RSS Feed

Related Articles

Related Categories

French holiday homes that can produce a year-round income

14th July 2011 Print
MGM Bourg

Demand for holiday homes which also produce an investment income on the edge of Bourg St Maurice, a bustling French Alpine town easily accessible from the UK by train, car or by air, means that all but five of the 45 properties have been sold.

Popular throughout the year – and with a number of top ski resorts on its doorstep in the winter months – Bourg St Maurice is located at the heart of the Tarentaise Valley.

The recently-completed brand new résidence de tourisme –  Le Coeur d’Or, built by the region’s leading developer MGM – has four-star facilities including an indoor pool, fitness suite, gym, sauna, jacuzzi and steam rooms. A beauty centre offers a variety of massages and treatments. The development includes a sporting centre, cinema and conference rooms.

The apartments have been planned, furnished and decorated to optimize space and natural light. Living rooms open on to balconies or terraces and most of them have panoramic mountain views.

Unlike other developers who rely on third parties to manage and let the properties in their leaseback résidences, MGM provides buyers with what it describes as ‘a first-class seamless service’ by working closely with the group’s specialist hotel management company – La Compagnie de Gestion Hoteliere (CGH).

It enables the group to offer a holistic service embracing the planning, design, construction, sale, maintenance, letting and management of the properties it builds.

Owners of the apartments can exchange their weeks to stay in other MGM / CGH résidences in resorts which include Tignes, Ste Foy en Tarentaise, La Rosiere, Plagne Soleil, Peisey-Vallandry, Les Saisies and Les Houches. Others are in Les Carroz, Samoens, Chamonix, Montgenevre and Serre Chevalier. 

At this time of year, when temperatures can reach 35 degrees Celsius, mountain trails for hiking and biking through Alpine scenery and fresh air start in the town. Its low altitude – just 800 metres – suits the health of many older people although ski resorts higher up the mountains are easy to reach in the winter.

In the ski season Bourg St Maurice becomes a popular ‘hub’ for coach services to centres which include Tignes, Val d’Isere, La Rosiere, Vallandry and La Plagne. A six-minute funicular railway links Bourg St Maurice with Les Arcs 1600 and the 420 km of pistes of the Paradiski skiing area.

The nearest airports are at Chambery (70 minutes away by road) and Lyon (one hour and 45 minutes). Driving from the UK takes around eight hours after completing the Channel crossing to Calais. In the ski season Eurostar trains link London St Pancras with  Bourg St Maurice railway station which is a few minutes walk from Le Coeur d’Or.

The prices of apartments still available at Le Coeur d’Or – which exclude French VAT at 19.6 per cent, waived under the leaseback scheme – start at €300,000 for a two-bedroom duplex with a floor area of 70 sq m rising to €388,000 for a four-bedroom property of 87 sq m. Prices include underground parking space, cellar and ski locker.

For more information, visit mgmfrenchproperties.com.

More Photos - Click to Enlarge

MGM Bourg