The EU Referendum campaigns started today with David Cameron and Boris Johnson et-al touring the country to gain support for each side. Our blog pages have become a bit 'heavy' recently so we are trying to lighten the mood with our translation of the Eurovision song entry from France, watch it tonight and sing along!

It’s May, and for many Europeans, it’s the return of something very important. Non, je ne parle pas du soleil (no, I’m not talking about the sun), but Eurovision!

Not familiar with it? Basically, every participating country submits a singer and song to represent them. From there, the songs are performed in 2 semi-finals and a final, then the vote is decided via a jury and the public. You can read more about how that works on the post I wrote about France’s 2015 submission.

Last year, France picked Lisa Angell who performed “N’oubliez pas” Unfortunately, the song wasn’t very successful, garnering only 4 votes. Yikes.

France seems to have a pattern of doing a fun and catchy pop song one year followed by a slower song the next. “N’oubliez pas” was slow, so that means this year’s is fun and catchy! And it really is…

Cette année (This year), France chose 31-year-old Israeli-French singer/songwriter Amir to perform in the contest in Stockholm. “J’ai cherché” (I’ve Been Looking) was written by Amir, Nazim Khaled, and Johan Errami.

Here are the results after the semi-finals.

The following 10 countries qualified from semi-final 1:

Azerbaijan

Russia

The Netherlands

Hungary

Croatia

Austria

Armenia

Czech Republic

Cyprus

Malta

The following 10 countries qualified from semi-final 2:

Latvia

Georgia

Bulgaria

Australia

Ukraine

Serbia

Poland

Israel

Lithuania

Belgium

You may have noticed that France isn’t listed as a qualifier. As per the contest rules, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the host country all perform in the final because they are the biggest monetary contributors in the contest.

Translation of the song into English

Want to hear this year’s entry? tune in tonight and the song already has some English in it, but the translation published below is courtesy of Eurovision’s official page.

J’ai cherché un sens à mon existence

I was looking for a sense in my existence

J’y ai laissé mon innocence

I have lost my innocence in doing so

J’ai fini le cœur sans défense

I finished my heart without defence

J’ai cherché

I was looking for

L’amour et la reconnaissance

Love and recognition

J’ai payé le prix du silence

I paid the price of silence

Je me blesse et recommence

I hurt myself to start again

 

Tu m’as comme donné l’envie d’être moi

You gave me like the need to be me

Donné un sens à mes pourquoi

Gave a sense to my whys

Tu as tué la peur

You killed the fear

Qui dormait là, qui dormait là

Sleeping there, sleeping there

Dans mes bras

In my arms

 

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

You’re the one that’s making me strong

I’ll be looking, looking for

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

Like the melody of my song

 

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

You’re the one that’s making me strong

I’ll be looking, looking for

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

Like the melody of my song

 

J’ai cherché un sens,

I was looking for a sense

un point de repère

A point of reference

Partagé en deux hémisphères

Divided into two hemispheres

Comme une erreur de l’univers

Like an error of the universe

J’ai jeté tellement de bouteilles à la mer

I threw so many bottles into the sea

J’ai bu tant de liqueurs amères

I drank so many bitter liqueurs

Que j’en ai les lèvres de pierre

That I got lips of stone from it

 

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

You’re the one that’s making me strong

I’ll be looking, looking for

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

Like the melody of my song

 

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

You’re the one that’s making me strong

I’ll be looking, looking for

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

Like the melody of my song

 

Au gré de nos blessures

According to our injuries

Et de nos désinvoltures

And to our casualness

C’est quand on n’y croit plus du tout

It’s when you don’t believe in at all,

Qu’on trouve un Paradis perdu

That you will find a paradise lost

 

En nous-ou-ou-ou-ou

Within u-u-us

Oh, you, you, you, you

 

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

You’re the one that’s making me strong

I’ll be looking, looking, looking for

You-ou-ou-ou-ou

Like the melody of my song

Like the melody of my song

Repeat x 2 and fade.

Everybody sing!

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

As June 23rd approaches what could a Brexit do to your finances?

