RENOVATING YOUR PROPERTY

Owner-occupiers intending to in some way add to, transform, or renovate their properties should take careful note before unadvisedly beginning starting to knock down walls, which may lead to situations which only gluttons for punishment would relish, faced with the slow and expensive French legal system.

Basic rules regarding planning permission include a limit on the number of habitable or serviceable square metres which can be added, as well as all changes in use of the property or exterior appearance require official approval from the local mairie.

What you can do without planning permission

• If you are planning to change the interior of your apartment, you can do so as long as it does not change the exterior of the building, or its volume or surface area. For example, adding another shower room in the existing floor plan is not a problem, and there is no need for planning permission.
• If you have a garden and you want to install a patio or terrace, you can do so as long as it is not more than 60cm (2ft) above ground level. The same goes for a greenhouse, potting shed or a garden house, as long as it does not cover more than two square metres and is not more than lm50 high. Anything over these limits requires planning permission.
• You can build a wall in your garden up to 2m high, as long as it is not a dividing wall from a neighbouring property.

What you can do with only a preliminary notification (déclaration préalable) at the mairie

• You can add less than 20 square metres to your surface living area (eg, you convert an attic or a garage into living areas).
• You can build a garage of up to 20 square metres.
• You can build a swimming pool in your garden as long as it does not exceed 20 square metres.

What you cannot do without planning permission

All other building work over these limits, including the construction of a large pool or shed, or adding another floor to your property or a roof garden or terrace, all require planning permission from the local mairie. This also applies if you purchase a larger property and convert all or part of it into commercial offices, as you have transformed the nature of the property.

In copropriétés, your plans also have to be approved by the other co-owners at the annual general meeting. The rules of the copropriete will expressly allow certain building works, but other changes (eg, a roof terrace or attic conversion) will have implications for the whole building which everyone has to agree to.

Financial assistance for renovation

There are a number of possibilities which exist for obtaining state aid to renovate your property. Most aids are means-tested and will depend on how long you have lived in France and contributed to ‘the system’. However providing that you are a full resident and paying your social contributions and tax here, then there is no reason why you cannot successfully apply for these aids if you meet the criteria.

Information regarding all the benefits on offer for those who undertake major structural work can be obtained from the agences departmentales d'informations logement (ADIL) www.anil.org. Some of these are cumulative.

One aid of note is the prime à l'amelioration de I'habitat, a means-tested ‘bonus’ available to owner-occupiers which varies from region to region. This benefit is of particular interest to those adapting homes for people with handicaps or disabilities, amongst other more common measures regarding health and hygiene. The total amount of the bonus cannot exceed 20% of the real costs of the works, within a limit of just over ε10,000. However, this bonus can also be added to another bonus worth 50% of the works necessary to allow access for, or conversion for use by, handicapped people. The limit on this second bonus is ε3,050. Applications for this benefit should be made to the section habitat of the direction départementale de l'équipement (except in Paris where applications should be made to the prefecture).

Looking at tax advantages

In September 1999, the French government decided to kick-start the economy via the building and construction industry by reducing VAT on work by professional builders from 19.6% to 5.5%. This applies to all home improvements, maintenance and renovation undertaken by professionals. The drop in tax rate also applies to the materials they use but this is a concession made only to professionals.

If the property you purchase is an old building which has been renovated by a developer and then sold off as apartments, the lower rate of VAT also applies to all works and purchases for those works undertaken within the habitable areas of the building. Certain parties communes such as a boiler for the building or a lift are obviously not covered in the lower rate of tax, but tax breaks are offered of up to 15% against the purchase of this kind of equipment for which VAT is 20.6%.

Do-it-yourself fans should note that they will still be charged VAT at 19.6% for any purchases they make to deal with household renovations themselves.

Finally, if you have purchased a new property but still decide to undertake some form of reorganisation etc, then you will be exempted from the taxe fonciere for two years after completion of the works.

FINDING OUT MORE

If you want to start your property search before even arriving in France, the development of websites now gives you easy access to visit the properties on offer at your leisure. The French magazine Challenges produced an excellent guide to the French property market in March 2001 which shortlisted the following websites as presenting the best value and interest for home-hunters:

www.123immo.com
www.immo-by-tel.com
www.pro-a-part.com
www.century21.fr
www.immostreet.com
www.se loger.com
www.explorimmo.com
www.miniteloroama.com
www.smartimmo.com
www.fnaim.fr
www.nexdom.com
www.homevillage.com
www.pap.fr

• L'Agence National de l'Information sur le Logement (ANIL) www.anil.org. The National Housing Board. This is an essential site for anybody buying or renting property in France. An important part of the site is multi-lingual — just click on the button to switch into English. Other parts of the site, including the ‘spotlights on ...’ are only in French. You can find contact details for your local agence (agence départemental = ADIL) by clicking on the map.
• www.directgestion.com is a useful website for those people considering buying and renting out a property in France, and offers free advice from property business experts such as lawyers and architects; www.batiweb.com is a website regrouping building industry contact and information for those considering building or renovating a new property.