Sell UK property & reinvest in what whilst living in France?

[Strazzy]

I own outright a holiday let property. Owned since 2018. We moved to France in 2023 and are settled there.
Holiday let generates £12,000ish after tax, we use that income on a monthly basis also. It's a decent income but it's just that, 'decent'... Part of me wants to sell- the flat is worth roughly £250,000.

The thing I like is still having property in the UK, which I consider a good thing as the UK property market is generally a strong one. It's also a psychological link of still keeping a link with the UK.
It just doesn't generate a ton of income and is costing me a lot in various fees (especially as I'm no longer around to do the work). Lick of paint yearly, a few things inevitably break, insurances, tax, parking permit etc... All this is also assuming I have good guests (touch wood I've been ok but you only need the once!).

Is there anything else out there I could invest in, providing me with monthly interest? Also not living in the UK could I still invest that money over there?

Thank you

[paul.deitch]

Many years ago I was faced with the same problem. I had two houses in the UK. I sold everything to stop tax liability and moved everything offshore until I needed the money for another investment in another country.

[skeeterm5]

Don’t forget you will be liable for capital gains tax if you sell, which could be 24% if you are a high rate tax payer, 18% if not, which may be worth factoring into your calculations.

[ferret50]

£250000 invested in a Structured Product such as this... https://www.moneyworld.com/savings-investments/str... ...would generate £14100pa and pays monthly'

BUT

Read the T&C's carefully and I have no idea if you can invest whilst not having a UK address.

That is the first hit on Moneyworld's website, there are others that may be more suitable.

[rdjohn]

The world has changed a lot since we were in an identical position in 2006. It seemed that no one in the UK wanted to know you unless you had a UK address. So we rented out MIL’s bungalow and rented our apartment as a serviced apartment (classed as a holiday rental by HMRC) but we lived there about 10-weeks per year. Thus creating a grey area - we were tax resident in France, but we also resided in the UK. Most institutions ask the second question that we could answer YES to.

Investing in France seems utterly pointless, they only wanted to sell products that saved you a bit on tax. Livre A was their best offering for cash deposits. It seemed to be about 1% up to €20k most of the time.

I needed an accountant in both countries but we felt is was well worth it. Capital appreciation on our French home was pretty negligent over 18-years (I built at about €1.55 and sold when Truss crashed Sterling at about €1.15) so there was an untaxed gain. The gain on our UK investments helped offset this.

When we sold, we had already purchased another apartment in Spain, but became tax resident in UK and lived in the flat for about 18-months prior to moving somewhere bigger, last year.

In retrospect everything has worked out well for us, but we never set out to plan it that way, our primary aim was to enjoy a good life, living in France.

Edited by rdjohn on Saturday 8th March 19:19