How do I find French domestic maintenance services for my second home?

Reader question: How can I find someone who will take care of my property when I am not in France?

Firms that specialise in looking after second homes for absent owners exist and can be found by searching for property managers (gestionnaire immobilière).

Services can include cleaning and gardening as well as mail collection and pool preparation.

The sector boomed during Covid when people were unable to visit their second homes for long stretches of time.

Expect to pay around €20 an hour, depending on the service required.

If you decide to let your second home, certain estate agents and firms offer gestion locataire or conciergerie de location saisonnière to deal with letting practicalities and arrange for maintenance and cleaning between rentals.

Alternatively, ask local handypeople to keep an eye on the property if you trust them enough to leave a key with them.

If you decide to employ such workers directly, you can use the online service TPEE to simplify the hiring formalities.

This service also enables you to calculate and pay the required social security contributions by bank transfer, cheque or cash.

Note that if you are aged 70 or more, you are exempt from social security employer contributions for sickness, old age and family allowances, though you may still be expected to pay other employer and employee contributions.

If you would rather pay an established firm or association to do the work, the government maintains an online directory of registered personal services organisations.

You can search for around 10 different services at the same time in your local area.

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