Have you ever wondered why central Paris has so few skyscrapers? Compared with most major world cities – Hong Kong, New York or Dubai, for example – the City of Light has few high rise apartment buildings.

We reported recently on the government’s flagship piece of legislation on housing and property rentals: the loi ALUR/Duflot. The French Parliament had passed the law but right-wing senators and members of Parliament referred it to the Constitutional Council on the grounds that parts of it might be anti-constitutional.

Things are heating up in Paris as we approach the municipal elections in March. As part of her pitch, Socialist Party candidate for Mayor Anne Hidalgo is supporting a proposal to transform Avenue Foch into a pedestrian zone.

Good news for real estate buyers in Paris: the City of Paris has decided not to increase its share of stamp duty on property sales as of March 1st 2014. That portion of stamp duty will remain at 3.8% of the purchase price instead of rising to 4.5%.

France may have led the way in imposing capital gains tax (CGT) on sales of second homes but the UK is now following suit.

In August, we reported on the much-welcomed tax relief on real estate sales, which was immediately applied to any sale finalized after September 1, 2013. The changes were intended to offset the government’s wholesale revision of the capital gains tax laws in 2012, which had discouraged property owners from selling and thus significantly curbed the […]

President Hollande has made good on his promise to pull back on the dramatic increases in taxes imposed on property sales in France over the last two years.  In releasing the details of the new plan, Budget Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cited the “perverse effects of the current system,” specifically the significant decrease in the volume […]

This private mansion has fallen under controversy in the last five years as its new owner, a brother of the Emir of Qatar, has embarked upon restoring it.  Located on the tip of Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement, the Hotel Lambert, designed by architect Louis Le Vau was originally built between 1640 and 1644 for the financier […]

Mayor Delanoë continues to press his position that rentals of under one year (9 months to students) are unlawful unless the apartment in question has “commercial”, rather than “residential”, status. Like minds disagree as to whether this position is correct and sustainable in the courts, but either way there are some things that can be […]

A poll on Figaro Immobilier yesterday asked readers to cast their vote on whether or not the Mairie de Paris (Paris City Hall) is right to want to limit the number of furnished apartment rentals in Paris.  This topic is hot in the press right at the moment,