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Property updates

France's new property declaration form: 2024 rules and fines explained

A new deadline is in place for those who have yet to declare - or have moved

France’s property market sees greatest fall in sales for 50 years

The number of non new-build homes being sold dropped by 22% year-on-year in 2023

Garden magnolia tree in France saved by children’s love letter

Owners of the property next door said tree blocked light to their new extension and wanted it felled

practical

Pool tax win, cheap €1/m² building plots: five French property updates

Plus two landlord controversies and the soaring price of summer holiday lets

French property updates: Brit’s second home ‘hell’, Airbnb ban mooted

Plus, the online tool helping prospective tenants apply for flats faster and an innovative Bordeaux building that adapts to multiple uses

Updated: Your questions answered on France’s new form for homeowners

Can the declaration only be completed online? Why am I being asked to declare something? Is this a new annual obligation? All of this and more

French property updates: Point system to limit second homes, form tips

We also look at a couple’s issues over the ‘delivery guarantee’ for a newly built home and the continuing row over cooking smells from a crêperie

How to fill in new French property form and why it is causing problems

Unions say thousands of people have contacted the French tax authorities with questions about how to fill it in properly

Warning for homeowners in France as monthly property prices fall

Tourist hotspots and the second-home market are the exceptions as property values dip across all other sectors

French second homes at risk of coastal erosion and other property news

Plus no current plans to ban gas boilers in houses and MPs vote to enlarge the amount of people due compensation for cracked homes

MAP: See where house prices have risen the most in France

Price increases in all departments, reaching 25% in one the latest notaire data shows

Anti-Airbnb bill, drought damage: Five French property updates

We also look at what is stopping people from making their homes more energy efficient, why the idea of a Covid ‘exodus’ from cities to the countryside is false and more

Airbnb trends, taxe foncière increases: Five French property updates

We also look at what three recent court cases mean for buying a house en viager, giving someone usufruit of your property and getting rid of tenants

Rising renovation costs, €20,000 folding house: French property update

We also look at soaring prices in ski resorts, the tenant who was evicted for a radical bathroom makeover, and hear why the former PM is against banning energy inefficient homes from the rental market

Neighbour disputes, second home tax, mortgages: French property update

We also look at bicycle parking in shared apartment blocks and the manor house for sale with an intriguing silver screen pedigree

MAP: See where apartment prices have risen the most in France

The apartment market in Paris has remained fairly consistent but other areas have boomed, the latest data from notaires shows

Tax rise for home pools, market slowdown: Five French property updates

We also look at a case of ‘tacit’ planning permission gone wrong and support for fining people who turn their heating up too high

Self-heating homes, holiday lets: Five French property updates

We also look at how energy ratings affect property value, the fraught sale of a historic fortress and the family who discovered their home was on heavily polluted land while gardening

Pool problem, ‘rent with option to buy’: Five French property updates

We also look at why sellers may not be liable for misrepresenting the size of a property and the best places to live for workers

Shutters, apartment prices: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at government intentions to extend energy efficiency-related rental bans to holiday lets, the demolition of an illegal house and more

Eco-renovations, Airbnb: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at how mortgages are becoming longer and harder to obtain, many Ile-de-France properties risk being banned from rental market and more

Buy-to-let tips, last taxe d'habitation: Five French property updates

We also look at new coastal property sale and rental rules, the plight of a woman unable to return home because of a neighbour’s crumbling house and more

€100,000 water bill, boundary rules: Five French property updates

We also look at a how DPE diagnostic ratings of homes have been criticised as ‘a lottery and a festival of errors and contradictions from one inspector to another’

Édith Piaf’s house for sale, 2023 prices: Four French property updates

We also look at the evolution of property sales in the past 20 years, an anti-Airbnb breakthrough in south-west France and rules on outdoor showers

Illegal cabins tracked, tree dispute: Four French property updates

We also look at the annulment of a house sale because of a lack of access to drinking water and the nightmare of a pensioner unable to leave his flat

Buy or rent debate, checking sales data: Five French property updates

We look at how to see what homes near you recently sold for, the rules around taking fruit from a neighbour’s tree and how the property market is faring

