French Property: As safe as houses - holiday homes
Many readers will shortly be thinking of closing their French home down and returning to the UK after short or long stays across the Channel. The house may then be unoccupied until half term, Christmas or even next Easter. Meanwhile burglars, storms and failed systems could wreak havoc, undetected until the hapless owner returns. Taking simple precautions to keep your holiday home safe makes sense, and needn’t cost a fortune. The number one priority should be to find a competent French-speaking caretaker or keyholder whom you can trust to check the house regularly.You need someone on the spot to handle problems while you are away – anything from forwarding post to organising a roofer for emergency repairs or dealing with a bee swarm in the chimney. Check they are a Frenchregistered business and ask for references – you’re trusting them with your property, so don't leave things to chance.
Insurance Think about security and read your home insurance policy. If you are in doubt about your cover, ask the insurance agent to call around. He may tell you your door locks do not comply, i.e. that they are too easy to break, or that you must fit security bars inside your shutters so they can't easily be forced open. Failure to comply with the company's requirements could mean claims are invalid. If you intend leaving valuables such as ride-on mowers and power tools in garages, barns or outhouses these too should be fitted with decent doors and locks. Insurers do not usually consider a padlock on a shed as a ‘proper’ lock. A simple solution might be to store tools in the house while you’re away.
High technology You could invest in intruder detectors linked to your computer in the UK, and on devices to turn lights, heating and even water on and off from a distance. I know someone who checked views of his house in France from home three times a day. He watched the sangliers (wild boar) ruining his lawns and romping over the pool cover, but he couldn't do much about it! Neither could he identify the hooded burglars who shot at the outside camera, sprayed paint over the inside ones and stole his security system modem and computer – and nicked his new golf clubs too. System control devices to run your heating etc can't always cope with the power cuts often suffered in rural France, and in my experience are notoriously unreliable.
If a mouse chews through the system’s wires, what are you going to do? If the system tells you the EDF disjoncteur has developed a fault, the EDF call centre will want to know if an electrician has checked your equipment before they send a technician.You will have to organise that, and subsequent access for the EDF. If there's a leak under a sink when the water is turned on, you will need to get keys and instructions to a plumber to fix it – the thing won't do it for you! In other words, you still need an on-the-spot keyholder. While the sun is still shining, check roofs and clean out gutters, making sure they can cope with the worst of the winter weather. Fix any loose shutters and windows. If you expect any building work to be done over the winter, a gentle reminder to the chaps concerned might not go amiss. If you have been dithering, make sure you have signed the devis otherwise your job will end up at the back of the queue.
Uninvited guests Small furry animals will shortly be looking for winter quarters, and empty homes, even unheated ones, can be appealing. It is almost impossible to keep mice at bay, but you can do a lot towards discouraging them from taking up permanent residence. Cleanliness and tidiness are important – if there are no crumbs to munch on, and all foods especially pasta, breakfast cereals, biscuits and rice are in firmly sealed jars and tins, they won’t be so keen to stay. Some houses seem to be prone to mouse invasions, so when you are away you need to be sure someone is checking frequently to fight the war on your behalf. Traps may not appeal to the squeamish, but they have their uses. Poison is available in boxes of sachets which you place in corners and under cupboards. These are much safer to use than the brightly coloured granules, which you leave out in little dishes. If you forget to pick these up on your return you could have a sick child or pet on your hands, as the grains look very tempting.
Damp and mould Mould is another common problem in unoccupied homes especially in below-ground rooms where ventilation tends to be poor. Pull all the furniture away from the walls before you leave, and if possible store bedding and soft furnishings from below-ground rooms in more airy spaces upstairs. Make sure your kitchen is spotlessly clean before you go, mould loves greasy kitchen dirt. If your kitchen units are built against a wall which suffers from damp, leave the cupboard doors open and take the drawers out. This will allow more air to circulate and will alleviate the problem. Turn the water off at the mains when you go, especially if your house is unheated. Leave taps open and flush the WC cisterns to leave them empty. Don’t forget garden taps. If you can drain down the system, do so. Set your heating to frost control if possible, it’s not a waste of money, burst pipes are expensive to fix. Think twice about leaving a freezer full of food for your return, a power cut of just a few days can result in an unhealthy mess. If you are not leaving any appliances ‘on’, turn off the electricity. Turn gas bottles to fermé. Perhaps after all this work, next year you’ll move to France for an easy life!
Mary Hall is a chartered surveyor who lives in south-west France Tel: 0033 (0)5 65 24 66 46 hall.bureau@neuf.fr