1. Commencement

Upon either receipt of payment of our Retainer online or upon receipt of a signed copy of our Terms of Business with payment of our Retainer you have solely or jointly agreed to become our clients and are personally liable to pay our initial fees and any agreed costs and have agreed to our full Terms of Business contained herein and we will commence working on your behalf for the service(s) you have selected.

2. Service

Upon acceptance of your instructions, we undertake to fulfil the service(s) you have selected as described within in our brochure and website (http://www.uhfr.co.uk).

3. Private Vendor

In the event that you are approached directly by prospective vendors or Estate Agencies, both to avoid misunderstandings at a later date and in order for Unique Homes to best assist you, it is prudent to notify us of all such approaches.
If a potential property has been identified and sent to you by us, then we shall assume that it has not been introduced to you by a third party (unless we’ve been fore-warned in writing) and that our full remuneration will therefore be payable if you purchase the property.

4. Fees

We will be expending considerable time and effort on your behalf to find a suitable property for you.
Property Finder Service

There is a Retainer Fee of £500. This is payable after the initial consultation and prior to the search commencing and covers our initial costs and confirms you as bona a fides serious house hunter.
Our Finders Fee is the greater of either 2% of the purchase price or 15% of the saving that we have been able to make on your behalf between the asking price and the eventual purchase price (subject to a minimum fee of £2,750).
Our commission is the stated percentage of the full price paid (not including estate agency fees or the vendor’s notaire’s charges and French government fees) for the property including any additional items sold to the purchaser by the vendor.
Inspection Service
Fees for our Inspection Service are £185 to view and report on one house. For multiple houses within close proximity a reduced rate may be available.
Relocation
For organising changing the electricity and water into your names, building and contents insurance, opening local bank accounts, converting the registration of your car onto French plates our charge is £650.
We are confident that we can help with many other requirements (such as registering you for the French Health Service, business registration, schooling and so forth) and request that you ask for a quotation for such services.
Guardian Service
We charge 1% of the purchase price (50% upon instruction and the remaining upon completion) for our Guardian Service.
All of our services can be paid for via our online payment service.
All fees are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.

For the purposes of this Agreement you will be deemed to have exchanged contract’s (signed the Compromis de Vente, satisfied all conditions contained therein (clauses substantive) and have not withdrawn from the purchase during the “cooling off” period) to purchase a property if:-

(a) you or any close relation, or any person with the aid of funds provided by any of such persons, acquires or agrees to acquire, or any body corporate or trust in which any of those persons has an interest (directly or indirectly) acquires or agrees to acquire, any legal or beneficial or other interest in any residential or commercial property, or agrees to occupy a property;

(b) a third party acquires or agrees to acquire any legal or beneficial or other interest in any residential or commercial property, or agrees to occupy a property and, within one year you occupy that property either together or independently of that third party (including temporary occupation for holidays or weekends).

5. Duration

This Agreement shall subsist for an initial period of twelve months and shall continue thereafter for a further period of six months unless and until terminated prior to the expiry of that second period of twelve months by one months notice given in writing by either party to the other.

If applicable, we reserve the right to charge a further Retainer Fee if this Agreement continues beyond the initial period of twelve months, but if we do so then the fee payable on exchange of contracts under paragraph 3 above will be reduced by the amount of any additional Retainer Fee(s) paid.

6. Payment

Payment of fees (other than any Retainer Fees) shall be made by you on completion (the day that the transaction is effectively concluded in a written contract signed by the client and the vendor in accordance with Article 74 of the Decree No 72-678 of the 20th July 1972) of the purchase of a property. We may assign the right to render invoices and receive payment to a third party.
We reserve the right to charge interest on any sums not paid on the due date at a rate of 6% per annum above base rate from time to time of Nat West Bank Plc.
7. Charges On Termination
Upon termination or expiry of this Agreement or you purchasing a French property without our assitance, if you have not purchased or agreed to purchase a property, we shall be entitled to charge you for all reasonable expenses and disbursements (including for the time of our personnel at our ratesfrom time to time, details of which are available on request) incurred by us in providing services to you up until the date of termination and any such termination fees are immediately due for payment on the termination date. Any sum charged pursuant to this paragraph shall be deducted from any further payments you make to us on exchange of contracts under paragraph 3 above.

8. Other Services

If a client wishes to use the services of any advisors for specialist services such as mortgage brokers, financial services, foreign currency transfers, conveyancing etc, then we reserve the right to retain any fee or commission that provider may offer us.

We also reserve the right to pass information about properties which have been inspected on your behalf and rejected as unsuitable through to conventional estate agents for them to market if requested by the vendor. Such referrals will be delayed for two weeks after it has been rejected by our client.

9. Disclosable Interests

We will disclose to you any personal interest that the company, its officers, staff or relatives of such might have with any property introduced to you by the company. We will tell you as soon as we are aware but you must also tell us if you become aware of any such personal interests arising.

10. Liability

Details of properties, valuations, reports and other information provided by us are prepared in good faith and are solely for your guidance. They do not form any part of any contract relating to the purchase of any property.

Instructions are accepted on the basis that the final choice of property is entirely the responsibility of the client. The Company take no responsibility whatsoever for the description of the property and urge the client to undertake a most thorough personal inspection.

All purchasers must satisfy themselves as to the correctness and accuracy of any details provided by us and none of our officers or agents or employees have any authority to make any representations or statements in relation to any property and/or the service provided by us.

In addition, we do not accept liability for the views of, or contents of any report prepared by, any third party in relation to any property.

We strongly recommend all prospective purchasers to take appropriate legal and other advice and to use the services of solicitors, builders, architects and other specialists prior to committing themselves to a purchase. We are happy to provide introductions to such specialists.

The service provided by us is not intended as a substitute to obtaining such advice and accordingly no liability is accepted for any defects in legal title or in the fabric and structure of any property.

Whilst Unique Homes France take every care in introducing only responsible and competent professional services, we cannot be held liable under any circumstances for any loss or claim howsoever arising by virtue of any work undertaken for the client by any other party, including any party introduced by us.
We will, whenever possible, communicate with you by email and you agree to this.

11. General

The supply of services by us is subject to the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement and, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing by us, these conditions shall prevail over any other terms and conditions and shall comprise the whole Agreement between you and us.

No relaxation or delay or indulgence by us in exercising rights or enforcing any of these terms and conditions or the granting of time by us for remedy of any breach shall operate as a waiver of any subsequent or continuing breach.

If at any time any of these conditions are found to be unreasonable, invalid or unlawful then the validity of the remaining conditions or parts thereof shall not in any way be affected or impaired and shall be in force as if the unreasonable, invalid or unlawful part had not been included.

For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Agreement shall confer on any third party any benefit or the right to enforce any term of this Agreement.

This Agreement is governed by the laws of England & Wales, and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
Unique Homes France is a trading division of Unique Homes (Homesearch France) Limited whose registered office is situated at Stag Gates House, 63/64 The Avenue, Southampton SO17 1XS. Registered in England, number 04603046.

12. Data Protection
I understand and agree that Unique Homes France may use my personal information provided during the period of this agreement and may disclose my information to vendors and other intermediaries or agents as required in order to provide a property search and acquisition service. I have a right to request a copy of my information and to correct any inadequacies in the data.