Building Your Own French Property?

French building land (terrain à bâtir) is readily available and quite affordable in a lot of places so why not build your own French home?

Pic courtesy TheMoveChannel

It’s an attractive idea. It should cost you a lot less and you can design and build exactly what you want (within the local planning regs, of course).

It is something we looked at way back when we bought our French house. At the time we decided against it but if we were to look again today? We might well give it more consideration. We have way more knowledge of the French property market now and we speak much better French!

But what if you are just thinking about buying French property for the first time and you’ve found a nice piece of land and you’re wondering if, maybe…

If you have the cash and you can afford an architect and a team to build it for you, I would say that building your own home in France was an excellent idea. Of course you won’t actually be doing any of the building but that’s the best way!

What if you are already “in the trade”?

The challenge here is that you don’t know the rules, regulations and building standards (it’s a bit slang, but les norms is the usual term used). You don’t know how to get planning permission (permis de construire) either. A few years ago the situation was more relaxed but now there are rules concerning electrics, plumbing, insulations, drainage, etc which will make your head spin. It’s complex enough dealing with a renovation but building from scratch?

It’s dangerous to think that you can get around things. That complying with the rules doesn’t matter because it’s your home. For one thing you might well invalidate your home insurance if you are unfortunate enough to have a fire, for another you will never be able to sell it. People want to see certificates and have inspections done these days…

OK, it’s not insurmountable but it ain’t going to be easy.

Even if you are a builder, plumber or electrician already I would probably advise against doing it yourself unless you want to spend time going through the French system and getting yourself certified. Actually, if you want to live and work here you’re going to have to do something like that anyway so it might be a very good idea.

You’ll find it tough to get work in the building trade in France unless you are employed by a French builder or you have registered a French business. You might pick up some work from the ex-pat community – and that can be useful income – but it’s not the way to integrate into French life or establish a stable business.In most cases, trading without registration is illegal.

I know I’m digressing a bit here but while I do I’ll just mention working for “cash in hand” over here. It’s called working on the black (travail au noir) and I would strongly advise against it. If you get found out you’ll be fined and so will the person you are doing the work for. Big fines. Think that’s unlikely? Let’s not forget you’re an ex-pat in France so they’ll look very poorly on you if you are not paying into the French taxation system and at the same time taking work away from the local French builder, plumber or whatever. How would you feel if you were back at home and a Frenchman took your job!?!

Anyway, back to the building your own French property thing.

Before you buy your piece of French land, check that you can actually build on it (constructible). If it’s advertised as terrain à bâtir you are probably OK but check anyway. If it’s farmland, leave it – unless you want sheep . It’s very tough to get planning permission on land not designated as such.

You might also find land that already has outline planning permission. If that’s the case you want to get detail about precisely what is allowed. If your French language skills aren’t up to it get an interpreter – don’t rely on the agent. There’s too much of your money at stake here and whilst 99% of them are honest…

Like you would anywhere else, get plenty of quotes and ask questions. Ask lots of questions. There are architects who will handle the whole process for you and oversee the works. There are also French building companies who will perform exactly the same role. These firms have a range of pre-set patterns that can be modified to some extent. It’s not the same as having something architect-designed but it’s a lot cheaper.

Reputable French builders (masons) are very good and will be able to give you a ten year guarantee (decinale) for any work. Modern French building methods are quite fast but it’s best to assume a twelve month average for building from scratch – once you have all the permissions. If you try to speak French to French people they are eager and willing to help even if you don’t yet speak it well and need to use someone else for clarification. It’s worth making the effort.

Just because it’s France don’t get all romantic and silly about what you are doing. It’s all very exciting but there’s too much at risk to make mistakes because you rush in or because you don’t quite understand. If in doubt, walk away. France is a big country and there will always be another “perfect” plot of building land to put your dream French home on.

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