to take part in the referendum.

Their lawyers will file papers at the High Court on Wednesday requesting a judicial review which, if successful, could force the government to pass emergency legislation before the EU vote on 23 June to change the franchise.

Under current rules, British nationals who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are unable to vote in UK elections.

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the 15-year rule, but this has not yet been delivered.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said:

"The franchise for the EU referendum was debated, considered and agreed by both Houses of Parliament and is set out in legislation.

"Scrapping the 15-year rule for overseas electors is a manifesto pledge which the government remains committed to delivering.

"It is not connected to the referendum."

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

In this Blog you can find information about the upcoming EU referendum.

The referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is on Thursday 23 June 2016.

What is the referendum about?

A referendum asks you to vote on a question.

For this referendum the question is:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

Can I vote in the EU referendum?

You can vote in this referendum if you are registered to vote in the UK, are 18 or over on 23 June 2016 and are:

A British or Irish citizen living in the UK, or

A Commonwealth citizen living in the UK who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK

A British citizen living overseas who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years

An Irish citizen living overseas who was born in Northern Ireland and who has been registered to vote in Northern Ireland in the last 15 years

How do I register to vote?

If you want to have your say at the EU referendum, you must be registered to vote.

In England, Scotland or Wales, you can register to vote online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

If you are a British citizen living abroad, you can register to vote online in the same way.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Wednesday 16th March at 16:30 - £1.00 GBP = 1.2722 EUR

This afternoon, George Osborne outlined his 8th budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer, one that aims to target the ‘next generation’. There are many suggestions that this was Osborne’s most difficult budget to date, as some believe it is also acting as a pre-cursor for his shot at the Conservative party leadership. This has been made even more problematic by the slowdown of the UK economy, combined with the government’s split over Europe. Indeed, Osborne warned against Britain leaving Europe in his speech.

The highlights of his budget included a downwards revision to UK growth forecasts, with 2016 being downgraded to 2.0% from 2.4% and 2017 also being revised down to 2.2% from 2.5%. Starting from 2020, corporation tax will also be cut to 17% and importantly for many UK SMEs, he announced that 600,000 small businesses would be exempt from business rates, saving them up to £6,000 per year.

For individuals, the higher 40% income tax barrier was raised to £45,000 from next year and he announced that ISA allowances would reach £20,000.

Following his speech, the FTSE 100 was impressed, rising to 6171, while the pound was less so. Sterling hit fresh daily lows against both the euro and the US dollar reaching GBP/EUR 1.2676 interbank (IB) and GBP/USD 1.4051 (IB). Sterling clearly was not happy by Osborne revising growth forecasts downwards.

Overall it seems that it his speech had many of the elements of a traditional Conservative budget and that Osborne has adopted a Thatcherite approach by championing small business.

Do you want more information ?

So if you need to buy or sell sterling and would like to be kept up to date with all the latest data releases and exchange rate movements then feel free to contact myself Ben Amrany. If you are buying or selling a house in France we will make sure your monies are in the right place at the right time, we work hand in hand with you and Cle France.

For more information on the currency service I can provide please feel free to contact myself...

Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link or phone and ask for myself and quote "Cle France" on 020 7989 0000.

You may contact me directly using this form (click here) with your requirement and I will explain the options that are available to you in getting the best exchange rate.

Blog submitted by: Ben Amrany for The French Property Network - Cle France.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

With the EU Referendum approaching we thought we would collect a few news stories and insights on the potential outcome and effects on you buying a property in an EU member country, specifically France.

We will publish regular updates here in our "News in General" Blog pages on the Cle France website to keep you up to speed.

EU Referendum June 23rd 2016

We will be at the height of the summer when June 23rd comes by, some of you will have already been on your summer holidays but most will still be looking forward to them. This year, however, June 23rd is when Britain will decide whether to remain a member of the EU or vote to leave the European community of which it has been a member since way back in 1973.

Should I be worried?

