What does the 'pool squat' case mean for property owners in France?
Squatters rights have been called into question in recent laws and court cases
A young man who was injured while illegally squatting a pool is now suing the property owners (image for illustration only)
Ursula Page/Shutterstock
Reports of a young man suing the co-owners of an
apartment block after he was injured during an
alleged ‘pool squat’ have raised the issue of
owners’ responsibilities towards those who enter
their properties illegally.
The then-18-year-old man is said to have been paralysed from the neck down after using the pool in Toulouse in summer 2022.
One co-owner claims the alleged victim, who
she said had entered unauthorised, was pressing
charges of negligence against the owners.
Further reports clarified that no criminal charges were pressed, but the man’s lawyer has lodged
a civil court case to determine who is responsible
and to help finance specialised medical care he is
expected to need for the rest of his life.
The lawyer also asked the block’s management
agency about the pool’s conformity with legal
norms and state of maintenance.
Read more: Explained: safety rules for home pools in France and risks if do not comply
Questions have, however, now been raised over
whether the man was unauthorised.
His lawyer
says he knew one of the block’s co-owners.
Property lawyer Romain Rossi-Landi has said
such situations have to be judged “case by case”
but he confirmed that it is possible for owners to
be found responsible where there is no evidence
of regular maintenance.
In 2022, France’s top appeal court, the Cour de
cassation, ruled against a landlord in a case where
a flat tenant, who was meant to have left two years
earlier, was injured after falling out of a window
with a faulty guardrail.
This was despite him being issued with a court
order to leave a year before.
The issue also arose last year, when the Conseil
constitutionnel struck out an article of an
anti-squatting law that had aimed at exempting
owners from responsibility if squatters come to
harm on their properties.
In doing so, it reaffirmed article 1244 of France’s
Code Civil, which says owners are liable for
damage caused due to lack of maintenance or a
construction defect.
Read more: Is it true that squatters can sue property owners in France?
