Brexit boom hits Dordogne real estate agencies

If you’re determined to emigrate to France but you’re as yet uncertain exactly where, Eymet might be the perfect choice.

The peaceful southwestern corner of France is already a magnet for Brits desperate for a better quality of life, with the charming small Dordogne town of Eymet home to a sizeable expatriate community. Real estate agents in the area had factored in an increase in property sales as Brexit looms nearer, but were totally unprepared for the influx of British buyers since the beginning of this year. During the first two months of 2018, one agency had already reached almost a third of their estimated annual sales, and they're not the only ones.

Terrie Simpson works for an Eymet estate agency and describes the rush to buy as a bid to beat a fast-approaching deadline. She told local media she’d had prospective buyers saying they were in the town for just a week, and needed to buy a house before they left. Terri believes Brits now realise the clock’s ticking and need to sort everything necessary to retain their rights by getting in and qualifying for French residency by the time Brexit is official. Another British-run property shop is seeing the same rush to buy, with interest levels topping 20 times the norm for the time of year.

Eymet’s British expat community numbers around 400 out of the total population of 2,600, ensuring a busy social life as well as the ability to buy long-time British food favourites such as Oxford marmalade and digestive biscuits. Long-term older retirees are now concerned about their futures, but the surprise Brexit boom in new arrivals is being fuelled by younger Britons making the move out of sheer disgust as the way their home country is being led to the slaughter. Many of the new arrivals are looking to start businesses in the area.

House-hunters Tom and Ella are searching for their dream home near Bergerac, and are determined to have left the UK and registered as EU citizens in France by the start of the status quo transition period in late March next year. Tom works remotely, so income won’t be a problem. Another freelancer, illustrator Lisa Reynolds, has just made an offer on a property and hopes to move in this summer, along with her daughter who’s due to start primary school in September. Older, long-term residents fear further drops in the value of sterling will affect their pensions even more, with some now taking pin-money jobs in order to survive. No-one, it seems, is considering a move back to the UK.