Case Study · Still in the Running
Andelot-Blancheville: A Barn, Big Land and Mains Drainage
One of the fuller-serviced finds on the board: a stone village house with a barn, a garage and a convertible attic, on 1,300 m², with the drainage already on mains sewer and shops, a school and a bank on the doorstep — in the reachable east, for eighteen grand with the fees on the seller. Radon's low. The one thing to check is the river flood record. Here's the workup.
Andelot-Blancheville, Haute-Marne (52) · on the Rognon · ≈ 440 km / 5.0 hrs from Calais · ≈ 300 km / 4.5 hrs from Bern
It's the same reachable Haute-Marne east as Perrusse and Germaines, and it brings a strong hand: a barn, over 1,000 m² of land, and — unusually — the drainage already on mains sewer, so no SPANC septic to build. Add amenities and seller-paid fees and it scores near the top.
📸 See the photos: view the full Andelot-Blancheville listing on Properstar → (opens in a new tab — there's a video too)
The free routine this was judged against — run it before you travel.
Run the checklist →🔑 Haggling a Long-Empty WreckCheap, fees on the seller, structural work needed — how to offer low.
Read the guide →🔌 Going Off-GridA barn and 1,300 m² — a good base for solar, even with mains services in.
Read the guide →The listing, in full
The agent (iad, Murièle Michel) offers a typical village house to renovate in Andelot — 70 m² plus 1,300 m² of land. Ground floor: entrance into the kitchen, a living room at the back, a WC; upstairs, two 16 m² bedrooms and a convertible attic. It also has a small garage and a 30 m² barn, and a wooded 1,300 m² plot with no vis-à-vis and a terrace to convert. It needs a complete renovation — the roof needs reviewing and there's structural work — but the sanitation is on the mains sewer. Amenities (shops, school, town hall, post office, bank, park) are close. Taxe foncière and price: £18,011 (~€21k), fees paid by the seller.
- Price£18,011 (~€21,000) — fees paid by the seller
- Rates (taxe foncière)Stated in the listing — confirm the figure with the agent
- LocationAndelot-Blancheville (52700), Haute-Marne — on the Rognon, near Chaumont
- Drive from Calais≈ 440 km / ~5.0 hrs — one of the more reachable
- Drive from Bern≈ 300 km / 4.5 hrs — close from Switzerland
- House70 m² village house — kitchen, living room, WC; 2× 16 m² bedrooms + a convertible attic
- OutbuildingsA 30 m² barn + a small garage
- Land1,300 m² wooded, no vis-à-vis — over the 1,000 m² mark
- DrainageOn the mains sewer — no SPANC septic to build
- Build / materialsProper stone village house ✓
- Roof / structureRoof to review + some structural work — experienced buyers
- Electricity / heatingGrid connected — a mark-down for a solar build; heating to install (a wood burner)
- AmenitiesShops, school, town hall, post office, bank, park nearby
- Energy rating (DPE)No data (full renovation)
- Agentiad France (Murièle Michel)
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The good worth having
Barn, big land, and the drainage done
The brief's shape with a services bonus: a 30 m² barn, a garage, a convertible attic and 1,300 m² of wooded land with no vis-à-vis — plus the drainage already on the mains sewer, which takes the SPANC septic job (often thousands) off the table entirely. That's a real head start.
Reachable, with amenities — and seller-paid
At 5 hours from Calais and 4½ from Bern it's one of the easier reaches, in a village with shops, a school and a bank on the doorstep, and the fees are on the seller. Cheap to reach and cheap to buy.
Radon low, room to extend
Radon comes back low, and between the barn, the attic and the terrace there's plenty of scope to extend — a small house that can grow into a proper one.
The bad what to weigh
Structural work, and the roof
The listing is upfront: it's for experienced buyers — the roof needs reviewing and there's structural work. Get a couvreur and a maçon to price those early, as they're the numbers that decide whether the cheap price stays cheap.
⚠️ On the Rognon — six flood records
The commune sits on the Rognon and carries six flood/mud-flow declarations, plus two drought-subsidence on moderate clay. Commune-level, so no automatic score hit — but pin the plot and confirm on ERRIAL that the house sits above the flood line and eye the walls for movement.
Grid electric, heating to install
Electric is on the grid (a mark-down for a solar plan, minor), and there's no heating — plan a wood burner. Standard for these, but budget it.
DIY-er vs needs-a-builder the honest split
With the drainage already sorted, the fit-out is yours; the roof, structure and certified bits are the pro's.
If you're hands-on — what you can do yourself
The strip-out; insulation, internal walls, floors and finishes; joinery, windows and doors; second-fix plumbing onto the mains drainage; the kitchen and bathroom; converting the attic and barn; and a wood burner. With the sewer connected you skip a whole headache — much of the rest is achievable at materials cost.
Where you'll need a pro (or a builder)
• The roof + structure — priced first; the deciding numbers.
• Electrics — a rewire must pass Consuel via a registered electrician.
• Anything structural — a maçon (and possibly an engineer) for openings or movement.
• The energy retrofit — insulation to certified (RGE) trades for the grants.
Clearing it out — the van, and the tip
A van and a few trips
A 70 m² house plus a barn to clear is manageable: a T5-style van and repeated runs, with a skip for the roof and structural debris.
The déchèterie is residents-only
Haute-Marne waste runs through the local intercommunalité, with the nearest déchèterie toward Chaumont. As at a British tip, you need a justificatif de domicile and often a badge — a UK- or Swiss-plated van with no French address won't get in. Until you've a local address, budget a private skip.
The ground check
The routine that ruled out Thollet from the desk — Géorisques, run on the commune (INSEE 52008).
⚠️ These ground figures (clay, flood, subsidence, radon) are official records for the commune — real, but commune-wide, not proof for this exact plot. Check it yourself: official Géorisques risk report (ERRIAL) → — enter the property address.
Radon low, clay moderate
Radon is low (class 1) and clay moderate with two drought-subsidence records — not sound-band, but workable. The real headline is the flood.
⚠️ Six floods on the Rognon — check the plot
Six flood/mud-flow declarations on a river commune. Commune-wide, so it doesn't dock the score under our rule — but on a valley plot it's the check to run first: read the flood mapping and confirm the house sits above the zone.
The score
Near the top of the rankings — carried by the mains drainage, a barn, over-1,000 m² of land, amenities, an easy reach and seller-paid fees. The ground is only lightly docked (moderate clay, two subsidence), and the six commune floods are a flagged plot-check rather than a score hit. The catch that isn't in the number is the roof-and-structure work — price it before you fall for the shape.
The verdict
Still watching — a strong, well-serviced eastern find. A barn, 1,300 m², mains drainage and amenities, seller-paid, 5 hours from Calais and 4½ from Bern — that's a lot of the brief with the drainage headache already solved. Two things decide it: the roof-and-structure cost (get it priced), and the flood mapping on this Rognon-side plot (settle it first). Get both answers, then the exact address and a low offer built on the works. On the shape and the services, it's one of the better ones on the board.
See how it stacks up
Barn, big land and mains drainage in the reachable east — the league table shows exactly where it lands.
See the full rankings →