My name is Caroline Phillipson. I am an English estate agent and having lived and worked in the UK for most of my life in the legal profession, my family and I decided to move to France for a better life a few years ago. I have two children, the youngest at the local primary school and the other at the lycée (college). They are both fluent in French and have totally integrated into the French way of life. My husband is a builder and he has a good client base of both English and French. Let me help you find your perfect house and guide you through the buying process.
Building Work and Alterations
Under 50.000 50,000 to 100,000 100,000 to 150,000 150,000
to 200,00 200,00 to 300,000 300,000 to 400,000 over 400,000
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website by limmedia
There are few cases in which you can build or enlarge a property without having to submit your project to the local government administration.
The formalities are restricting but imperative. Once you wish to increase the number of habitable square metres or the size of your
property (or convert a barn or workshop into a house), you must obtain planning permission or make a buildings declaration according
to the particular case. The local government administration will not give you the green light unless your project conforms to the
regulations relating to town planning and the environment.
Building work not requiring formalities
There are very few types of building
work that can be carried out without having to ask for authorisation or contacting the town hall. Amongst them are terraces (the height
of which, measured from the ground, does not exceed 0.60m) but only if it is not being built on a roof, walls less than 2m high and
small building works of a ground surface area of less than 2m² and the height of which does not exceed 1.50m. Equally, you do not
need planning permission for interior building works which are not intended to add a new floor or change the usage of a property.
The change of usage of a place must take into account the building in its entirety; building work to convert an attic into bedrooms
does not constitute a change of usage if the property is, in its entirety, used as a dwelling place and if the physical characteristics
of the attic render it fit for conversion into a habitable place.
Building work requiring formalities
You must have planning permission
of all building work to be carried out on existing properties if it is intended to change the usage of the property, to modify its
exterior appearance or size or to add new floors. Most building work necessitates planning permission, ie. The building of a veranda
on a terrace, the addition of a window opening on to another property, the conversion of a garage into a habitable room, the creation
of a mezzanine, etc. For the granting of planning permission, the competent authority must, within 15 days of the deposition of the
file, make known to the petitioner the date by which the decision will be made. The time period is normally 2 months unless external
bodies need to be consulted, e.g. If your property is located within 500m of an historic monument or classified site. If within 2
months the local government administration has not responded, it's silence may be interpreted as an acceptance. Once authorisation
has been granted, building work may begin. Do not forget to send notification of the opening of a building site to the town hall.
In all cases, building work must be begun within two years of authorisation being granted. By way of a notice attesting to the granting
of planning permission, the public is informed and a 2 month period begins during which any third party may contest the building work.
The local government administration itself may check the building work during its entire duration (and even during the 2 years which
follow its completion). Once building work has been completed, notification of completion must be sent to the town hall. The local
government authority will check that the building work conforms to what was agreed and a certificate of conformity will be issued
within three months.
