Cheap houses for sale in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is France's largest region, stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Limousin plateau. The coast, Bordeaux and the Basque Country are expensive; the interior is not. Most of our French listings are here, in the rural departments of Creuse, Haute-Vienne, Charente, Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, Dordogne and Lot-et-Garonne: a landscape of pastures, chestnut woods, rivers and stone hamlets.

Creuse and Haute-Vienne, in the old Limousin region, are among the most affordable parts of France and among the least densely populated. Aubusson is known for its tapestry tradition, and Rochechouart sits on the site of an ancient meteorite impact. Charente and the Dordogne are better known to British and Dutch buyers and a little pricier, but you still find stone houses with barns, converted mills and houses with pools under €150,000.

Look closely at what you get for the price. Many houses here are old stone buildings: check the roof, damp, the electrics and the septic system (assainissement non collectif), which must be inspected before a sale. Our guide to buying a house in France as a foreigner explains the notaire, the costs and the compulsory surveys, and this article compares Creuse, Charente and the Dordogne.