Real Estate

No Letter, No Deadline: a SAFER Ruling for Buyers Who Lost the Land

A buyer whose registered letter from the SAFER could not be delivered is never out of time to challenge the pre-emption, the Cour de cassation ruled on 9 July 2026, whatever he knew from other sources. What that means for foreign buyers of French farmland, and how the SAFER's reach grew on 20 August.

A Flat for as Long as You Keep the Job: France’s New Housing Law for Public-Service Workers

Loi 2026-553 ties social housing to the job that justified it, hands public employers half the flats built on land they sell at a discount, and lets town halls override the local plan to build for nurses, police and transport staff. Nothing in it touches a private lease. Here is what it changes for the buildings around you.

Who Pays the Copropriété Charges in the Year You Sell?

French law does not split copropriété charges by days when a flat changes hands. The owner on the due date pays the whole call, the owner on the accounts-approval date takes the whole adjustment, and the works fund is never refunded. What each rule means for a foreign seller or buyer.

The Relance Logement Bill, Article by Article: What the Senate Passed and What the Assemblée Still Has to Decide

The Senate has rewritten the Relance Logement bill and the Assemblée nationale takes it up this autumn. All ten articles explained: the works-contract reprieve for F and G homes, summer comfort in copropriété votes, planning derogation zones, the loosened Jeanbrun, the island second-home surcharge, and what each one means for a foreign owner.

Loi de 1948 Rents in 2026: the 0.78% Decree, the €204 Ceiling, and Why a Cheap Paris Flat Can Be a Bad Deal

Décret 2026-712 lets landlords of loi de 1948 homes raise rents by 0.78 percent from 1 July 2026, up to a ceiling that can be a tenth of the market rent. What the regime is, how the increase differs from an IRL revision, how a landlord gets out, and what a buyer of a flat with a 1948 tenant is really buying.

France’s LMP Reform 2026: Foreign Income Now Counts in the Non-Resident Threshold (Loi de Finances 2026)

The Loi de Finances 2026 has ended a long-standing French quirk: non-resident landlords previously qualified for LMP status because only French-source income was compared against rental receipts. From 1 January 2026, foreign income now counts — pushing many non-resident owners back to LMNP, with material CGT consequences.

France’s 120-Day Airbnb Cap: The Cour de cassation Closes the ‘Internship’ Loophole (Civ. 3e, 16 April 2026)

The Cour de cassation has ruled that a student internship — even one embedded in a university curriculum — does not count as a 'professional obligation' for the purposes of the 120-day annual cap on tourism rentals of a French primary residence. We unpack what the 16 April 2026 ruling closes off, what it leaves intact, and how it interacts with the Loi Le Meur tightening.

Buying French Property as a US Person: The Tax-Reporting Stack You Cannot Skip (2026)

A field guide to the IRS reporting stack — FBAR, Form 8938, Form 8865, Schedule E, Foreign Tax Credit — that US persons take on the moment they buy French property, with the SCI classification puzzle and the post-2019 CSG/CRDS creditability under LB&I-04-0819-007.

When a French Tenant Hides Their Assets: The 2026 Criminal Pathway

When a French tenant overstays after lease termination, refuses to pay, AND shuffles their assets to dodge enforcement, the landlord has a criminal-law tool most don't know about. The Cour de Cassation, on 9 April 2026, confirmed that the post-termination occupation indemnity is quasi-delictual — and therefore covered by the criminal offence of organising fraudulent insolvency under article 314-7 of the Code pénal. Punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine. What every French landlord — domestic or foreign — should know.

France’s 2026 Notary-Fee Hike: Why British Buyers Pay More

From 1 April 2025, French départements can raise their DMTO rate from 4.5% to 5% under article 116 of the Loi de finances 2025. By April 2026, ~83 of France's 100 départements have done so. For a typical British buyer of a resale flat in Paris or the Côte d'Azur, the practical effect is a notary-fee bill that's €2,500 to €5,000 higher than a year ago — and most British buyers can't claim the primo-accédant exemption that would let them avoid it.

France’s 2026 CSG Hike: The 7.5% Carve-Out for UK Landlords

France raised CSG on capital income by 1.4 points on 1 January 2026 — but bare rental and real-estate gains were specifically exempted, while LMNP got hit. And UK-resident landlords with the right A1 or S1 paperwork can pay just 7.5% on every euro of net rental income, an 11-point saving most British landlords have never been told about.