LOCATION
inhabitants with a railway station and shops and services you’d expect in much larger towns. Relative to its size, it has the highest student population in the department with various general lycées. The townsfolk are very involved with Jazz sous les pommiers. A street artist paints frescoes on shop windows, often associating the music with the owner’s wares.
PAYS DE LA LOIRE Heading south, I spoke to Pascale Foucher at Estuaire Immobilier at Blain, one of the jazz venues on the Nantes- to-Brest canal. In the historic centre of this Gallo-Roman town you find small stone terraced houses, which may have attics for conversion and small front and back gardens. Prices are about €200,000. Some properties have shops on the ground floor and unoccupied living space for renovation above. Post-1960 homes – detached
with gardens – sell for around €250,000-€350,000 depending on location. Fine bourgeois townhouses (150m2
) with high
moulded ceilings, wrought-iron railings and lovely gardens will cost you around €400,000- €450,000. These properties have retained the soul of the old house, says Pascale. A one-bedroom apartment in a modern residence will cost €115,000-€120,000. The port of Blain (the jazz
venue) is rather cut off from the town, so work is underway to renovate the town centre and create a main axis towards the port to reintegrate it into the town. There may be property for sale here in the future.
train – which gets them quickly into Nantes. Loire-Atlantique is an
Aerial view of the 13th-century Norman Gothic Coutances cathedral
“Loire-Atlantique is an important employment basin, so there’s an excellent long-term let market for the investor”
Today there are plenty of new post-1990 estates. Prices range from €220,000 to €380,000 for the larger houses; gardens are 350m2
-450m2
de-Blain was heavily bombed during the Second World War, so there are few ancient stone houses here today, although new ones have been built in stone, says Pascale. Have a look, too, at tiny St-Émilien- de-Blain. Both have their own church steeple and schools but belong to Blain, giving a total population of around 10,500. La Chevallerais and Le
Gâvre are also jazz venues. La Chevallerais on the canal is a lovely place for cycling, walking and riding. Although there are no waterside properties (the canal can flood and is in
. Nearby St-Omer-
a protection zone), there are small stone houses in the centre and two large housing estates close by. Le Gâvre to the north is known for its 4,500 hectare state-owned forest – the green lung of Loire-Atlantique. Pascale says that Nort-sur-
Erdre to the east – where the Erdre river joins the canal, and another jazz venue – has a much more developed port. It also hosts another popular music festival, La Nuit de l’Erdre (4-7 July 2024). The types of property available are similar to Blain, but prices are a bit higher. Nort-sur-Erdre, with all the necessary shops and services, particularly attracts Nantais buyers, thanks to the railway station and tramway – known as the tram/
important employment basin, so there’s an excellent long-term let market for the investor, says Pascale. There’s less demand for seasonal letting, although the area does attract cyclists and walkers. The 1,300km-long Atlantic coast Vélodyssée cycle path passes nearby; the canal path is one of the pilgrim trails on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James) to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. You can also find old
properties for renovation (almost a third of Pascale’s portfolio). They either need jazzing up/modernising or complete renovation. Nantes is 25 minutes away by bus from Blain, or train from Nort-sur- Erdre. “Then we’re less than an hour from the sea, the ocean – that’s a real plus.”
TO BUY HERE
Three different landscapes from Normandy bocage, via the quays and canal of Nantes, to southern Gascony below the Armagnac forests
terraced town and village houses, ‘maisons de
maître’ and modern villas
Choice of properties for renovation and good investment possibilities
FIND MORE PROPERTIES ON
FRANCEPROPERTYSHOP.COM
Wide variety of property available at reasonable prices – small stone
3 REASONS
4
€137,800, Blain: In a hamlet 2km from Blain, this semi- detached two-bedroom property is habitable but requires some work; it has a veranda and small garden (Estuaire Immobilier)
€288,750, Blain: Ready for a revamp, this four-bedroom town centre bungalow with terrace, garden, potager, courtyard and carport could be perfect to put your stamp on (Estuaire Immobilier)
€220,500, Saffré: Nestling on a 1,500m2
plot, this two-bedroom
terraced house is habitable but needs a refresh; it has a garage that could be converted for more living space (Estuaire Immobilier)
€137,800,Marsac-sur-Don: Northeast of Blain in a tranquil spot, this stone ‘longère’ has two adjoining stables and barn for complete renovation on a 3,000m2
plot (Estuaire Immobilier) FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 202447
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
