Giscard d’Estaing hit by credit crunch

The former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing has become the latest victim of the slump in property prices. Giscard, who was head of state from 1974 to 1981, is experiencing extreme problems shifting his 15th-century chateau in central France, a residence set in 30 acres that has been in his family’s hands since the 1930s. This is not helped by the fact that he refuses to budge on the €3m price tag.

The beautifully restored – over-restored, according to one expert – turreted, three-storey, cream-coloured mansion has been on the market since March, but has elicited few enquiries. This has resulted in Giscard, 82, abandoning his initially secretive sales strategy and agreeing to a rather vulgar promotional spread in the specialist publication Proprietes de France. It is billed as the "domain of the President".

But even this is unlikely to stir up much interest. An expert on the French chateau market says: "Giscard, like many others, is just being greedy. This chateau is not expecially authentic and it is an inaccessible spot, where, quite frankly, it is winter most of the year. I doubt that this estate is worth more than €2m – and then just because of the Giscard name... There is no shortage of buyers at the right price but the truth is that people can do much better elsewhere."