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Retired British Home Owners in Rural France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Keith Hoggart  and
Henry Buller
Keith Hoggart
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, U.K.
Henry Buller
Affiliation:
Département de Géographie, Université de Paris VII, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251 Paris Cedex 05, France.
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Abstract

Drawing on a survey of 406 British home owners in France, this study examines the origins, destinations and reasons for purchasing homes in rural France. In doing so it compares first home retired households with their pre-retirement counterparts and with second home owners who are retired. No notable differences are found in the geographical distribution or reasons for selecting home locations between these groups. However, patterns of retirement migration to France do appear to differ from intra-national long-distance migration within Britain and North America. Pointers to these differences are given and suggestions for future research are made. In addition, despite family visits and the friendship that people find in their recipient French communities, it is suggested that potential problems could arise for residents in relatively isolated rural communes. More research is needed to assess whether the positive attractions that are drawing retirement migrants from Britain to France will outweigh the negative consequences of their new home location.

Keywords

International migrationmigrant motivationsfamily dispersalrural amenity
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , September 1995 , pp. 325 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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