Garden pool and veranda taxes, squatters: Four French property updates

We also look at a simulator to calculate the taxe d'aménagement due on new garden constructions and when it could make sense to change mortgage insurance contract

Dordogne popularity, winter heating woes: Four French property updates

We look at the most popular departments for rural second homes and how you can potentially get a free composting bin

Second home hotspots, pergolas, cracks: Five French property updates

We also look into one family’s three-year battle for planning permission to build a home on land they bought - only to find much of it has since been re-classed as non constructible

Shutters and burglaries, Airbnb controls: Five French property updates

We also look into one city in Brittany’s fight to reduce Airbnb rentals, a landlord’s dispute with an elderly care association and the costs of home extensions

Air-con restrictions? Tax foncière rates: Five French property updates

We also look at a four-year legal battle over a BBQ, delays to energy audit obligations and a landmark court ruling against a Parisian estate agency

An unsellable house, garden sharing: Four French property updates

We also look at where flat prices have stagnated in the past year and how people are trying to cool down their properties in this summer’s soaring temperatures

‘Slowdown ahead’: Five French property trends from latest notaire data

France’s notaires network warns of a potential property market slowdown linked to high inflation in the coming months

Garden tree rules, building on farmland: Five French property updates

We also look at taking out a mortgage on a property you buy with a friend and why a tenant lost a court case against their landlord after falling out a window

Toxic seaweed, energy ratings, tiny flat: Four French property updates

We also look at how having good insulation could add almost 10% value to your home and how the state has to pay €19,000 compensation over a chateau it seized

Home security, oil boilers: Five updates for French property owners

We also look at whether a seller can pull out of a sale when an offer matches their demands and holiday rental measures in west France

Taxe foncière rise limits?: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at the rules on building shared fences and new rent controls in Bordeaux and Montpellier

Local taxes, energy audit: Four updates for property owners in France

We also look at the story of a French island claiming nearly €500,000 in unpaid taxes from Airbnb and a challenge to overturn rent controls in Paris

Pool taxes, auction deals: Four updates for property owners in France

We also look at a €10,000 fine for a Paris landlord for overcharging his tenant and a court ruling over couple consent at copropriété meetings

3D houses, ugly extensions: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at one couple’s surprise discovery that their house is scheduled to be demolished and a potential increase to eco-renovation grants

Copropriétés, squatters: Five updates for property owners in France

Warnings put out about avoiding scams when applying for renovation grants; rules on selling a property without an estate agent and more

House prices, wind farms: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at a 14-year eviction struggle, mortgage rates and why all tenants of a copropriété could be financially liable for one tenant’s mistake

Tax rises, artisan fees: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at a court case about what you can (and cannot) build on ‘constructible’ land

Sales, cheap château, rent: Five updates for property owners in France

In our weekly roundup we also look at the rules for building a wall, fence or hedge and how to apply for planning permission online

Pools, prices, islands: Five updates for property owners in France

We also look at a costly planning permission error and how a shortage of houses is pushing up prices

Haggling, insurance, leaks: Five updates for property owners in France

We look at where buyers are able to get better prices, where the cheapest insurance policies are – hint, it is not Paris – and a jail sentence for building a chalet illegally

House prices, sublet scam: Five updates for property owners in France

A buyer can now afford properties six square metres smaller on average, a man is fined over €200,000 for illegal subletting, a court settles a four-metre high wall dispute and more

Second homes, price rises: Four updates for property owners in France

We look at how Brexit has affected the British market and big increase in property prices in the west of the country

Boilers, walls, widows: Five updates for property owners in France

More money is made available to convert gas boilers, a dispute about a garden wall is settled and a court rules on the controversial eviction of a deceased man’s wife

Renovation help row, rental rates: Five French property updates

We cover a complaint by housing associations about a new scheme to guide people in upgrading their property, and where in France rent prices are highest (in four maps)

Shared walls, €7,800 house, notaire fees: Five French property updates

We look at a court ruling on who owns walls on the edge of properties, tips to reduce notaire fees and a very low priced house in Brittany that had buyers scrambling to bid