Most writing about southwest France accommodation is about holidays. This guide is about two different stays: the scouting trip when you are looking at houses, and the months after you move, when you need somewhere to live while a purchase completes or while you work out where to settle. The right place for those stays is rarely the right place for a holiday, and as a stay gets longer the type of contract, the paperwork and the costs all change.
A house-hunting stay is not a holiday
If you are coming to visit, our guide to where to stay in southwest France explains chambres d'hôtes, gîtes, hotels and camping, and how to pick a holiday base. A house-hunting trip needs something else.
On a holiday you want charm, a pool and somewhere near the sights. On a scouting trip you will be out most days, driving between viewings, sitting in notaires' and agents' waiting rooms, and spending evenings comparing notes, reading diagnostic reports and making calls home. The base needs to be central rather than beautiful, practical rather than charming, and flexible enough to extend if you find something worth a second look.
After the move, the requirements change again. You may need somewhere for three months while a sale completes, for six months while a house is made habitable, or for a year while you decide whether the area suits you. That is a different market with different contracts, and it pays to understand it before you need it.
Where to base yourself for viewings
Start with the search area, not the accommodation. Draw the area you are actually considering on a map, then look for a base near its middle rather than at one edge. A useful rule is that no viewing should be more than about forty-five minutes away. Beyond that, a day with three viewings becomes a day in the car.
If your search spans two distinct areas, say the Dordogne valley and the Gers, it is usually better to split the trip between two bases than to commute from one. Moving costs half a day. Driving two hours each way every day costs more.
A good house-hunting base also has:
- A proper market town within fifteen minutes, with a supermarket, fuel, a bank and a pharmacy, so ordinary errands do not eat into viewing time.
- Reasonable access to an airport or station, if you will be flying back and forth over several trips.
- A quiet evening. A base in the middle of a tourist town in August is tiring when you need to think.
The country around Duras works well as a base for anyone looking across the borders of the Lot-et-Garonne, the Dordogne and the eastern Gironde, because it sits roughly in the middle of all three, with Bergerac airport about thirty-five minutes away.
Two practical points about viewings themselves. Rural agencies and notaires' offices still often close for lunch, and some agencies close on Mondays as well as Sundays, so plan your days around office hours rather than assuming you can drop in. And leave at least one day with no viewings at all. Spend it in the town you are most drawn to, at the market, in the café, in the supermarket at six in the evening. That day often tells you more than the houses.
Gîtes, holiday rentals and mid-term lets
The three options most people use, and when each makes sense.
Gîtes and holiday rentals for a scouting trip
For a trip of one or two weeks, a gîte or holiday rental is usually the easiest choice. You have a kitchen, space to spread out paperwork, and somewhere to come back to that is not a hotel room. In July and August most are let by the week, Saturday to Saturday. Outside the summer peak, shorter stays and midweek arrivals are much easier to arrange, and owners are often more flexible about extending if you ask early.
Mid-term furnished lets for one to several months
For a longer stay, the legal framework matters, because the type of contract decides your notice period, your deposit and how long you can stay.
- A seasonal let (location saisonnière) is for a stay that is not your main home, and is limited to a maximum of ninety days with the same tenant. Holiday gîtes let over the winter often use this form.
- A bail mobilité is a furnished lease of one to ten months that cannot be renewed and does not allow a deposit. It is only available to tenants in specific situations, such as a work transfer, a temporary assignment, professional training or study. Many people moving to retire or to buy a house will not qualify.
- A standard furnished lease (bail meublé) for a main home runs for one year, but the tenant can leave at any time on one month's notice. For a newcomer who expects to stay four, six or eight months, this is often the right contract, even though the lease is written for a year.
Many gîte owners in the southwest are happy to let from October through to spring, when the property would otherwise sit empty. If you plan to stay more than three months and the house will be your main home, ask the owner which contract they intend to use, and make sure it fits how long you actually need.
Serviced apartments and aparthotels
Bordeaux, Toulouse and some of the larger towns have aparthotels and serviced apartments, let by the night, week or month. They cost more than a rural gîte but need no contract beyond a booking, and they suit a short stay while you deal with administration in the city or fly in and out.
Seasonal availability and pricing
The calendar shapes what is available and what it costs more than anything else. Without quoting figures that date quickly, the pattern is consistent.
July and August are the peak. Weekly rates are at their highest, the best places are booked months ahead, and most lets run Saturday to Saturday. A house-hunting trip in high summer is expensive, and the region is also at its most persuasive, which is not the best moment to judge it.
May, June and September are the shoulder season. Rates are lower, availability is good, and the weather is usually kind. Easter and the French school holidays bring short spikes, as do the big local festivals, so check the dates before booking.
October to Easter is when longer stays become affordable. Owners would rather have a house lived in and heated than empty, and a monthly rate for the winter is often a fraction of what the same weeks would cost in summer. The catch is heating. Many winter lets charge electricity or heating fuel on top, by meter reading, and an old stone house heated by electric radiators can be costly. Ask how heating is billed before you agree.
There is one more reason to come out of season. Houses are sold all year round, and a village in February shows you what living there is actually like. Our cost of living guide explains what a winter's bills look like for a resident.
What to look for in a short-term let while house hunting
The checklist is different from a holiday booking.
- Reliable internet and mobile signal. You will be on video calls with banks, lenders, notaires and family, and some documents are now signed electronically. Ask about the connection specifically, and test the mobile signal when you arrive.
- A table to work at. Somewhere to spread out diagnostic reports and plans. A garden table is not enough in November.
- A way to print and scan. Not everything is electronic yet. Knowing where the nearest print shop or library is saves a scramble.
