Moving to France

Setting up a home in France from abroad: contracts, furniture, the first night

A home bought from abroad is not habitable on the day of the keys: it needs electricity, water, internet, furniture, sometimes works, and someone on site to open the door. This guide says in what order all this happens, what it costs, and what Home Select organises so that the first night goes well.

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Aix-les-Bains and Lake Bourget seen from Mont Revard — Aix-les-Bains, Rhône-Alpes

By Jean Mascla, founder of Home Select Updated 24 October 2026 · 13 min read

Key takeaways

Setting up a home in France from abroad comes down to four jobs that cannot be done in any order: opening the energy, water and internet contracts, which require an account in IBAN format but not necessarily a French bank, since article 9 of European regulation 260/2012 forbids refusing an IBAN from another country in the SEPA area; taking out insurance, compulsory for every co-owner under article 9-1 of the law of 10 July 1965; furnishing and equipping, which supposes being present or represented on delivery days; and declaring the home’s occupancy to the tax authority, an annual obligation on every owner since 2023.
Count four to eight weeks between handover of the keys and a genuinely habitable home, fibre being almost always the longest item.
The meter reading on the day of the keys, photographed and dated, is the most profitable gesture of the whole installation: it sets the starting point of your consumption.
Taking over the seller’s contracts by a change of account holder, instead of cancelling them, avoids a cut meter and several days of waiting.

What is meant by a turnkey settling-in, and where does it begin?

At the handover of keys, not at signature. Between the two there is a notarised deed, a transfer and a handshake; after it, there is an empty home whose electricity and water are in nobody’s name, where nothing is insured, no furniture is assembled and whose occupant the tax authority does not yet know. Settling in is that whole interval.

The four jobs of settling in, and what each one is
The job	What it covers	What it requires of you
The contracts	Electricity, gas, water, internet, insurance	A signature and an account in IBAN format, nothing more
The equipment	Furniture, bedding, appliances, crockery, linen	A physical presence at deliveries and assembly
The access	Keys, fobs, door codes, letterbox, managing agent	A meeting with the caretaker or managing agent, on site
The declarations	Occupancy of the home, insurance, tourist tax if letting	Access to the online tax portal, and dates to keep

How does a settling-in unfold, from keys to the first night?

In five stages, and the order is not negotiable: two of the five condition all the rest. With no electricity, no tradesperson works; with no insurance, no managing agent hands over the building’s access, and you are uncovered from the first damage.

Before the keys: take out home insurance, whose certificate the managing agent asks for, and start the electricity connection, which takes a few business days.
On handover day: read the meters before a witness, photograph every room, collect keys, fobs and codes, and meet the caretaker or the managing agent.
The first week: open gas and water, order fibre, have locks changed if needed, and declare the home’s occupancy to the tax authority.
The following weeks: deliveries, assembly of furniture and appliances, linen and crockery put in place, every appointment requiring a presence on site.
The final check: everything works, everything is insured, everything is in your name, and a set of keys is entrusted to somebody who can open in your absence.

What must you have before the settling-in can start?

Three things, and only one is usually missing. The deed of sale, handed over by the notary. A recurring means of payment, since all these contracts settle by direct debit. And an address to receive French mail, which is precisely the problem of somebody who does not yet live there.

The three prerequisites, and how to meet them from abroad
The prerequisite	Why	From abroad
Proof the home is yours	Every provider asks for it before opening a contract	The notary’s ownership certificate is enough, the final deed comes later
An account in IBAN format	Energy, water, internet and insurance settle by direct debit	An IBAN from any SEPA country must be accepted
An address to receive mail	Contracts, certificates and tax notices arrive by post	The home itself, with regular collection, or a trusted address

What does setting up a home cost, item by item?

No figure can be given seriously here: equipping a Paris studio and a six-room house in Arcachon share no order of magnitude. What can be stated is the structure, and above all the distinction between what is paid once and what will come back every month, every year, whether you occupy the home or not.

What is paid once, and what comes back
Item	One-off or recurring	Due even if the home stays empty
Energy and water connection	Once, per meter	No, but the standing charge runs afterwards
Furniture, appliances, linen, crockery	Once, renewed over the years	No
Home insurance	Recurring, annual	Yes, and it is compulsory in a co-ownership
Co-ownership service charges	Recurring, quarterly most often	Yes, in full
Property tax	Recurring, annual	Yes, owed by the owner on 1 January
Council tax on a second home	Recurring, annual	Yes: abolished on a main home, kept here

How long does it take for a home to be habitable?

Four to eight weeks between the keys and a first comfortable night, and a single item explains almost the whole spread: the internet connection. Everything else settles in a few business days, fibre is counted in weeks and does not speed up.

The real timings, item by item
Item	Usual timing	What stretches it
Electricity, meter already in place	About 5 business days, 24 h express	A meter long disconnected, requiring a visit
Gas	About 5 business days	A connection appointment to keep on site
Water	A few days, often immediate in a co-ownership	An individual meter to be opened by the water utility
Fibre internet	2 to 8 weeks	The building’s eligibility, and a connection appointment
Home insurance	Immediate, online	Nothing, which is why it is taken out first
Furniture delivery and assembly	2 to 6 weeks	Made-to-order items, and a presence at every slot

What actually jams when you settle in from abroad?