Not at all, if the "NO" campaign win the changes will be very very slow to implement and it may all be a bit of a 'storm in a tea-cup'. Keep an eye on the news and an eye on the Cle France blog pages for updates but, of course, no one will know what the result is until after the vote. The issue has almost split the Conservative Party in two and united cross party allegiance groups for and against. At the moment the pollsters suggest the result for the ‘IN’ campaign, although of course we have to take such polls carefully following the General Election last May when they got is so wrong.

NOTE: If you have lived abroad for less than 15 years, you are eligible to vote in the referendum on June  23rd.

Politicians and experts are not even sure what would happen if the UK were to depart from the EU, it is likely there would be a period of about 2 years to organise new arrangements and new agreements, it may take longer, but one thing is for certain nothing will really change overnight.

Should I still move to France?

It was way back in 2013 when David Cameron, the Prime Minister, promised to hold a referendum on Europe IF the Conservatives were to hold onto power in the 2015 General Election, which of course they did. Since then we have seen a record year with an estimated 780,000 sales made in 2015, as noted by the FNAIM - French National Association of Estate Agents.

Buyers have certainly not been hanging around, they have been making the most of current market conditions: great exchange rates, great mortgage rates and low property prices.

Would Brexit stop me buying a house in France?

No. If the UK were to leave the EU it would not stop you from buying your dream home in France or anywhere in Europe, think about it.... many non-EU buyers from as far away destinations as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China already buy in France without a problem. In fact today [3rd March 2016] we sold a house in Normandy to an Australian couple.

The "uncertainty" is around issues such as tax arrangements, mortgages and of course the weakening of the pound.

One thing is clear and that is during these times, similar to the Scottish Yes / No campaign there is an air of uncertainty and this will no doubt be fuelled by any further comments from the Brexit brigade, this effect could seriously cause the cost of your property purchase to increase significantly, so for this reason many clients have purchased their euros in advance.

This method is called a 'Forward contract' and by doing this with FC Exchange it means you can fix your exchange rate for up to two years in advance, so you’ll know exactly how much you’ll get when you make your international money transfer. This makes budgeting a great deal easier and a lot of stress is removed.

What about the Tax Implications?

Tax arrangements will depend on the details in the negotiations and in the period after the referendum, although remember there is already a double-tax agreement that will remain unchanged, so at least we know that you will never be taxed twice on your income! that is good news for sure.

The pound could drop in value on the run up to the referendum due to the uncertainty and instability, currency and trade markets do not like uncertainty and instability and this will always disrupt the markets to some extent. Although once the outcome of the referendum has been reached, the markets should have confidence to level out and steady.

The trick for you if planning to buy a house in France or even sell your French property is to get the timing right for your currency exchange.

What about getting a French Mortgage?

Looking towards the mortgage issue, no one can be totally sure what an EU Brexit would mean and involve in relation to future borrowing options. Non-EU citizens are subject to more stringent conditions when securing mortgages, for example they have to provide a larger deposit. Although it is worth considering that the Swiss and the Finnish borrowers (these are of course non EU members) are tied to similar processes to secure a mortgage as EU member borrowers, thanks to the special agreements in place.

I think we can be optimistic for a similar arrangement for British clients.

What if I am already living in France?

You will be able to continue to enjoy life in France in much the same way. Since Britain has never been part of the Schengen agreement, there has always been passport control when travelling between EU countries, this will not change, it is highly unlikely that France would ever impose visa restrictions on British citizens.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have lived abroad for less than 15 years, you are eligible to vote in the referendum on 23rd June.

So, you have already made the move and found your dream home in France [with Cle France we hope] then along with thousands of other expats, the result either way won't make much difference to your everyday enjoyment of life in France. Even if Britain becomes a European Economic Area (EEA) member, just like Norway and Iceland [who are already members] then you can expect tax arrangements with EU countries to remain basically the same, though there could be some restrictions to social payments. As EEA members the retention of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) card giving access to healthcare will at the same rate as a local French person.

PHEW! in conclusion, what next?

We have studied this issue many times and will do many more times so keep an eye on our "News in General" blog pages for updates but whichever way the UK votes on 23rd June, we at Cle France don’t believe that the British interest in buying French property will slow, nor do we believe that your dream of owning a property in France will become difficult or not viable.

