Fees collected by legal professionals in France are set to decrease, including those paid to notaires. However, savings will only be significant on small transactions while most Paris real estate buyers won’t notice much change at all.  Starting in May, buyers in France will benefit from ever-so-slightly reduced notaire fees on their purchase. Part of the Macron Law passed last year, a decree published […]

A new certificate easily obtainable from a French notaire makes inheriting property in France a far simpler process for non-residents. The European Certificate of Succession allowing heirs to assert their rights in a more streamlined manner is applicable in all EU member states. Until recently, to receive international inheritance, heirs had to go through a […]

A new decree sets the rules for creating and managing cohousing communities — intentional groups of co-owners. These housing cooperatives are considered legal entities, enabling people to come together to design, build and run their housing groups. In 2014, the Alur law — law on access to housing and renovated town planning — officially recognized […]

The French government has reintroduced extra capital gains taxes on property sold in France by non-residents, using a not so subtle legal subterfuge that may well be contested by the European Court of Justice in coming months. The issue of capital gains overpaid by non-resident property sellers in France has been a widely disputed issue, […]

Effective since 1st August 2015 rent control is not being observed by a large portion of landlords, according to a new study. Implemented in Paris as a trial, there is little chance the regulation will spread to the Île-de-France region. The National Association of Consumers (CLCV) has found that 42% of properties advertised for rent […]

The French government recently passed a tax measure aimed at encouraging the transformation of vacant offices into housing in Paris. Over 800,000 square meters of office space in the city are reportedly unoccupied. New finance laws for 2016 include a tax measure intended to push commercial property owners to convert offices in Paris into housing. […]

Conditions have aligned to make high-end property in the French capital an advantageous investment for both residents and non-residents. Reasonable prices, low interest rates and the fall of the euro make Parisian luxury real estate attractive once again. Luxury real estate professionals in France ended 2015 in high spirits. Despite a slight decline in sales […]

French deputies are supporting an amendment that may make it illegal for tenants to sublet their properties on short-term rental websites such as Airbnb without their landlord’s explicit approval.

Paris officials want to instate a fivefold increase on occupancy tax on vacant secondary residences to encourage owners to sell their properties or rent them out. Last month, the City of Paris voted in the principle of increasing the occupancy tax — taxe d’habitation ­— on vacant second homes in the capital. The tax would […]

A wave of impromptu visits by city officials to suspected short term rental properties in Saint Germain des Pres yields little results and fuels growing frustration with the city’s inconsistent policies.  On Tuesday, January 12, the City of Paris sent investigators to storm Parisian apartments they suspected of being illegally rented out for short stays. […]