Not the formalities themselves, almost all of which are done online, but three frictions listed nowhere: a form that rejects a foreign address, a technical appointment requiring physical presence, and a supporting document that does not exist in your country.

The three frictions, and what lifts them
The friction	Where it appears	What lifts it
A form accepting only a French address	Energy, internet and insurance sign-up	Enter the address of the property bought, which is French and is yours
A foreign IBAN refused for direct debit	Almost every provider, through a badly built form	Article 9 of regulation 260/2012: the refusal is unlawful, insist or switch
A technical appointment on site	Gas connection, fibre installation, deliveries	A written power of attorney, or a provider who opens up and records
Proof of a French address	Opening of certain services	The notary’s ownership certificate, which stands in for it

What must be checked on handover day?

On that day you still have somebody in front of you and a notary you can reach. The next day, all you have is your memory and your photographs. Whatever is checked that day gets settled; whatever is discovered the following week gets argued about.

The handover-day list, and why each line is on it
To check	Why on that day precisely
Read and photograph every meter	It sets the starting point of your consumption, uncontestable afterwards
Count keys, fobs and remotes	A missing set is claimed from the seller, not the managing agent
Photograph every room, walls and floors included	It is the reference state before works, deliveries and tenants
Open every tap and every shutter	A fault found that day can still be raised with the seller
Collect the managing agent’s and caretaker’s contacts	They are the ones who will let your contractors in afterwards
Check the insurance certificate is already issued	Without it, the managing agent may refuse to hand over common access

Aix-les-Bains, Rhône-Alpes

What can go wrong in a remote settling-in?

Three things, and all of them happen quietly. A contract left in the seller’s name, which ends up being terminated. A home left uninsured for a few weeks, which costs nothing until the day it costs everything. And a delivery accepted by somebody with no standing to record reservations.

The three risks, what they cost and what holds them
The risk	What it costs	What holds it
An energy contract never put in your name	A cut-off, then reconnection charges and a delay	The partner Home Select introduces
A home uninsured at handover	Any loss at your own cost, and a legal duty unmet in a co-ownership	The partner Home Select introduces
A delivery accepted without reservation by a third party	A damaged item accepted as is, with no recourse against the carrier	The partner Home Select introduces

Which contracts must be opened, and in what order?

The order is not a matter of comfort, it is a matter of dependencies. Insurance conditions the handover of the building’s access. Electricity conditions any tradesperson’s work. The rest can wait, and fibre must be ordered ahead of everything because it is the slowest.

The order of opening, and what each contract depends on
Rank	Contract	What makes it a priority
1	Fibre internet	Two to eight weeks: ordered last, it arrives last
2	Home insurance	The managing agent asks for it before handing over common access
3	Electricity	With no power, no tradesperson can work on site
4	Water	Often carried by the co-ownership, hence rarely blocking
5	Gas, if any	A connection appointment to keep on site

How do you furnish a home you cannot visit?

By first giving up an illusion: you do not furnish from a catalogue, you furnish from measurements. A dimensioned plan, a ceiling height, a landing door width and a staircase width are worth more than a hundred photographs. Those four figures decide whether the sofa goes in.

Have the measurements taken on site before any order, landing door and staircase included, and not only the room areas.
Group deliveries into as few slots as possible: every slot requires a physical presence of several hours.
Order assembly together with the furniture when the seller offers it, rather than hunting for a fitter after delivery.
Have written reservations recorded by whoever takes delivery, on the carrier’s note, and not by message afterwards.
Keep the fourteen days of cooling off in mind on everything ordered remotely: they run from delivery.

What changes for a home occupied a few weeks a year?

Almost everything, in both directions. The equipment must withstand months with nobody there, which rules out some choices and imposes others. And the tax treatment differs: council tax, abolished on main homes in 2023, remains due here, and several municipalities raise it.

What changes when the home stays empty most of the time
The point	Main home	Intermittently occupied home
Council tax	Abolished since 2023	Due, and increased in several municipalities
Insurance	Standard policy	Vacancy clause to check, declaration of non-occupancy
Heating in winter	In use	Kept at frost protection, never fully off
Mail	Collected daily	Collected periodically, otherwise deadlines expire
Equipment	Chosen for daily use	Chosen to hold with no upkeep for months

Which mistakes cost the most when settling in?

They all share one origin: having treated settling in as a list of errands, when it is a chain of dependencies. A task done out of order is not caught up, it is done again.

Six mistakes, and what they actually cost
The mistake	What it costs
Ordering fibre after moving in	Two to eight weeks with no connection, in an already occupied home
Terminating instead of taking over the seller’s contracts	A meter cut off, reconnection charges and several days
Signing the deed without insurance in place	An uncovered period, and a managing agent who may withhold access
Not reading the meters on handover day	The seller’s consumption on your first bill, with no evidence against it
Ordering furniture with no door and staircase measurements	A return to organise from abroad, and an empty room meanwhile
Forgetting the declaration of occupancy	A fine per undeclared property, and a tax computed without you

What Home Select organises for your installation

The installation starts before the keys: energy and internet contracts are requested as soon as the date of the deed is known, and the bank account they require is opened during the search. Home Select keeps that list with you, in order.

We introduce you to the partners who do the rest on site: the handover of the keys and the inventory, the opening of the meters, the delivery of furniture, the tradespeople. Each acts under their own responsibility; your property finder keeps the thread until the first night.

Frequently asked questions