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.

How the French Taxman Decides Your Flat Is Empty: the TVLH Evidence Rules

From January 2027 France's new vacancy tax will decide whether your home is empty on the strength of a database, your own declaration and, sometimes, a neighbour's tip-off. What fiscally vacant means, how occupation is proven, and the two defences that actually work.

France Is About to Upgrade Your DPE by Decree: the 1.7 Coefficient Explained

A draft arrêté would cut the DPE electricity coefficient from 1.9 to 1.7 on 1 January 2027, lifting hundreds of thousands of electrically heated homes out of passoire status with no works and a free updated label. What it changes for foreign owners, and why it is not signed yet.

Six Weeks, Not Two Months: France Rewrites the Unpaid-Rent Clause in Every New Lease

From 1 October 2026 every new French lease gives a non-paying tenant six weeks, not two months, to clear the debt after a commandement de payer. What the new contrat type changes, which clock governs your existing lease, and the procedure that actually gets a property back.

IRL Q2 2026: French Rent Revision for Foreign Landlords (+1.15%)

INSEE's Q2 2026 IRL is 148.37, up 1.15% in a year and accelerating for the first time in two years. What foreign landlords can claim, the DPE freeze that still bites, and the one-year deadline.

Your DPE Says A, the Thermometer Says 36°C: France’s Heat-Trap Homes and How Not to Buy One

A third of France's best-rated homes turn into ovens each summer. What the DPE letter actually measures, the summer-comfort indicator nobody reads, and the checks that spare you from buying a bouilloire thermique.

Buying or Selling a Tenanted Property in France? The Lease Survives the Sale

In France the lease follows the walls. Article 1743 hands the tenant to your buyer, deposit obligations included, and the congé pour vendre is the only clean way to sell empty. What buyers inherit, what sellers keep, and where the traps are.