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1. What charges are involved?
There are various different types of cost involved in a property purchase in France i.e. over and above the advertised purchase price.
The purchaser will usually be responsible for most of these under the terms of the preliminary contract (‘compromis’ etc) and it is therefore important to check whether the overall figure discussed with the vendor includes other costs or if not what supplementary charges are involved.
The Estate Agent's fees could be in the region of 5-10% of the purchase price and are generally, but not always, included in the advertised price; thus this point should be made clear as from the beginning.
The expression "Frais de Notaire" is often used in French and usually refers not simply to fees of the Notary, but also includes stamp duty (circa 4.9% of the price of the property) and other taxes etc and the overall total is usually some 6-7.5% of the purchase price.
Properties under 5 years old are not subject to Stamp Duty at 4.9% but instead attract VAT at 19.6% although this is very often included in the overall sales price offered by the developer.
The service provided by the French Notary will not in the usual course of events be provided in English and will not generally include advice on procedure or the documents prior to the meeting at which the final purchase document is signed by the parties; advice on ancillary issues such as inheritance matters is not usually included.
It is a moot point as to whether or not a Notary is able to advise both the vendor and the purchaser without there being a conflict and it is often advisable to take separate legal advice specific to protecting your own interests.
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2. Do I have to have a Notaire?
French Notaires (Notaries) have an absolute monopoly on the conveyance of real property on French territory, although in their (separate) capacity as Real Estate brokers they have no monopoly whatsoever.
Thus a French vendor will very often appoint his or her family Notary, although sometimes the Estate Agent might attempt to send the transaction to a Notary with whom he has an existing relationship; which may not necessarily be in the best interests of the purchaser.
It is also becoming common practice for purchasers who are not resident in France to seek assistance from separate French lawyers who can advise in English and who are able not only to review and comment on the draft conveyance documents but also to draw certain issues to the purchasers’ attention, viz. which might not apply to French nationals resident in France.
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3. How long will it take?
The procedure varies depending upon the type of transaction.
For example - a straightforward purchase of a property already built may take some 2-3 months to complete.
However, if the property is part of a stage-payment development project (“vente en état future d’achèvement”) which has been sold on the basis of the plans prior to construction, then even the preliminary documents may not be signed until many months after the initial commitment by the purchaser, i.e. often when the developer considers that he has obtained enough prospective purchasers to commence work.
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4. Do I have any right to pull out once I have signed the preliminary contract?
There are relatively new statutory provisions granting a theoretical right to withdraw from the purchase i.e. during a 7 day cooling-off period.
However the rules involved are somewhat complicated and have not yet been tested in the French Courts.
The 7 day time period is applied strictly and thus it is often difficult in practice for purchasers living outside France to comply with such a short time span.
Consequently it would be advisable not to sign the preliminary contract (‘compromis’ etc), which is binding and commits you to complete the purchase, unless and until you are certain that you wish to proceed with purchase and moreover that you agree to all its terms; preferably subject to clearly stated conditions precedent.
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5. What is an SCI?
A "Société Civile Immobilère" or SCI is a specific type of French company (NB - in which the liability of the shareholders is unlimited) and the SCI is used almost exclusively for holding real property.
Thus, a trading or business activity should not be carried out through the SCI but instead it would be advisable to opt for one the various type of limited liability commercial company entities provided for by French Law such as Société par Actions Simplifiée (SAS), Société Anonyme
(SA) or Société à Responsabilité Limitée (SARL).
In certain circumstances, it is useful for non-French residents to acquire property through an SCI as there may sometimes be certain inheritance and tax advantages by so doing, however there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution and you should always seek out advice, specific to your own needs, from a duly qualified French lawyer.
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6. Can I leave the property to whomever I want in my UK or Irish will?
Under the public policy provisions of the French Civil Code, the law applicable to property situated in France is solely French Law.
Thus French legal provisions will apply to both tax and inheritance matters relating directly to the real property, regardless of the nationality or domicile of the owners of the property.
French inheritance laws are strict and provide for various mandatory shares of the property to devolve on specified persons, for example all of the children of the deceased have an absolute and equal right to inherit up to three-quarters of the property.
Until recently, the surviving spouse had few if any rights to inherit real property owned by the deceased.
Today, although the situation overall regarding the beneficial inheritance rights of direct descendants is virtually unchanged, new provisions providing for a limited life-interest for the surviving spouse have now been adopted into French Law
Thus, to answer the initial question, property in France may be left in a UK or Irish will to whomever the testator wishes, but the provisions of such a will may only be enforceable in France if they are compatible with French public policy.
