Raze or renovate

Courchevel is dotted with traditionally styled, new chalets

Spacious 1960s and 1970s alpine chalets in Courchevel in the French Alps still enjoy steady demand but not because of their period charm; instead buyers cannot wait to tear them down.

“In Courchevel 1850 it is almost impossible to build new,” says Matt Hodder, a ski property specialist with estate agency Knight Frank. “The restrictions are strict, so the best way to get a new chalet is to knock down a 1960s or 1970s one and rebuild. It’s one route to getting something central rather than buy something expensive on the Bellecôte slope.” Hodder foresees most older chalets “being replaced with new ones over the next few years”.

Courchevel is made up of a cluster of villages at different altitudes (1850, 1650, 1550 and 1300) each with a different ambience and price range. However, it is Courchevel 1850 particularly where the problem of limited space is most acute. “Our aim is not to build new but to improve or rebuild existing hotels and chalets,” says Gilbert Blanc-Tailleur, Courchevel mayor.

It is a policy that seems to be working. “You get glitzy homes but not too much overdevelopment,” says Pierre Jean Sanchez, an associate with estate agency Savills based in Courchevel.

The cost of rebuilding a chalet to a high level is roughly €5,000 per sq metre. A more basic rebuild would be about €2,000 per sq metre – though in Courchevel 1850 “basic” is a rarity.

“If you invest €15m to buy and refurbish a 500 sq metre chalet you might be able to make a €25m resale,” says Sanchez. Consequently, the pine-covered slopes of Courchevel 1850 are dotted with traditionally styled but new and elegant €7m-€30m chalets.

Rebuilding is not, however, without risks: some owners applying for planning permission to rebuild have found, rather disconcertingly, that their floor area has shrunk. “You might have 500 sq metres floor area but it is not given that if you rebuilt you would get the same building co-efficient [floor area]. It might only be 350 sq metres”, says Nigel Hindle of buying advisers Property Vision. He recommends that any planning permission is double-checked with the local town hall. Otherwise, he suggests buyers opt for a high-spec makeover and refurbish.

Although straight newbuilds in Courchevel 1850 are rare, Savills is about to launch Le Padisha – a block of 41 apartments on the site of a former coach station. Built by a local French company, all but 10 of the freehold homes come with a rental condition attached – the loi montagne (mountain law), whereby the apartments have to be available to let when the owners are not using them. The prices range from €1m to €5m. With some chalets commanding €70,000 for a 10-day let, Savills is confident they will rent easily.

Courchevel has always been popular. One of the world’s top luxury resorts (the number of top-end hotels in 1850 has increased from six to 15 in the past 10 years), it has a great deal to offer the enthusiastic skier. One of France’s first purpose-built resorts (the first ski lift opened in 1946), Courchevel 1850 linked up with fellow chic ski villages Meribel and Val Thorens in 1973, thereby creating Les Trois Vallées. There are now 180 lifts and 600km of groomed pistes in one of the largest and most varied linked skiing areas in the world.

“[During the skiing season] we have more than 60 different nationalities staying in our hotel,” says Flavian Treves, the third-generation owner of Les Grandes Alpes, one of the resort’s oldest hotels. Wealthy French and Scandinavians are regulars, as are the British, though the strong euro hit numbers in 2009. “Last year 50 per cent of our guests were British; two years ago, it was 60 per cent,” says Treves, adding that Russians now make up between 10 and 30 per cent of guests in Courchevel’s top hotels.

However, few of the oligarch set are buying. “They have been careful over the past year”, says Hodder, who adds that buying and selling is now “much more transparent”, with fewer chalets sold off-market. The market is steady, though prices have, in general, dropped by 10-15 per cent,” says Joffray Vallat, who runs his own estate agency, Vallat Immobilier. “Big chalets in good locations are holding their own but anything scruffy in a poor position is very difficult to sell.”

However, demand at the lower end of the market is still robust. “Small apartments [of 35 sq metres] under €300,000 in 1650 and 1550 are very resistant to price drops,” says Sanchez. “A lot of investors buy for seasonal workers and hotel staff. It’s a niche market.”

In the mid-altitude villages of 1650 and 1550, ski homes are mainly flats and cost about 20 to 30 per cent less than in 1850. Knight Frank is selling a smart three-bedroom apartment in Belvedere – the most sought-after part of Courchevel 1650 – for €850,000. At 75 sq metres it works out at about €11,330 per sq metre – roughly the same price as an apartment in the original village, Courchevel 1300, but more than Courchevel 1550, which averages about €6,000-€9,000 a sq metre.

“It is almost impossible to build anything more in 1850,” says Blanc-Tailleur. “So the other levels [1650 and 1550] benefit because of the demand.”

“1650 has its own identity with a fairly small town centre,” says Ian Muxlow, a surveyor who, with friends, owns a two-bedroom apartment in Courchevel 1650. “It’s intimate, low-key and quite family orientated.”

The transfer time from Geneva is just over two hours, though Courchevel also has its own airport – the highest in Europe. In the winter there is a private helicopter service between the airports that takes about half an hour. The TGV train goes as far as Moutiers and then it is 20 minutes by car or bus up to 1850.

When Muxlow bought his two-bedroom flat in 2007 it was a tired property in a purpose-built 1969 block. “It was one of the first and not one of the prettiest,” says Muxlow, who refurbished it completely. “But it’s well situated: you can ski to the door, there are south-west views and a terrace.” He spent £250,000 but, like many, he was happy to pay a premium.“We knew we could have something half the price in another French ski resort but we like Courchevel.”

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Estate agencies

Knight Frank, tel: +44 (0)207861 1000, www.knightfrank.com
Savills France, tel: +33 (0)144 51 73 00, www.savills.fr
Vallat Immobilier, tel: +33 (0)479 08 33 33, www.vallat-immobilier.com