Real Estate

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.

The Guaranteed 1.5% a Year Was Never Yours: France Voids the Fixed Annual Rent Increase

A couple let a care-home room on a commercial lease with a guaranteed 1.5 per cent annual rent increase. On 3 September 2026 the Cour de cassation held the clause deemed unwritten, reversing its 2022 position, and the operator can claim five years of increases back. What it means for every managed-residence investor and commercial landlord in France.

Guarantor for a Student in France: What a Parent Abroad Signs

Your child has a place in Paris or Lyon and the agent wants your signature on an acte de cautionnement by Friday. What you are guaranteeing, what an agency may and may not ask a parent abroad for, the free State guarantee that can replace you, and the legal ceilings on deposit and fees, from the finance ministry's student guide and the texts behind it.

The Foreign Owner’s Guide to the French Copropriété AGM (Assemblée Générale)

Convocation deadlines, proxies, postal votes, the four majorities and the procès-verbal: how the French copropriété AGM really works for foreign owners.

Taxe Foncière Discounts: Which Ones Can You Actually Claim?

France offers six taxe foncière reliefs, from a €100 automatic discount to a cap that stops the bill exceeding half your income. Which ones a non-resident owner can actually claim, with the 2026 thresholds and deadlines.

Is It Worth Contesting Your Taxe Foncière? A Decision Guide for Foreign Owners

Your taxe foncière keeps climbing, but the rate is not the part you can fight. How to check the cadastral base behind your bill for free, the five grounds that actually win, the deadlines, and when a réclamation is genuinely worth your time.

When the Architecte des Bâtiments de France Blocks Your Insulation

Nearly a third of French homes sit inside a heritage perimeter where one official can veto your insulation. What the architecte des bâtiments de France can refuse, how to appeal, and why a refusal does not make an F-rated flat lettable again.

The Commission Départementale de Conciliation, Explained

A tenant or landlord can bring the other before a free, State-run conciliation body long before any court is involved. What it can examine, whether its findings bind anyone, and why not turning up is the worst move available.

No Attestation, No Lease: the One-Month Insurance Rule That Can End a French Tenancy

A Montpellier court has evicted a tenant not for unpaid rent but for failing to hand over an insurance certificate. Why the judge had no discretion, the one-month clock behind the ruling, and the two levers every French landlord should understand.