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What’s it really like to live in a copropriété? Christine Tewson shares her first-hand experience and words of wisdom.

- Christine Tewson

More than 15 years ago, my husband and I decided to buy a property in France as a bolthole. We were both working so hard and needed somewhere to go for a short break every now and then to recharge our batteries. We opted for Normandy as it was within two-and-a-half hours from Calais, meaning we wouldn’t arrive exhausted. We bought a detached house which had a large back garden but nothing else. It was down a lane outside a village, so little things like mowing the lawn and keeping the garden in shape soon became a problem. As it transpired, although the food, the language and the way of life were different, it was almost the same as at home. On top of that, it rains a lot in rural Normandy!

Five years later, when we retired, we tried again, deciding this time to find something further south as we had more spare time and wanted to enjoy the sun. As we were looking for something different, an article in French Property News led us to a concept that was new to us – copropriété (co-ownership), referred to informally as coprop. The article featured a site being renovated by an English architect in north-west Dordogne. It would have eight stone houses (each very different and each with its own private space) around a courtyard, all of which would share communal land including a large solar-heated swimming pool, a hard tennis court, a boules pitch and wifi, the total cost of which would also be shared.