According to Le Monde newspaper, the traditionally quiet Limousin region, situated in central France, has been attracting an increasing number of British buyers over the past 12 months due to the fact the region is recognised as being the cheapest in France. "It's true that Limousin is the current craze for British buyers and has been for two or more years", agrees John Hart of A House In France. "Where else can you buy a good stone farmhouse, with two or three acres of land, fishing lakes not far away and woods to wander in, for the price of what a modest three-up, two-down would cost in Middle England, and still have change?"

Hart says that properties in need of renovation have become particularly popular with British purchasers in recent years. "I proportionately have more enquiries for the Limousin than I do for the usual favourites, Normandy and Brittany, where rundown properties to do up have grown scarce."  Hart is not the only agent who has noticed an obvious increase in the amount of British attention being paid towards the region. "At the moment 75 per cent of my British buyers are asking for a property in the Limousin", says Gilles Portebos of Chateaux and Belles Demeures de France. Portebos highlights a difference in tastes between French and British property owners as a reason why Brits have become increasingly fond of Limousin while the French have continued to ignore and, in fact, even move away from the region. "British people tend to want to be in a countryside region where there are no big farms and no big fields", he explains. "They usually like hilly regions, with lakes, rivers and forests, located away from industrial areas and environmental nuisances, such as a nuclear power station, and with only a few inhabitants nearby. "Limousin meets all these criteria and the asking price of properties in the region are, at the moment, very attractive." However, Hart warns that with British interest in Limousin showing no signs of waning and with even more cheap flights set to serve the area soon – Brieve airport in southern Limousin is due to open in 2007 – property prices have already started to rise. "Limousin prices have already began to respond to the interest and purchasers with £50,000 hoping for a ranch will no longer be able to find one."

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Article published on 28 May 2006