Buying in France from abroad
Between the preliminary contract and the deed, a public authority can take your place on the property you have just signed for, and it has two months to say so. It is the delay foreign buyers discover last, and the only one no negotiation shortens. This dossier explains the mechanism and how to fit your calendar around it.
By Jean Mascla, founder of Home Select Updated · 6 min read
This is the deadline foreign buyers discover last, and the one no negotiation shortens. Between the preliminary contract and the deed, a local authority holds a right of priority over the property you have just signed for, and it has two months to say whether it exercises it.
As soon as the preliminary contract is signed, the notary sends the municipality a declaration of intent to sell. That document describes the property, names the seller, states the price and the terms of the proposed sale. It does not necessarily name you: it is the sale that is declared, not the buyer.
The municipality then has two months to reply, under article L213-2 of the Planning Code. Its silence during that period amounts to waiver, and the sale may go ahead. If it asks to visit the property or have it valued by the state valuation service, the period is suspended and then extended to three months.
This period runs in parallel with the processing of the loan, which is why an ordinary file takes two to three months between preliminary contract and deed even when everything goes well. No clause in the contract can shorten it.
It steps into the buyer’s place on the declared terms, and the sale takes place with it. For you the consequence is clear: the property slips away, but the escrow paid to the notary is returned to you, since the sale in your favour does not take place. You are neither at fault nor liable.
The municipality may also offer a price below the one declared. The seller then has three possible answers: withdraw, accept the offered price, or refer the matter to the expropriation judge to fix the value. In all three cases the original buyer leaves the file, and that is a serious reason not to commit to works, orders or a move before the notarised deed.
Urban pre-emption is exercised on public-interest grounds, social housing, public facilities, land reserves, and the decision must be reasoned. In practice it is rarely exercised on ordinary co-ownership units, and more often on land, whole buildings or commercial premises in identified areas.
Avignon, Provence
The municipality is not alone. Three other rights apply depending on the nature of the property, and they are checked before the offer rather than after.
A property sold off-market escapes none of these mechanisms: the declaration of intent to sell is due in exactly the same way, a subject set out on our page on off-market access.
They cannot shorten the period. They can, however, anticipate it rather than suffer it.
Ask the notary, from the preliminary contract onwards, for the date the declaration was sent and the date the period expires: it is that date, not the parties’ availability, that fixes the earliest possible date for the deed. Check the property’s occupancy status before making an offer, because an unfurnished home let as a principal residence carries a tenant priority nothing removes. And align your signing route with that deadline, starting the power of attorney or remote appearance from the preliminary contract rather than as the deed approaches.
These three habits fit into the general timetable our page on the deadlines from offer to deed describes. They do not gain weeks: they avoid losing them.
Home Select searches and negotiates for the buyer, and for the buyer alone. Your property finder checks the property, the building’s documents and the calendar before you commit, and flags what deserves a question to the notaire or a clause in the offer.
Around the purchase, we introduce the partners used to buyers who live abroad: bilingual notaire, mortgage broker, lawyer, sworn translator. Each acts under their own responsibility; we keep the calendar, from the offer to the handing over of the keys.
Two months from receipt of the declaration of intent to sell, under article L213-2 of the Planning Code. Silence during that period amounts to waiver. If the municipality asks to visit the property or have it valued by the state valuation service, the period is suspended and then extended to three months. This period is neither negotiable nor compressible, and it governs the date of the deed.
It steps into your place on the declared terms, and the sale happens with it. You lose nothing but the property: the escrow paid is returned to you, since the sale in your favour does not take place. If the municipality offers a lower price, the seller may withdraw, accept, or refer the matter to the expropriation judge; in all three cases the original buyer leaves the file.
Yes, in one precise case: where the landlord serves notice to sell an unfurnished home let as a principal residence, article 15 II of the Act of 6 July 1989 gives the tenant a right of pre-emption on the terms of the notice. They have two months to accept, extended to four where they use a loan. That is a reason to check the occupancy status before making an offer on a let property.
The municipality is not alone. Three other rights apply depending on the nature of the property, and they are checked before the offer rather than after. A property sold off-market escapes none of these mechanisms: the declaration of intent to sell is due in exactly the same way, a subject set out on our page on off-market access.
They cannot shorten the period. They can, however, anticipate it rather than suffer it. Ask the notary, from the preliminary contract onwards, for the date the declaration was sent and the date the period expires: it is that date, not the parties’ availability, that fixes the earliest possible date for the deed. Check the property’s occupancy status before making an offer, because an unfurnished home let as a principal residence carries a tenant priority nothing removes. And align your signing route with that deadline, starting the power of attorney or remote appearance from the preliminary contract rather than as the deed approaches.
Urban pre-emption is exercised on public-interest grounds, social housing, public facilities, land reserves, and the decision must be reasoned. In practice it is rarely exercised on ordinary co-ownership units, and more often on land, whole buildings or commercial premises in identified areas.
Further reading
From the Home Select magazine
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