Buying in Paris vs the UK: costs and taxes

In Paris the purchase taxes are the same for everyone and the banks are the strict ones. Back home the lenders are more flexible, but stamp duty punishes anyone who lives abroad or owns a second home.

The short version

Anyone can buy in France, and there's no foreign-buyer tax. On an older Paris flat, transfer taxes are about 6.32% of the price, and "notaire fees" all in come to roughly 7% to 8% [7].
Back home, a £300,000 house costs £11,000 in stamp duty if you buy while living abroad, and £26,000 if you also keep your Paris flat [1].
French banks cap total debt payments at 35% of income and loans at 25 years, with a little room for exceptions [10]. UK lenders set their own rules.
Selling a French home you don't live in costs 19% income tax plus a 7.5% levy for UK residents, falling away the longer you own it [8].
Selling a UK home from Paris means a 60-day report to HMRC, tax or no tax [5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

What a Brit can buy in Paris, compared

France doesn't restrict foreign buyers. A Brit can buy a studio in the 11th, a family flat in the 15th or a house in Vincennes on exactly the same terms as a Parisian. What you can't do is buy your way into residence: a flat doesn't give you a visa or a right to stay beyond 90 days in 180.

In Paris you're almost always buying a flat in a copropriété, the French version of a block where every owner holds their flat outright plus a share of the common parts. There's no freeholder and no lease running down, which is a welcome change from English leasehold. Instead, the owners' general meeting votes the budget and any big works, like the façade or the lift, and you pay your share. The notaire runs the sale; our guide to buying property in France takes you through the compromis, the 10-day cooling-off period and the diagnostics.

Back in the UK anyone can buy too, freehold for most houses and leasehold for most flats in England and Wales. The difference is less about tenure and more about tax.

Upfront costs side by side

We've used a EUR 360,000 older flat in Paris, which is about the same money as a £300,000 house back home at our rate. In Paris that buys a small one-bedroom flat or a large studio.

	Paris (older flat, EUR 360,000)	England (house, £300,000)
Foreign-buyer surcharge	None	2% if you weren't in the UK for 183 days in the 12 months before buying [1]
Transfer taxes	About 6.32% with the 5% departmental rate: EUR 22,750 (about £18,950) [7]	SDLT at standard rates: £5,000 [1]
Buying while living abroad, no other home	Same	£11,000 [1]
Keeping or buying another home anywhere	Same	£20,000 if you're UK resident, £26,000 if you're also non-resident [1]
First-time buyers	Spared the 2025 rise: about 5.81%, or EUR 20,900 (about £17,400) [7]	Nothing up to £300,000, but the 2% still applies if non-resident [1]
New build	Reduced rate of 0.70% plus charges; VAT already in the price [7]	Same SDLT as a resale
Other fees	Notaire's regulated fee, 0.10% property security contribution, disbursements [7]	Solicitor or conveyancer, searches, Land Registry

Since 1 April 2025, départements can charge 5% instead of 4.5% on deeds signed up to 31 March 2028, and Paris does [7]. Even so, the French bill doesn't change because you own a cottage in Dorset. England's 5% higher rate does care about the Paris flat: HMRC counts residential property you own anywhere in the world worth £40,000 or more [1]. Buy back home as a non-resident, spend 183 days in the UK within a year, and you can claim the 2% back.

Scotland and Wales have their own taxes. Scotland's Additional Dwelling Supplement is a flat 8% for contracts from 5 December 2024, so £24,000 on £300,000 on top of the normal Land and Buildings Transaction Tax [2]. In Wales, Land Transaction Tax main rates start with 0% up to £225,000, so a first home at £300,000 pays £4,500, while the higher rates from 11 December 2024 come to £19,950 [3]. Neither has a non-resident surcharge.

Financing: French bank or UK lender?

In France, the Haut Conseil de stabilité financière (HCSF) rule caps total debt payments, including insurance, at 35% of income and loan terms at 25 years. Banks can go beyond that on up to 20% of new lending, mostly kept for main homes and first-time buyers [10]. French banks also want borrower life cover (assurance emprunteur), and lending to non-residents or to people paid in sterling is harder and often needs a bigger deposit. Many French buyers fix the rate for the whole term, which is rare back home.

Back home, a UK mortgage while you live in Paris is possible, but plenty of high-street lenders won't count euro income. Specialist lenders will, usually with a bigger deposit and the FCA's foreign-currency loan rules in the background. Our guide to UK mortgages for Brits living abroad explains them.

Owning it: property tax and running costs

In Paris, every owner pays taxe foncière, the property tax, set on the cadastral rental value rather than the price. Ask to see the seller's last bill before you sign, as the year's tax is usually shared between you at completion. If the flat is your main home, there's no taxe d'habitation any more. If it's a second home, you still pay taxe d'habitation, and Paris adds a surcharge for second homes on top. Add the copropriété charges, which in a Haussmann building with a lift and a gardienne can be substantial.

In England, council tax is by valuation band, and since 1 April 2025 councils can charge up to double on second homes. Most do. A UK house left empty while you're in Paris can cost twice the normal bill.

Letting your UK home puts you in the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. If your usual home is abroad, your letting agent (or a tenant paying more than £100 a week) takes basic-rate tax off the rent each quarter unless HMRC approves you to receive it gross [4]. You apply on form NRL1 and still file a Self Assessment return. Our guide to renting out your UK home explains it. As a French resident, you declare the rent in France too, and the double taxation convention stops it being taxed twice in full.

Tax when you sell

The France side

A French resident selling their main home pays no tax on the gain. For anything else, including a Paris flat you own while living in the UK, the gain is taxed at 19% income tax plus social charges [8]. UK residents keep their post-Brexit exemption from CSG and CRDS and pay only the 7.5% solidarity levy, rather than the 17.2% charged to most non-EU residents [8].

The longer you own it, the less you pay. Taper relief starts in year six: the gain is free of income tax after 22 years and free of social charges after 30 [8]. Sell after four years with a EUR 60,000 gain and you'd pay about EUR 15,900 (about £13,250). Large gains can also attract an extra surcharge. Non-residents selling above EUR 150,000 usually need a tax representative in France, unless the sale is fully exempt [8].

One post-Brexit catch: the exemption of up to EUR 150,000 of gain on a former home is for EU and EEA nationals, so a British passport doesn't qualify [9]. If you move back to the UK, check whether the separate exemption for selling your former main home by 31 December of the following year, unlet, applies to you [9].

The UK side

Selling a UK home while you live in Paris. Non-residents pay UK capital gains tax on UK property and must report every sale within 60 days of completion, even if there's no tax to pay [5]. For 2025/26 and 2026/27 the rates are 18% and 24%, with a £3,000 annual exempt amount [6]. Private residence relief can cover the years you lived there, but the rules for years abroad are tight. Our guide to selling UK property as a non-resident explains it.

Selling the Paris flat once you're back in the UK. As a UK resident you're taxed on gains anywhere in the world. Under the UK–France double taxation convention, France can tax gains on French property, and the UK gives credit for the French tax against your UK bill. Work the gain out in pounds, using the exchange rate on the purchase and sale dates. With French taper relief and the UK's 18% or 24%, the two bills rarely match neatly, so a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

Which makes sense for whom

On a two- or three-year posting. Renting is usually the sensible default. Around 7% to 8% in buying costs takes years of price growth to earn back.
Settling in Paris for good. Buying a main home means no French tax on the gain when you sell, and the copropriété spares you English leasehold headaches. Budget for the charges.
Keeping the UK house as a let. Sort the NRL1 first, check your mortgage allows letting, and expect to declare the rent in France as well.
Keeping a Paris pied-à-terre after moving home. Doable, but you'll pay taxe d'habitation and the Paris surcharge, and buying in the UK later means the 5% higher rate.

Compare notes on notaires, banks and copropriété meetings with others in our community group for Brits in France.

Buying in Paris vs back in the UK: notaire fees, the 35% rule and two taxmen