- Somewhere you can receive post. French bank cards, registered letters and official documents need an address. The compromis de vente is often sent by registered letter or electronically, and the ten-day cooling-off period runs from its delivery. Ask the owner whether post can be addressed to you there.
- Heating that works and a clear way it is billed. See above. It matters from October onwards.
- A washing machine and a proper kitchen. On a stay of several weeks these stop being optional.
- Parking and a car. Almost nothing in rural southwest France is reachable without one. Hire cars can be scarce in summer, so book early.
- The option to extend. If you find a house on day five, you may want another week. Agree in advance whether extending is possible.
- Insurance. For a short holiday let, check whether the owner's policy covers you or whether you need your own holiday-home cover. For a longer let, the owner will usually ask for a home insurance certificate.
Whatever the length, get the dates, price, deposit, what the price includes and an inventory in writing before you pay.
Planning the gap between offer and keys
Once an offer is accepted, the time between signing the compromis and the final deed is usually around three months, and our guide to buying property in France explains why. If the house then needs work before you can live in it, the gap can stretch much longer.
Plan for that gap early:
- Extend or re-book. If your scouting base suits you, ask whether it can be let through the winter. Owners often prefer one long booking to several short ones.
- Store your belongings. Self-storage (garde-meuble) exists in and around most large towns. Removal firms can also hold goods in their own storage between collection and delivery.
- Time the move from home carefully. Avoid ending a lease or selling at home so early that you are paying for accommodation on both sides for longer than necessary.
- Allow for works. If the house needs a new roof, electrics or drainage, the work will take longer than you hope. A furnished lease you can end on a month's notice is often safer than a fixed end date.
If you are not an EU citizen, remember that how long you can stay in France is set by your visa, not by your lease. Our guide to visas and residency in France explains the options.
Long-term renting: the basics for newcomers
Some people rent for a year or more before buying, and some decide to rent permanently. French rental law is detailed and generally protective of tenants, but it works differently from the UK and much of northern Europe.
Furnished or unfurnished
A furnished lease (bail meublé) runs for one year, renewable. The tenant can leave on one month's notice, and the deposit is capped at two months' rent excluding charges. The furniture and equipment must meet a minimum list set by law, including bedding, cooking equipment, a fridge and storage.
An unfurnished lease (bail vide) runs for three years when the landlord is a private individual. The tenant normally gives three months' notice, reduced to one month in some cases, including high-demand areas. The deposit is capped at one month's rent excluding charges.
"Unfurnished" in France can be more literal than newcomers expect. Some unfurnished homes come without kitchen units or appliances, and occasionally without light fittings. Ask exactly what is included before you sign.
The rental dossier
French landlords and agencies expect a dossier before they will consider you. A typical dossier includes:
- identification, such as a passport;
- proof of income, usually recent payslips or, for retirees, pension statements;
- your most recent tax assessment;
- proof of your current address, such as recent rent receipts;
- an employment contract or proof of activity, if relevant.
The law limits what a landlord may demand. Bank statements, for example, are not on the list of documents a landlord can require. For a newcomer with foreign income, a clear, well-organised dossier, with pension or income documents translated where useful, makes a real difference. A French bank account makes paying rent by direct transfer simpler.
Guarantors and the alternatives
Many landlords ask for a guarantor (garant), ideally someone resident in France, which most newcomers do not have. The options are:
- Visale, a free state-backed guarantee run by Action Logement. It is aimed mainly at younger tenants and at some employees starting a job or moving for work, so many older newcomers will not qualify. Check the current conditions.
- A bank guarantee, where your bank blocks a sum in an account as security for the landlord.
- A paid guarantee service, offered by private companies for a fee based on the rent.
A landlord who has taken out insurance against unpaid rent generally cannot also require a personal guarantor, except from students and apprentices.
Fees, inventory and insurance
If you rent through an agency, the fees the tenant pays are capped by law, per square metre. At the start of the tenancy, landlord and tenant complete a detailed inventory, the état des lieux. You have ten days after moving in to add defects you missed, and for heating, during the first month of the heating season. Keep a copy: it decides how much of your deposit comes back. Tenants are expected to hold home insurance covering rental risks, and the landlord will ask for the certificate.
Energy ratings and bills
Since 2025, the least energy-efficient homes, rated G, cannot be let on new leases as main homes, and F-rated homes are due to follow. The energy rating must appear in the advertisement. A poor rating is a warning about heating costs as well as the law.
Electricity and internet are usually in the tenant's name. Water and waste charges are often included in a monthly provision for charges, adjusted once a year. Taxe d'habitation no longer applies to main homes, and taxe foncière is the landlord's.
The rural rental market, honestly
Long-term rentals in villages are scarce, and good furnished ones are scarcer. Much of what exists is let by word of mouth, through notices at the mairie or the bakery, through the rental departments of local agencies, or on Leboncoin, the main French classified ads site. Asking around in the area you like often works better than searching online from abroad.
Rental scams are a real problem on classified sites. The common pattern is an attractive home at a low rent, an owner who is abroad and cannot show it, and a request for a deposit by transfer before any visit. Never pay before you have seen the property, or had someone you trust see it, and signed a written lease.
A sensible sequence
For most people moving to the southwest, the order that works is:
- A scouting trip of one or two weeks, out of the summer peak, based centrally in the area you are considering.
- A longer stay of one to three months over the autumn or winter, ideally in the town or village you are most drawn to.
- If you buy, keep a flexible base through to the final deed and through the first works.
- If you are not yet sure, rent on a furnished lease for a year, with the freedom to leave on a month's notice.
That sequence costs some rent, but it is far cheaper than buying in the wrong place.
The free relocation guide covers the move to the Duras area in more detail, from the first visit to the first winter, and questions are always welcome at hello@southwest-france.com.