News Digest: France’s Shock Election Results & Good News About French Mortgages

After a projected victory for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) party, France’s long-standing “front republicain” (a historic truce that sees both left and centre parties uniting to prevent the far right from coming into power) won out in the second round of France’s parliamentary elections. After the RN took the lead in constituencies around France during the first round of elections, and the prospect of an RN government seeming almost inevitable, the results of the second and final round of elections last Sunday, July 7th, shocked the nation.

The final results show the Nouveau Front Populaire (the alliance of leftist parties that includes La France Insoumise, Le Parti Socialiste, Les Écologistes, and le Parti communiste) taking the lead with 182 seats, followed by Macron’s centrist party with 168. Frontrunners RN ended up in third place with 143 seats, followed by the centre-right Les Républicains with just 45 seats. You can see the full breakdown of seats here.

While the results are being hailed as a solid victory against the rise of the far-right – and are no doubt reassuring for foreign citizens resident in France – it’s not good news overall for the French government. With no one party acquiring the 289 seats needed for a majority in parliament, the next question is who will Macron appoint as Prime Minister?

As is customary if their party does not win an election, current Prime Minister Gabriel Attal tended his resignation on Monday, but it was later announced that Macron had refused his resignation, instead asking him to remain in position temporarily “to ensure the country’s stability”. However, it’s not clear how long this interim period will last.

As the dust settles post-elections, all eyes will be on the President over the coming weeks as the future of the French government hangs in limbo. Possible outcomes include a cohabitation between Macron’s Ensemble ! party and the NFP, a coalition of different political groups, or even a minority government. As always, we’ll keep you informed of any updates.

Whatever your political leaning, there’s no doubt that the recent election results are good news for foreigners looking to buy property or move to France. We’ve got some more great news for property hunters, too, especially those hoping to finance their purchase with a French mortgage.

While the French mortgage market has undoubtedly suffered a difficult couple of years, it seems that the tide has finally turned, especially for overseas buyers. Our partners at International Private Finance (IPF) are blasting the misconception that lending isn’t available for non-residents in France. “It most certainly is!” they told us, “In fact, the number of banks on our panel has more than doubled in the last 12 months to over 20 different retail banks, not including specialist lenders.”

Even better news is that as the number of mortgage options continues to increase, interest rates continue to fall. “We were delighted to see the ECB cut the base rate on 12th June from 0.25% to 4.25%,” said IPF founder & managing director Fiona Watts, “As a result, we have seen mortgage rates fall by as much as 0.50%. For a €500,000 mortgage over a 15-year term, that would equate to a saving of €18,450/£15,635 (€1.18).”

Find out more about whether you’re eligible for a French mortgage and how much you might be able to borrow by clicking the link below.

We’ve been busy behind the scenes at FrenchEntrée this past week, and I’m excited to announce a whole new schedule of upcoming webinars. We’ve got a great mix of topics coming up and some exciting expert panels featuring both trusted favourites and some new faces. Whether planning your viewing trip to France, seeking out French property investment opportunities, or moving to France as an American, a retiree, or a business owner – we’ve got you covered.

We’ll also be hosting our first ever FrenchEntrée Members webinar, where the FE team will be sharing our personal experiences and advice – you don’t have to be a member to attend, so we hope you can all come and join us.

Find out more about all of our upcoming free webinars, and be the first to register and secure your spot here. Sign up now so that we can keep you up-to-date with any changes and you’ll also be the first to receive the recorded webinar after the event.

While we’re on the subject of webinars, don’t forget that you can watch all of our previous webinars over on our FrenchEntrée YouTube channel – make sure you click “subscribe” so you don’t miss our weekly videos too!

After a tumultuous few weeks of elections, let’s hope that this Sunday, 14th July, will offer a chance for the country to feel united again. Not only is it France’s Fête Nationale – known internationally as Bastille Day – which marks the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the start of the French Revolution, but it’s also the date of the Euro 2024 football finals and the arrival of the Olympic Flame in Paris. France plays Spain in the semi-finals tonight (catch the game on TF1 tonight at 9pm French time) and, as favourites to win, we could well see France going up against England or the Netherlands in the finals.

Sadly, although the Fête Nationale is a jour férié (public holiday) in France, being as it falls on a Sunday this year, there will be no extra day off work. There will, however, be plenty of festivities on either the evening of the 13th or Sunday the 14th, as towns and cities up and down the country host fireworks displays, parades, and other celebrations.

The star event, the Paris military parade and flypast will take place in the morning along Avenue Foch, leaving the Champs-Élysées (where the event normally takes place) free to welcome the arrival of the Olympic Torch. The torch will be paraded through the streets of Paris in the early afternoon, less than two weeks before the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony.