The 1 October Lease Checklist: What a Compliant French Rental Contract Must Contain (2026)
From 1 October 2026 every new or formally renewed French lease must follow the rewritten template. Here is what a compliant contract contains, which leases are caught, the one omission that voids the document, and a printable one-page checklist.
Your Taxe Foncière Looks Wrong? Here Is the Réclamation Letter, Free, in French With English Notes
A free réclamation letter in French with English notes, four variants and a guide to the deadline and the rules. It arrives with The France Brief welcome email.
Thank Your Syndic for Good: What a Syndicat Coopératif Is, and What the Cour de cassation Just Let You Outsource (2026 Ruling)
A small French building can run itself through a syndicat coopératif and buy in help to do it. The Cour de cassation ruling of 17 September 2026 on Matera says where help ends and the licence begins, and what that means for an owner abroad.
Short-Term or Long-Term? The First Question Every Owner of a French Flat Has to Answer
Before the SCI, the tax regime or the case law, one decision shapes everything: who lives in your French flat and for how long. The rules of a meublé de tourisme, a furnished lease and an unfurnished lease, the 2026 figures, and the five questions that decide between them.
One Owner’s Roof, Everyone’s Liability: the Syndicat Pays for the Leak Whatever the Règlement Says (2026 Ruling)
A roof or terrace held en jouissance privative is yours to maintain if the règlement says so, but the Cour de cassation ruled on 17 September 2026 that the syndicat still pays whoever the leak damages, then claims it back from you. What that means for the owner above and the owner or tenant below.
Buying Off-Plan in France: the VEFA, and Why the Mud Is Already Yours
How a French off-plan purchase (VEFA) actually works for a foreign buyer: the 5% deposit, the 35/70/95 payment grid, the completion guarantee, delivery day and the thirteen-month clock, with the case law and the tax layer.