At the moment nothing has changed of course and if the people of the UK vote to stay in then very little will change for at least a generation or two, even if Britain did leave Europe it wouldn’t stop Brits buying and living on mainland Europe. Sharon and David at Cle France lived and worked in France during the 1980's and 1990's when you had to 'jump through many hoops' before it was the 'free movement' we enjoy at the moment, they also lived in France from 1999 up to 2012 full time and at the start of that period you could not just 'arrive' you had to prove income and that you could 'support yourself financially' so going back to that type of scenario won't happen overnight, all it will really mean is a bit more paperwork!

Brits have always bought property as holiday homes and lived full time in France, Spain and other European countries before the formation of the EU and even if there is a Brexit for the UK this will still be the case.

One thing is clear and that is during these times, similar to the Scottish Yes / No campaign there is an air of uncertainty and this will no doubt be fuelled by any further comments from the Brexit brigade, this effect could seriously cause the cost of your property purchase to increase significantly, so for this reason many clients have purchased their euros in advance.

This method is called a 'Forward contract' and by doing this with FC Exchange it means you can fix your exchange rate for up to two years in advance, so you’ll know exactly how much you’ll get when you make your international money transfer. This makes budgeting a great deal easier and a lot of stress is removed.

Do you want more information ?

So if you need to buy or sell sterling and would like to be kept up to date with all the latest data releases and exchange rate movements then feel free to contact myself Ben Amrany. If you are buying or selling a house in France we will make sure your monies are in the right place at the right time, we work hand in hand with you and Cle France.

For more information on the currency service I can provide please feel free to contact myself...

Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link or phone and ask for myself and quote "Cle France" on 020 7989 0000.

You may contact me directly using this form (click here) with your requirement and I will explain the options that are available to you in getting the best exchange rate.  

Blog submitted by: David for The French Property Network - Cle France.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk

With the EU Referendum approaching we thought we would collect a few news stories and insights on the potential outcome and effects on you buying a property in an EU member country, specifically France. We will publish regular updates here in our "News in General" Blog pages on the Cle France website to keep you up to speed.

A Recent Survey by FC Exchange

With the EU referendum now set for 23rd June 2016, many politicians have now revealed how they will be campaigning and voting. We recently heard from the current mayor of London, Boris Johnson, earlier this week and also from the next conservative candidate, Zac Goldsmith, who will both be campaigning for the ‘leave’ camp.

The key government response to this is to put forward the voice of big business, with an open letter from FTSE100 Chief Executives and Chairmen circulated this week, stating the case for staying within the EU.

A recent Institute of Directors (IoD) survey found that only 31% of its members plan to vote ‘leave’, while 60% plan to vote ‘remain’.

Much has been made of the draft deal that David Cameron has secured to change the terms of UK membership to the EU. Mr Cameron will continue to claim these are significant concessions and leave the UK in charge of its destiny, while the ‘leave’ opponents claim it is a “watered down deal” that doesn’t go far enough.

In February 2016, FC Exchange conducted a survey to capture what its business clients thought about the upcoming referendum and whether they thought the UK leaving the EU would impact their business. With interesting and mixed thoughts and results, the survey allows for insightful analysis into how businesses feel in this time of uncertainty.

One of the first questions FC Exchange asked its business clients was whether they thought David Cameron would obtain a meaningful deal from Europe. Results showed skepticism, with only 37% thinking that he would and 60% not expecting anything meaningful.

Would the reforms be classed as meaningful? Likely not, based on a general consensus and softening from the original claims made by Cameron. The ‘leave’ camp certainly do not think enough has been done and this is likely to form a significant part of their campaign.

Do you think that the UK will vote to leave the EU?

55% said "No"

42% said "Yes"

3% had "no Opinion"

The somewhat surprising result of the next question was that - despite the majority not expecting a meaningful deal discovered in the last question - a clear majority of 55% expect the UK to ‘remain’ in the EU. Only 42% said they thought the UK would leave, suggesting that the result of the renegotiation of the UK’s membership was not as important as David Cameron was making out.

The big question the survey then went on to ask was about the expected impact that leaving the EU would have on their individual businesses. Given that a majority of business leaders have come down in favour of the ‘stay’ campaign, citing concerns over the impact on business and certainty of leaving, FC Exchange expected to see a definite effect on the amount of trade done in Europe. Surprisingly, 60% of businesses surveyed thought that UK leaving the EU would have no impact on the amount of trade that their business does with Europe.

Beyond this, the split between companies that expected to see an increase in trade and companies that expected to see a decrease in trade was finely balanced, being 15% against 13%. Only 11% of FC Exchange business clients surveyed were not trading with Europe at the time of the survey, so whatever the impact (which is clearly very uncertain), it will affect most of FC Exchange’s clients and a large proportion of UK companies that trade some of the £515bn with Europe annually.

Where FC Exchange did find a bigger impact of client concern was in regards to their profitability, if the UK were to leave the EU. Results showed that 30% expected a negative impact on their profitability of up to 25%. Only 10% of clients saw the potential of an increase in profitability if the UK were to leave, suggesting the participants feel similar to those surveyed by the Institute of Directors; that there are definite concerns within businesses around leaving the EU.

Lastly, participants were asked what they thought would happen to sterling if the UK were to leave the EU, with a fairly even split between a depreciation of 5% or more, no change, and an appreciation of 5% or more. What it does demonstrate is that no one is confident about where sterling will go.

What do you think the impact would be on sterling if the UK was to leave the EU?

30% said up to 5% loss

12% said "no change"

33% said up to 5% gain

25% said "Don't Know"

The closest approximation we have is the Scottish referendum 18 months ago, which saw sterling drop 6.6% against the dollar within the three months before the referendum, before gaining 2.9% as we saw Scotland remain part of the UK. We could see similar volatility in the next few months, as the campaigns get into full flow and as the polls swing between in and out.

If your business is involved with cross-border activities, then it is advisable to get in touch with a reputable currency broker to discuss your currency requirements surrounding these uncertain times. FC Exchange has transacted over £5billion and helped businesses of all sizes to mitigate currency risk and protect their profits.

Contact us today

Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link or phone and ask for myself and quote "Cle France" on 020 7989 0000.

You may contact me directly using this form (click here) with your requirement and I will explain the options that are available to you in getting the best exchange rate.  

Cle France Thoughts

At the moment nothing has changed of course and if the people of the UK vote to stay in then very little will change for at least a generation or two, even if Britain did leave Europe it wouldn’t stop Brits buying and living on mainland Europe. Sharon and David at Cle France lived and worked in France during the 1980's and 1990's when you had to 'jump through many hoops' before it was the 'free movement' we enjoy at the moment, they also lived in France from 1999 up to 2012 full time and at the start of that period you could not just 'arrive' you had to prove income and that you could 'support yourself financially' so going back to that type of scenario won't happen overnight, all it will really mean is a bit more paperwork!

Brits have always bought property as holiday homes and lived full time in France, Spain and other European countries before the formation of the EU and even if there is a Brexit for the UK this will still be the case.

One thing is clear and that is during these times, similar to the Scottish Yes / No campaign there is an air of uncertainty and this will no doubt be fuelled by any further comments from the Brexit brigade, this effect could seriously cause the cost of your property purchase to increase significantly, so for this reason many clients have purchased their euros in advance.

This method is called a 'Forward contract' and by doing this with FC Exchange it means you can fix your exchange rate for up to two years in advance, so you’ll know exactly how much you’ll get when you make your international money transfer. This makes budgeting a great deal easier and a lot of stress is removed.

Do you want more information ?

So if you need to buy or sell sterling and would like to be kept up to date with all the latest data releases and exchange rate movements then feel free to contact myself Ben Amrany. If you are buying or selling a house in France we will make sure your monies are in the right place at the right time, we work hand in hand with you and Cle France.

For more information on the currency service I can provide please feel free to contact myself...

Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link or phone and ask for myself and quote "Cle France" on 020 7989 0000.

You may contact me directly using this form (click here) with your requirement and I will explain the options that are available to you in getting the best exchange rate.  

Blog submitted by: Alex for The French Property Network - Cle France.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk