News on overseas home ownership in Languedoc, the south of France:

Montpellier’s weekly newspaper La Gazette has just published some interesting figures about the numbers and nationality of overseas home owners in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. According to La Gazette, 10 per cent of all second homes in the Languedoc belong to owners who reside permanently outside of France, as revealed in a survey published by the DRE (la Direction Régionale de l’Equipement).

1. 28,000 or 10 per cent of Languedoc’s holiday homes belong to non-French owners (the national average is 7.9 per cent)
2. In certain areas, second home ownership by non-French nationals is as high as 35 per cent (in the Uzège area of the Gard department), 33 per cent (around Barjac, in the Gard), or 20 – 25 per cent (rural areas of the Hérault and Gard).
3. The profile of these home owners is markedly different to that of French householders; 60 per cent are aged under 60 (French second home owners in the Languedoc tend to be older – only 45 per cent are under 60), and they prefer the hinterland.
4. 41.6 per cent of second home owners in the Languedoc are German, 39.1 per cent are British, 37.6 per cent are Swiss, 36.4 per cent are Belgian, 17.5 per cent are Spanish (mainly concentrated in the Pyrenees-Orientales) and 15.6 per cent are Dutch
5. The Languedoc-Roussillon region comprises 300,000 holiday homes, of which 100,000 are located in the Herault department; 60 per cent of these homes are situated on or very near the coast.