For the household completing the move to a French property held for years. The Dordogne. The Languedoc. Established Provence.
Sevenoaks moves to France are rarely first-time. They are the completion of a long arrangement — the Dordogne stone house purchased a decade ago and visited every summer, the Languedoc property held since the children were small, the Provence apartment owned through three governments. Our role is to handle the closing chapter of the UK home with the discretion the move deserves.
Plate I · France
The Sevenoaks France move tends to be the conclusion of a decade or longer of planning. The French property has often been held for years — visited every spring, used through the children's school holidays, considered as the future principal residence for as long as anyone can remember. When the decision is finally taken to move, the conversation we have is not about choosing a destination. It is about the orderly disposal of the Sevenoaks home, the timing around the French notaire and the UK property completion, and the handling of the household with the discretion that the family expects.
The Sevenoaks audience does not require persuasion that France is the right destination — the property is bought, the village is known, the local maire is on speaking terms. What is required is competent execution: the inventory walked through with the surveyor in a long unhurried conversation, the household contents handled and packed without spectacle, the customs paperwork filed correctly, the consignment arriving at the French property on the day agreed. We work to that expectation.
Customs is procedural rather than dramatic. The UK is a third country for French customs post-Brexit; transfer-of-residence (ToR) relief cleanly covers the household goods of a principal-residence transfer for items owned at least six months. We file the UK-side ToR1 with HMRC and the French-side declaration with Douanes. You provide the residency-evidence pack — long-stay visa (the post-Brexit visa de long séjour for UK citizens), French address contract, and any supporting documents. The customs side runs in the background; we keep you informed.
Established Sevenoaks couple, often in their fifties or early sixties, completing a decade-or-longer-planned move to a French property that the household has known for years. The UK home in Sevenoaks (often a period or large detached residence) is sold or to be retained as a UK base. The move is dignified rather than urgent. We schedule around the French notaire's completion date and the UK home arrangement — never the other way around.
Sevenoaks household in the pre-retirement window — one or both adults winding down professional careers — taking the move to a French property that has been part of the family arrangement for years. Often involves a phased downsizing of the Sevenoaks home, with several visits and consignments rather than a single load-out. We coordinate the phasing carefully; the household keeps its life together throughout.
Sevenoaks family where the children have left for university and professional life; the French property — the family holiday house for many years — is becoming the principal residence. The remaining UK-side household items make the final consignment; the French property already has the family's life in it. The customs paperwork is largely confirmation rather than fresh application.
Our service taxonomy is by current life position rather than by transition stage. The same corridor runs differently for a mature professional than for a pre-retirement household.
Established Sevenoaks household, fifties or early sixties, completing a long-planned move to a destination property held for years. The UK home is sold or retained as a UK base. The move is dignified rather than urgent; we schedule around the destination completion and the UK arrangement, not the other way around.
Pre-retirement household, one or both adults winding down professional careers, taking the move to a destination property that has been part of the family arrangement for years. Often phased — several consignments rather than a single load-out. We coordinate the phasing carefully; the household keeps its life together throughout.
Sevenoaks family where the children have left for university and professional life; the long-held overseas property — Dordogne stone house, Tuscan villa, Alpujarras village house, Algarve community residence — is becoming the principal residence. The remaining UK-side items make the final consignment; the destination household already exists.
Materially. A long-held French property typically has the practical paperwork already in place — taxe d'habitation history, utility accounts in the household name, the local notaire familiar with the family, registration with the commune. The residency-evidence pack for the move is largely a confirmation of that established record rather than a fresh assertion. Our role is the consignment, the customs filing, and the UK property handling — the destination side has done much of the documentary work already.
Yes. The written move plan includes a held-stock provision in our UK-side depot to cover exactly this scenario — French property completions slipping by weeks or months. We do not introduce depot fees on the day if the schedule moves; the included window is documented in the written quote, and any extension is at the rate set out in advance. The pace of the move follows the French property completion, not the other way around.
We coordinate with household clearance firms in the Sevenoaks area where it suits — a discreet process aligned to the UK property sale. The auctioneers familiar with Sevenoaks and West Kent (the regional fine-art and country-house specialists) handle the items of value; clearance handles the remainder. We do not run the clearance ourselves but we sequence the move plan around it so the household never feels rushed.
Established Tuscan and Umbrian properties. Cultural-led moves for the mature household.
Read the briefInland Andalusia, established expat enclaves, the mature considered Spanish move. Not the Costa.
Read the briefMature considered Portuguese moves — established Algarve, Alentejo, Lisbon and Porto cultural.
Read the briefA surveyor will visit at your pace. Considered conversation, written quote held in writing, discreet handling.