Concerns about a Brexit continue to be in the news but apart from the initial reaction from the currency markets the exchange rates have levelled off and there is very little movement at the moment, but what effect could this have on British property buyers and British expats in France?

The pound fell considerably since David Cameron announced his reform deal for UK membership in February and by the end of the month, the GBP/EUR currency pair was stuttering at a 16-month low.

Market volatility is likely to gain pace and this can have a considerable impact on UK expats trying to sell.

Would 'Brexit' affect my French property purchase?

There are two key factors which could affect your ability to afford a home in France:

Interest rates and mortgage availability.

1. Interest rates

It is unlikely the Bank of England would want to increase interest rates if the UK was suffering adverse effects because of a Brexit.

Low borrowing costs make mortgages more affordable, which in turn may make it easier to sell your UK home in order to fund your move to France or further afield.

2. Mortgages

The banks are likely to be more cautious with their lending. Banks may tighten their lending requirements and reject more mortgage applications than previously, this would mean that you may struggle to get finance, even if, you have a strong credit rating. 

Talk to Tim Durkin at Stag Mortgages about your UK mortgage or re-mortgage plans.

Alternatively you were looking to secure a mortgage in France, you could find yourself subject to very strict lending requirements because the UK would be outside the EU so this means more paperwork and more hoops to jump through. When applying for borrowing in France your debts cannot total more than a "third of your income" which could become problematic if the Pound continues to weaken and you find your Pounds and pence are suddenly worth fewer euros than they were before.

Thinking of applying for a French mortgage then talk to Jonathan Woodcock at LCF Mortgages.

Could 'Brexit' affect how we send money to France?

Indeed a Brexit could change the regulations regarding overseas transfers. If Britain were to leave the EU, there wouldn’t necessarily be an agreement in place between UK and French banks and this would need to be re-written. This means that you would be charged by your destination bank, with no overall regulation regarding the amount that they can charge to receive euros.

Banks will always want to take your money rather than offer the service, only my opinion though! after a lifetime of poor service from most banks.

What affect could a Brexit have on sterling?

As stated at the start of this article the pound has already fallen in value considerably. As of early March, sterling had dropped by over 7% against the euro since the beginning of 2016 following 'Brexit' fears.

Lets put that into hard cash terms, £100,000 transferred at the beginning of January 2016 would have given you 136,460 Euros, but the same amount at the end of February 2016 would be 126,150 Euros. So over the course of 2 months your £100,000 would have dropped in value by €10,310.

Many of the European banks have already released their forecasts on the impact of a Brexit, these vary between a drop in the value of Sterling of between 14% to 20%.

Could £1.00 Equal 1.00 Euro with a Brexit?

Some Banks even predict parity with the euro in the short term, meaning £100,000 would only be worth 100,000 Euros making French property a lot more expensive for you.

Can I protect against Currency Fluctuations?

YES with a Forward Contract:

This service is available through most reputable currency exchange providers that enable you to 'fix a favourable change rate' for up to two years.

This is particularly useful for property buyers as it means you will always know exactly how much you’ll get for your money and can budget effectively and feel safe knowing you will be able to afford the house as there will be no change in your money from making the offer to having pay the balance.

Feel free to contact our currency partner Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link 

Call us to discuss things like the amount of money you are looking to exchange and the time frames you have to work within. We can look into rates for you which can be used to calculate the exact sums of both currencies involved – you’ll know exactly what you’re getting.

If you want to go ahead, we will agree the exchange rate at which your money will be transferred in the future. You will send us a deposit (this is not an extra cost; it’s deducted from the balance you pay in the future). Then, when the transaction reaches the ‘settlement date’, you pay us the balance at the pre-agreed rate. All you need to do then is tell us where to send your money.

Forward contracts can be ideal if you don’t need to make a payment immediately but you can’t afford for the exchange rate to be moving wildly. If, for example, you’ve agreed to buy or sell a house overseas, but the completion date is a few weeks or months away, a Forward contract lets you guarantee the exchange rate, so you know exactly what the house will cost on completion day.

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 at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Currency Update

Thursday 12th May at 09:15 - £1.00 GBP = 1.2644 EUR

A Busy Day

A busier day on the data front yesterday for the pound with manufacturing production, industrial production and GDP estimates all missing forecasts, although improved on previous readings. Following the industrial production numbers the figures highlighted that the UK industry has fallen back into recession for the third time in eight years, with the main contributors being the fall in steel and iron production.

GDP Estimates

The Office for National Statistics stated that production dropped over 37% in this sector compared to a year earlier. Manufacturing also contracted contributing to a slowdown in the overall UK economy.  Chris Williamson chief economist at 'Markit' stated, "The goods producing sector therefore looks to be on course to act as a drag on the economy again in the second quarter, contributing to a slowing in economic growth to near stagnation." The NIESR GDP estimates posted a figure of 0.3% down from the previous 0.4% reading. The NIESR argued that the slowdown in this growth has been down to concerns surrounding the referendum. Also stating that if the UK was to leave the EU then sterling would slide by a fifth with inflation spiking higher.

EU Referendum

Elsewhere in the news, George Osborne continued his campaign to keep the UK in the EU by stating that the Bank of England would face a big challenge if we were to leave with monetary policy proving difficult to manage and the UK having to deal with a number of impacts on the financial system.

The Day Ahead

For the day ahead, we have more from a data perspective, with the return of Super Thursday which includes the May monetary policy meeting along with May's inflation report, and finally a press conference from BoE Governor Mark Carney. May's inflation report will garner the most attention as the market will be watching for any updates on April's cautious tone, however, excluding any surprises we are more likely to see a flat Thursday as opposed to the former.

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

Hello Sharon,

As you know I have recently completed the purchased of the property in Lower Normandy.  

Thank you very much for helping to make this dream come true.

Very best wishes, Mr Ralph.

Our client only went to see one house because using his criteria we were able to narrow down the search and send him to see the house that matched his needs, it is a bit like 'matchmaking' ! he visited, he liked and he bought so congrats to David at the start of his French Property Ownership journey.

If you are looking to view and buy a house in Normandy, let Cle France guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"

LOOKING FOR THE PERECT HOLIDAY HOME ?

  This property is 'New on the market' this week so we thought we would show it to you first just in case it is what you have been looking for?   No need for any messing renovation, this property is ready to enjoy from day one and is being sold with all the principal furniture left in place and included in the price which is 32,700 euros plus notaire fees.   Click on the image to see inside this delightful cottage that we think is perfect as a Holiday Home, it even has a perfectly sized garden.     This property is Perfect as Holiday Home, situated in Madré, Mayenne, Pays de la Loire (ref: YTR00904) €32,700.   Situated in the village of Madre, we have this stone house of approximatively 40 m2, ideal as a holiday home and you could move straight in and enjoy as the principal furniture can be left in place and is included in the price, arrive with just your overnight bag.     KEY FEATURES -    Ground floor: entrance, fitted kitchen, living room with fireplace and wood-burner, bathroom, toilet.   First floor: 2 bedrooms upstairs.   Cellar and Garden of around 200 m2.   Wood burner heating system.   House connected to mains drainage.     Visit the Clé France website for our full selection of property and remember when buying with Cle France our services are free.

PROPERTY OF THE WEEK

We feature some of our best and most interesting properties as "Property of the Week" and you will find this on our homepage (on the left) we feature our most interesting and well priced houses across France.

We have something rather exceptional and exclusive to Cle France for you this week.

€32,700   House Perfect as Holiday Home - Madré, Pays de la Loire (ref: YTR00904)
Bedrooms: 2   Land M2: 220.00 sq meters    Situated in the village of Madre, we have this stone house of approximatively 40 m2, ideal as a holiday home and you could move straight in and enjoy as the principal furniture can be left in place and is included in the price, arrive with just your overnight bag. GROUND FLOOR: entrance, fitted kitchen, living room with fireplace and wood-burner, bathroom, toilet. FIRST FLOOR: 2 bedrooms (...)

Ready to move into   Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.