Well it’s been a frustrating few weeks and we have gone round in circles with the drawings, planning and mortgage. Unfortunately we are delayed by a couple of months for submitting planning, as the 1st architect that was appointed could not produce drawings until April. A 2nd was quickly  appointed and the same problem manifested, no availability until April. So after a lot of research, I found an architect who can start next week, her name is Jo Lavery and it turns out she lives in Montriond and is on the planning committee, so that’s a real bonus.  Jo has already got us to the stage where we can submit our mortgage application as she has provided a thorough break down of build costs and fee’s etc.

On that last point, our budget is somewhat less now as there were some fee’s we did not know about despite all our research. So any budding self builder out there can learn from this. There are a few things outside the Architects fee’s that we did not allow for, such as the new development tax’s (taking over from the old system of charges for building new).  The new system is more expensive and we are estimating around 9k for this, it could be less but it could be worse. Each area/commune is different and we won’t know the exact cost until the new system starts in March (not great for budgeting).  The one cost that I am struggling with is “Assurances Dommage & Ouvrage” (ADO).  Because we are building the Chalet as a business and hence claiming back the TVA (19.6%), it is obligatory to take this insurance out and we have to have it to secure the mortgage. “WHAT IS IT?” I here you ask. Well, it goes like this; all the builders will have their own 10 year insurance against any build defects or issues, however if a problem arises, lets say a leak that flooded the ground floor,  the repairs cannot be done until it’s established what and who is responsible, so in essence it could sit like that for months while everyone argues the toss. So ADO is essentially a policy that should the aforementioned occur, then they pay out and get the problem/repairs done and then fight it out afterwards with the relevant builders. The cost to cover the builders 10 year insurance……………10-15,000 euros…………….ouch!

To make this worse I will still need a very expensive house insurance policy as per standard in France, so I will have insurance on insurance on yes another insurance………….C’est la vie as they say in France.

We are still searching everyday for suitable rental property in the area of Montiond, ready for our move up there in May. At the rate we are going we may have to live in the Mazot on the land!!!!

So we are now moving in a positive direction and progress of any kind is a good thing.

Bye for now, Steve & Lindsay

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We have finally signed the land purchase documents this week, but not without a great deal of problems. It turns out the access road is private and not owned by the Montriond commune, this presented several problems with connecting to the public services such as water and waste etc. However with much negotiation, the Marie of  Montriond have agreed to take the road into the commune and therefore will provide the services up to the building plot…………..hooray.

We are currently in the process of finalising the drawings and costings for the build in order to approach the banks for the business mortgage we require. In the current global economic climate, this is now our biggest challenge. However we are hopeful that a positive outcome will be achieved and in 4-6 weeks we will get the approval and  can move on the the planning permission stage.

As I sit here writing this in south west France, the snow has and is falling. Snow is quire rare here and looking out of the window it could be the Alps, talking of the Alps and Mozine, the snow has been outstanding this year and the ski season is going very well.

Enough for now, next update in  a few weeks when I will post some drawings for the chalet.

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After almost 4 very enjoyable years in the Charente, we have decided to sell the house and move to the Alps to pursue our ambition of running a ski chalet. Steve finished the house renovation in May this year and was able to take a step back from all his hard work and has enjoyed improving his handicap at Cognac Golf Club. We didn’t have the house on the market, and hadn’t intended to move on for another year or so, but we received an offer from one of our gite guests and thought that maybe the time was right to start yet another project.

We plan to move to the Alps in May 2012 and are in the process of purchasing a plot of land in Montriond, which is close to the slopes of both Avoriaz and Morzine/Les Gets. Steve will then project manage a new build ski chalet with 5 en-suite letting bedrooms, which we plan to launch for the beginning of the ski season in 2013. As well as offering a fully catered ski chalet we’re also be offering accommodation during the Summer Season. This isn’t the first time we’ve looked at starting a ski chalet business and hopefully this time, we can make it happen. We’re really looking forward to this next project and as our hearts have always been in the Alps, the next couple of years promises both challenges and excitement.

As we said previously, we have had a wonderful time in the Charente and have made some great friends who we will miss. We have enjoyed our time running the gite and again met some lovely people who came as guests and left as friends. Thank you to all our clients and friends for supporting us over the last few years and we hope to see you in the Alps. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Lindsay & Steve Butcher

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