Senator calls for improved visa rules for second home-owners in France amid wildfire risk

A French senator has called for easier visa access for Britons and other non-EU nationals with second homes in France, so they can maintain properties amid wildfire risks. 

Senator Lauriane Josende, of Les Républicains, raised the issue in a written question to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez earlier this month. 

Her main argument is that a special new visa or easier access to existing visas would help Britons with second homes have more freedom to complete their mandatory undergrowth clearance requirements.

This, it is argued, would help reduce the risk and intensity of wildfires in France, following a record-breaking summer of blazes. 

“Following this summer’s catastrophic wildfires, it is not just an administrative consequence of Brexit. There really is a safety issue here,” the senator for Pyrénées-Oritentales (Occitanie) said to UK media outlet The Telegraph. 

It is the latest in a number of requests by senators and MPs for Britons with second homes to be able to obtain longer visas or simplify visa rules.

In 2024, parliament passed a law offering very simple ‘automatic’ visas to the group, but it was struck out at the last minute by the Conseil contitutionnel, which said it was insufficiently linked to a law it had been attached to as an amendment. 

Since Brexit no rule changes have been made.

Undergrowth clearance rules difficult to perform

Currently, Britons with second homes in France are limited by the EU’s 90/180 day rule, with no special concessions for owning a property. 

This is a longstanding Schengen area rule, not specific to France. 

To stay in France and the Schengen area longer than this, they need to apply for a VLS-T visa for up to six months, which is admin-heavy, costly and also requires an in-person appointment at one of just three UK visa centres. 

Applicants must wait six months between one VLS-T visa ending and a new one starting, further limiting how long someone can stay in France (although they can combine the visa with their 90-day allowance).

Ms Josende said this limitation on when homeowners can visit their French properties limits their ability to carry out undergrowth clearance (débroussaillage) regulations. These are obligatory rules aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires spreading to buildings and improving access for firefighters.

Homeowners in several departments across France – many popular with Britons who have second homes in the area – are required to clear properties of vegetation and undergrowth around buildings on their property. Trees must also be trimmed and roads cleared of excess vegetation

This usually applies in a 50-metre radius, but can be extended up to 200m in some wooded areas at the highest risk of blazes. 

Those who fail to do so face fines and prosecution if lack of completion leads to wildfire issues.

More information can be seen in our article here.

French authorities estimate that 90% of homes destroyed in wildfires are located on plots where undergrowth clearance is not successfully carried out.

It is often advised to tackle the requirements over several months, cutting back bushes, branches and heavier vegetation in autumn and winter and doing lighter maintenance in the spring. Legal deadlines fall before the main summer period when fire risk is highest.

For second homeowners however, the limits on the time they can spend in France make this more difficult to carry out, particularly when many want to spend their allowance in the summer, after deadlines have passed.

Time restrictions limit ability to fight fires

It is indeed these time restrictions that Ms Josende highlights.

Several instances of Britons who had used up their 90-day allowance and could not come to France to complete undergrowth clearance, or to check on properties when wildfires sprung up nearby, were reported.

This included those who had applied for visas but were unable to obtain appointments during the run-up to summer, the busiest time for appointments.

This summer has also seen wildfires spring up across several months, making it difficult to predict how long an owner would need to stay in the country in the event of a blaze. 

“I can’t say, ‘I’ll ask for four months’ visa and I’ll go April, May, June, July’ and the fires come all of September… it’s just impractical” said second home-owner Paula Moore to The Telegraph. 

Widening rules 

The senator however considers that a Britons-only exemption could be unlikely to pass into law.

“I think that if we limit it to the British, there’s a risk of it being unconstitutional, in the sense that we’d be favouring one nationality over another.” 

However, she proposed that a second-home visa could be extended to all non-EU citizens with properties in France, including Americans, Canadians, Australians, etc.