The firm’s journal

Guides and news: Property

Property: practical guides and legal news from the firm, newest first.

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Property

Your October 2026 French Second-Home Tax Bill: Surcharge, Deadlines and How to Challenge It as a Foreign Owner

Your 2026 French second-home tax bill is arriving now, often with a 5 to 60 percent municipal surcharge. This guide explains who is liable, how the surcharge and its three relief cases work …

Property

Buying a Tenanted Flat in France as a Foreign Buyer: Sitting Tenants, Notice to Vacate and the Tenant’s Right to Buy

A foreign buyer who acquires an occupied flat in France inherits the lease, the tenant and strict notice rules. This guide explains the sitting-tenant timetable, the notice to vacate that do …

Property

Squatters in Your French Second Home: How Absent Foreign Owners Recover Possession After the 18 August 2026 Law

Your Paris flat is occupied by strangers and the lock is changed. Since 18 August 2026, second-home owners get the fast prefectural eviction: complaint, proof of ownership, 48-hour decision …

Property

Asbestos or Lead Found After Buying in France: Cancel the Sale, Cut the Price or Make the Seller Pay (2026 Guide for Foreign Buyers)

Asbestos or lead discovered after buying a French home? A foreign-buyer's guide to the hidden-defects warranty, defeating the exemption clause, the diagnostic file and suing the surveyor for …

Property

The Compromis de Vente Explained: A Foreign Buyer’s Complete Guide to France’s Preliminary Sale Agreement (2026)

Signing a compromis de vente binds you to buy once the conditions are met. This 2026 guide for foreign buyers explains deposits, the ten-day withdrawal, the loan condition done right, and th …

Property

Your British Spouse Died in France After Brexit: Probate or the Notaire First, Unblocking the Bank Accounts, the Survivor’s Share, and How to Challenge the Tax Bill

Your British spouse died in France: notaire or English probate first, frozen accounts, the survivor's quarter or usufruct, the six-month declaration and the treaty credit.

Property

Security Deposit Kept After You Left Your French Rental: Deadlines, the 10% Monthly Penalty and the Inventory Battle (2026 Guide for Foreign Tenants and Landlords)

Foreign tenant or landlord in France: when the security deposit must come back, what deductions survive a judge, and how the 10 percent monthly penalty works after two 2026 rulings.

Property

Paris Rent Caps in 2026: How Foreign Tenants Challenge Excessive Rent and How Foreign Landlords Stay Compliant

Paris rent above the cap? Reference rents, surcharge challenges, prefect fines up to EUR 15,000, refund of overpaid rent and the automatic 10% deposit penalty explained for foreign tenants a …

Property

Signed a Compromis in France and Want Out? 10-Day Withdrawal, Loan Exit and Costs for Foreign Buyers

You signed a compromis de vente in France and want to withdraw: how the 10-day retraction runs, how the compulsory loan condition refunds you, and what an immobilisation payment, penalty cla …

Property

Buying Property En Viager in France: A Foreign Buyer’s Legal Guide to the Deposit, the Lifetime Annuity and the Traps

How viager sales work for foreign buyers: bouquet, lifetime annuity, occupancy rights, termination clauses, and how French courts decide payment and price disputes.

Property

City Hall Wants the Flat You Just Agreed to Buy: France’s Urban Pre-emption Right for Foreign Buyers

The commune can step into your French property purchase at the agreed price. How the two-month DIA clearance works and how foreign buyers contest price and legality.

Property

Storm and Water Damage in Your French Flat: Who Pays and How Foreign Owners Get Fully Compensated (2026)

Water damage after a storm in your French flat? A Paris practice explains who pays — neighbour, co-ownership or insurer — and how foreign owners secure full compensation.

Maître Reda Kohen

Maître Reda Kohen

Partner, member of the Paris Bar, 11 rue Margueritte, 75017 Paris. Author of the analyses published in this journal. About