4 ★ FTWeekend 21 March/22 March 2020
House Home
PropertyThis French
cityon the river Loire isattracting buyers eager to
relocate for a more laid-back life — but prices are
rising fast.ByAlice KantorW
hen artjin GardenierM
was told he would have
to move to Nantes for
work, the 27-year-old
Dutch pilot, previously
stationed at Gatwick near London, was
pleased. He had visited the nearby
Vendéeregionasateenagerandlovedit.
“It’s more relaxed than the UK. In the
UK everyone is rushing,” he says. “The
French, they like to sit outside on a ter-
race,haveacigarette,drink.”
Gardenier’s story is indicative of a
wider trend. Until France imposed lock-
down this week to combat the spread of
the coronavirus, an increasing number
of professionals from across the country
— and across Europe — had moved to
the western city on the banks of the
Loire. They were drawn by job opportu-
nities, good housing options for families
and a desire to leave iring, traffic-rid-t
dencapitals.
Over the same time, property prices
haverisen,withthevalueofapartments
jumping 10 per cent between 2018 and
2019, the fastest rise in France after
Lyon. Nantes is now the fifth most-ex-
pensive city for second-hand flats after
Paris, Bordeaux, Nice and Lyon, accord-
ingtoNotairesdeFrance.
Béatrice Caboche, a property agent at
Barnes Nantes, says supply is limited
because there have been delayed efforts
fromthecitytobuildnewhousing.With
a cheaper lifestyle, cheaper housing and
a dynamic economy, people from Paris,Nantes has much to vaunt
Nantes has jobs, good
housing and quality of life;
(below) five-bedroom
house, €1.315m through
Barnes Alamy Stock Photo—Bordeauxand Lyon have moved to
Nantes partly because the city is well
connected — an hour and 20 minute
flight away from London and a two-
hourtrainjourneyfromParis.
According to the National Statistics
Institute, Nantes, a city of about
300,000 people, is gaining about 6,000
residents every year. Unemployment is
low at 6.5 per cent, 1.7 points lower than
the national average, according to the
same institute, and economic activity is
strong. The city has invested in the Isle
of Nantes, a central plot of land where
commercial buildings and modern flats
havesprungup.
It also pushed for investment in the
Graslin neighbourhood, with the devel-
opment of a commercial hub on Biloba
Plaza and green initiatives such as “mon
projet rénov” which is aimed at reducing
carbonemissions.Sylvain Merveilleux, a 46-year-old
history teacher, lived in Poissy, a suburb
near Paris, before he moved to Nantes
last June. He had visited the city a few
times with his wife, also a teacher, and
they had found the place much more
comfortablethanParis.
Merveilleux says Paris had too much
traffic, problems with crime and a lower
quality of life. “People don’t take the
time to enjoy life in Paris, there’s no life
after work.” The couple and their
three-year-old daughter rented a
two-bedroom apartment of 65 sq m for
€818 a month across from Procépark, a
large green space in Nantes’ north-west.
Merveilleux is glad to be closer to the
sea. Nantes is 30 minutes from the Por-
nic sea and 45 minutes fromLa Baule, a
chicseasidetown.
Caboche says she mostly sells prime
homestoParisians.Thetypicalincomeris a wealthy anager or young profes-m
sional, or someone working on a
start-upinNantes.Herclientsalsocome
here to raise families when in Paris they
feelrestricted,shesays.
Sophiede Roincé, a property agent atmaps4news.com/©HERE 20kmFRANCE
kmLoireSAINT
SÉBASTIENSAINT
DONATIENSaint-Pasquier
SquareProcé Viarme Square
park
GRASLINÎle de NantesNANTES
maps news.com/©HEREILB Immobilier, says most buyers are
looking for property in the heart of the
city. The Graslin neighbourhood,
Copernic and Aristide Briand, areas
with quiet paved streets and beautiful
old buildings, are popular, she adds.
Caboche says Viarme square, a central
neighbourhood, as well as Saint
Pasquier and Saint Felix squares, areas
furthernorthwithgoodschools,arealso
becomingpopular.
In the quiet neighbourhood of St
Donatien, a 177 sq m house with a pool,
garden and six bedrooms is for sale with
Sotheby’s International Realty for
€950,000. Near the railway station and
botanical garden, the same agent is sell-
ing a 243 sq m modern five-bedroom
apartment with a fireplace and high
ceilingsfor€1.3m.
In the quiet and central Monselet
area, a few blocks from Procépark, a
1930s mansion with three reception
rooms, a large garden, garage and six
bedrooms is being marketed on Lux
Residencefor€1.6m.
The ongoing rise in property prices
has put pressure on Nantes
residents. Stéphanie Rubio, an
independent wellness coach from
Nantes, is looking to buy a house but
prices are too steep. “I can see around
me tons of demand, but no supply,” she
says. “Wages haven’t progressed so
there’s a real gap between the wealthy
andthelesswell-off.”
She wants to buy a house in Saint
Sébastien, a suburb, but does not have
the €300,000 necessary for that kind
of purchase. Still, she is not upset at
the city’s current appeal to Parisians.
“There’s no bitterness,” she says.
“Everyone is welcome.”i/B U Y I N G G U I D E
The fastest train to Paris from Nantes
takes two hours and four minutes
A square metre in Nantes was worth
€3,800 in 2019, according to the LPI-
SeLoger index, an aggregate of national
agencies’ data — up 38 per cent on 2015
What you can buy for...
€238,500 two-bedroom apartment onA
the Isle of Nantes
€1.3m modern villa in the city’s heartA
€2m An18th-century pink stone mansion
a few miles away from the city
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