It is therefore sometimes advisable to envisage filing a separate will in France specific to property situated upon French territory.
There are moreover a number of specific legal constructs which may be employed to adapt the effects of French inheritance provisions to your own circumstances, but insofar as possible these must be examined and entered into well prior to the death of any of the parties.
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7. Is a "tontine" clause the best arrangement for me?
This is a clause that is sometimes found in the final purchase document when a property is to be in the possession of more than one person, often, it is observed, property acquired by non-French nationals.
However, this possibility is not widely used or even generally known about in France.
It has serious implications with regard to tax and to succession and should never be entered into lightly and without taking expert advice.
A disquieting consequence of using such a clause is that upon the death of the last but one joint possessor of the property, the surviving individual is deemed to have been the owner of the whole property since the original acquisition.
Thus, the offspring of any of the previous deceased possessors have no rights whatsoever in the succession of the person deemed to be the owner (i.e. the last joint possessor) of all of the property on his or her death.
There are also possible tax and stamp duty ramifications which might be avoided if other avenues of joint possession of property in France were explored.
Finally, from a practical perspective, the ‘tontine’ cannot normally be undone and thus were, for example, a dispute to arise between the joint owners, then the French Courts would unlikely to order either a sale or a transfer but instead to insist upon the property remaining in the current structure unless and until either the parties sell/transfer by consent or all but the last joint owner has died.
In essence, it is considered, by most French lawyers, that such a structure should not be employed if there are other possible constructs which achieve the type of joint ownership required.
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8. What is a "régime matrimonial "?
This is a French law construction, also found in many other civil law countries, which deals with property as between spouses during the course of their marriage.
It is sometimes referred to in English, for example, as an “ante-nuptial settlement” or “pre-nuptial agreement” and the couple must specifically adopt one of the different regimes available to them prior to the marriage ceremony.
The agreement in question would therefore be drawn up by a Notary and must be executed by the future spouses before the civil wedding.
In the event that the couple did not enter into a specific pre-nuptial agreement prior to their marriage, then the statutory standard regime (often called the “régime légal”) would be deemed to be applicable to their property.
In a nutshell, the “régime légal” holds that goods, chattels and real property purchased by either spouse after the marriage become the joint property of both, unless jointly specified otherwise in writing.
Persons married outside France are usually deemed under French law to have subscribed to a particular type of régime for French Law purposes, even if the system of régimes does not in fact exist in the other legal jurisdiction.
This may have implications in respect of succession and tax matters in France.
It is possible to change the couple’s allocated or chosen régime using a formal (and somewhat lengthy) French Court procedure, even for spouses whose nationality is not French and who were not married in France.
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9. What taxes are payable?
If you own property in France, there are various types of tax to which you might be subject and a non-exhaustive list is set out below.
Upon purchasing the property, you will be called upon to pay stamp duty (“droits d’enregistrement”)on the purchase price of circa 4.9%, but this is usually settled by the Notary on your behalf and included in the costs and fees for which the Notary will ask you prior to the conveyance.
Thereafter, once the acquisition is completed you will be required to pay a local annual land tax due by property owners known as the “Taxe Foncière”.
There is a further tax payable by occupiers of property in France called the “Taxe d’Habitation”
If you are the owner and the occupier of the property you will pay both and the amount of both is fixed at local level and varies tremendously in function of the policy of the municipality as well as the type and size of the property.
If you let your property in France, then you will need to declare the income flowing therefrom to the French authorities and you will generally be taxed at the applicable French Income Tax rates.
If your net assets in France, evidently including the value of your real property, are higher than 720 000 Euros then you will become subject to the French Wealth Tax and will need to make a special declaration in this respect.
If your property in France is your principal place of residence then you would not normally be subject to Capital Gains Tax upon selling it.
If however, it is a second home then Capital Gains tax would be payable on the difference between the purchase price and the price at which the property is sold on, but would take into account wear and tear and the number of years you have held the property.
Thus, it is important to seek appropriate advice at the outset as the intended outcome may affect the structure of the purchase and the potential tax implications can be onerous if the best choice is not made initially.
To change the structure of ownership at a later stage usually brings about a further payment equivalent to most if not all of the costs of the initial purchase.
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For further information relating to Frequently Asked Questions, please click here 
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