Let’s talk about the day you take possession of your new French house. You will likely spend the morning at the Notaire’s office pouring over various documents and signing stuff. You may have a translator with you, often provided by the real estate agent.

But then, they hand over the keys and you are on your way!

After the meeting at the Notaire's office, our real estate agent and the sellers then brought us to our new house where we did one final inspection to make sure that everything was as we expected it to be. Of course, they had switched all of their nice light fittings for cheap, plastic equivalents. Carpets, curtains and light fittings were supposed to be included but we let that one go.

It was all a bit ambiguous but we were told that our seller would be back at the house at 9am the next day to meet us, with someone from the electricity and gas provider to smooth the transition from them to us. In the UK, where I'm from, stuff like this happens on the phone or the web these days. You normally just inherit the previous owner's energy supplier with your own account. But in France it's somehow a bit more complex.

That next day, the seller did not appear. However, an engineer from the gas supplier did turn up. He was very feisty and had only one goal - to turn our gas off! This was in mid-January when the weather was pretty cold and we needed that gas.

The moral of this story is that you can't assume that your estate agent will make everything okay for you. Communication is paramount so don’t leave any stone unturned and make sure that you are not suddenly left in the cold to sort out stuff like this on your own. You should ensure the smooth hand-over of your gas, electricity and water accounts before you complete the sale. Make sure your real estate agent is on top of this or it could go wrong, like it did for us. And by the way, on your move-in day, make sure to take a note of the meter readings for electricity, gas and water. Just to make sure that you're only billed for usage from that day forth.

Anyway, we spoke to the energy company on the phone and they arranged for our gas to be reconnected. However, they charged us a €150 reconnection fee for their trouble and did not even attempt an apology. We also had to wait several days for them to come out and do the reconnection job, during which time we were glad we had hired a nice warm apartment just up the road while waiting for our furniture to arrive.

Real estate agents can be very useful and they can help in so many ways but just be mindful that, as I have said before, the moment you sign the contract at the Notaire’s office, many agents will no longer be interested in helping because they will already have their commission. They can then draw a line under your relationship and you are on your own. So maybe try to get as much help from them as you can before that happens.

Assuming you have to start over and do it all yourself though, here’s what you will need to do.

I'd recommended that you initially stay with the previous owner's utility providers, for a while at least, to ensure that your gas, electricity, and water services continue without interruption. You can either transfer the contracts into your name temporarily or, if you want you can opt to switch right away. If you go for the latter you'll need to decide which energy and water suppliers you want to go with. There are lots. Having the same provider for both electricity and gas can simplify things and you can also save some money if you have a dual fuel deal.

The largest energy provider in France is EDF, who also build nuclear power stations around the world. I mention them because they have an English speaking phone line. If your French is not the best then that could be useful for you.

Please don’t assume I’m recommending EDF though. I’m not. It’s likely that there are many providers out there which are able to give you better deals but EDF does speak English and that may be better for you, as it was for us.

Here is the number for the EDF English speaking phone line:

EDF English Language Customer Services - 09 69 36 63 83

A quick note about Linky electricity meters...

About 90% of homes in France now have Linky meters installed. Basically, they transmit energy usage data back to the energy company and thus, do away with the need for a human to read the meter.

However, the other 10% of customers have mostly refused to accept a Linky to replace to their old manual meter because of privacy and health concerns.

So, now the electricity companies have started charging those who refuse a Linky €64 per year to pay for the cost of sending out a technician to read the meter manually.

Just something to be aware of if you buy an old house that still has an old analog meter.

Water

Finding a water provider is fairly easy. Water is typically managed by local authorities or regional suppliers. You can just Google it for your part of France or take recommendations from your real estate agent. Once again though, be sure to ask questions like this before you have completed your sale, because, as I mentioned before, they may not be quite as eager to help when the deed is done.

Internet and phone

You will most probably also need an internet provider. Again, it’s a case of Googling for the best deals or taking recommendations from other people because this is a very moveable feast with new deals being announced all the time.

In our case, we found that Orange offered a deal for Internet, TV packages and telephone (both old fashioned landlines and mobile) and, like EDF, they have an English speaking customer service line, so we went with them.

I have to say that our internet speed here is the fastest I’ve ever encountered anywhere. In comparison to our old UK speed it’s incredible.

Here are the contact details for the Orange English speaking phone line:

Orange English Language Customer Services – 09 69 36 39 00

We'll talk about the TV side of things shortly. We decided that television deserves a whole lesson of its own.

SIM Cards

You may also need a French SIM card or an e-SIM for your cell phone.

That's easy to sort out. You can buy SIM cards at most Tabac shops which are absolutely everywhere and you can get them online too.

Be aware however, that not all SIM cards are equal. Some appear to use phone numbers which are not pristine and which were previously owned by someone else.

When I first arrived in France I bought a SIM card from the post office, La Poste, thinking that as they were a well-known and trustworthy institution, everything would be fine. Wrong!

The phone number I was allocated had been owned by somebody else and fairly recently too. I quickly found that the previous owner's friends, acquaintances and possibly people they owed money to, were still keen to get in touch with them. Therefore, my phone was ringing several times a day with people trying to reach the previous owner of my number.

Eventually, I had no option but to cancel it and start again with a different SIM from a different provider.

After a lot of research I decided to go with Prixtel (https://www.prixtel.com/) which I personally think is a good option because they don't force you to pay for calls and data you don't need, like other some providers do. There's also no extra charge for roaming so when I visit the UK or any EU country, my phone works just like I was back in France, and at no extra cost. I'm promise they're not paying me commission. I just honestly think they offer a really good deal and reliable service.

However, there are many other providers out there so maybe have a look around and see which deal suits you best.

Finally, you might need to stay in touch with a mobile data deal, perhaps for your iPad or suchlike, in which case you'll need a data SIM. Again, there are plenty of options available on the web. One that I particularly like however, because it's reliable and cheap, is called Saily. You can read more about Saily here.

There, that's your Electricity, Gas, Water, Phones and Internet, all sorted out.

Well done!

Setting up accounts with the utilities