The English Investor is the go-to English-language resource for foreign property investors in France. Written by a tri-qualified lawyer, our guides cover legal structures, tax strategy, rental regulations, and practical advice for buying and managing French real estate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After an inheritance or through a family SCI, many foreign landlords sign French leases without fully owning the property. Article 595, article 815-3 and the two-thirds rule decide whether that lease stands - or gets the tenant evicted.
SCI or your own name? The 2026 decision guide for foreign buyers of French property: what an SCI really changes when you buy, hold, sell and pass it on - and the five questions that settle it.
A Cour de cassation ruling of 9 April 2026 confirms that a property owner expropriated in France can claim the indemnity for lost rental income for the first time on appeal — a useful procedural opening for any foreign owner of a let French property.
The Cour de Cassation's 9 April 2026 ruling is a brutal warning to British couples holding a French property through a small SCI: a tontine clause that covers all the shares makes the SCI null from inception. We unpack the trap, the practical fix that preserves the tax-efficient outcome, and what to do if your existing statutes are at risk.
How long does it actually take to evict a tenant in France? A 9-step walk-through of every délai, from first missed rent to the bailiff at the door, with realistic timeframes for best, average and worst cases.
From 1 November to 31 March every year, France suspends the physical execution of evictions. A British landlord's guide to the trêve hivernale: dates, exceptions, the L. 412-2 hardship extension, and how to keep the procedural clock running through the winter.
Squatters in your French property? Since the loi anti-squat of 27 July 2023, you can be out in days, not months — if you know which procedure applies. The 2026 guide for British landlords: prefectoral fast-track, criminal penalties, and the domicile trap most guides miss.
Evicting a tenant in France is slow and procedural — but it is possible. The complete 2026 guide for British landlords: the 8-step procedure, the délais, the trêve hivernale, the loi anti-squat 2023, and what to do when the préfet refuses to send the police.
The prescription abrégée under Article 2272 lets good-faith buyers acquire full ownership in just 10 years — even if the seller wasn't the real owner. Here's how the juste titre and bonne foi conditions work, and what British property owners need to know.
How French boundary law works — from bornage to prescription acquisitive — and what British property owners need to know to protect their land, resolve neighbor disputes, and avoid costly litigation.
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