Countries · France
What to check in France before you sign.
The energy rating decides whether a flat may still be let at all. Buy a poorly rated property and you buy a letting ban with a date on it.
What costs the most money in France
3.9 million principal residences fell into classes F and G on 1 January 2025, that is 12.7 percent. Across the whole housing stock it is 5.4 million. Class G may no longer be newly let since 1 January 2025. Class F follows on 1 January 2028, and class E on 1 January 2034.
Source: SDES, Ministère de la Transition écologique, 01.01.2025
Purchase costs
7 to 8%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Transfer tax, existing property5.80%, raised to 6.30%
- Transfer tax, new build0,71 %
- Property security contribution0,10 %
- Notary fee above €60,0000,799 %
- First-time buyer, main residenceexempt from the increase
Source: Tax administration DGFiP, 2026. Since April 2025 the departments have been allowed to raise their share by 0.5 points, and around 30 have done so. For a new build the additional costs run at 2 to 3 percent. The overall range is calculated from the official individual rates.
The trap for tenants
A rent ceiling applies in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier, Grenoble and the Basque Country. Exceeding it costs up to €5,000, up to €15,000 for a company, and the overpayment has to be handed back. A survey of 1,800 listings found that only 64 percent kept within the ceiling. Where offers went over, the excess averaged €155 a month.
Source: CLCV (Consommation, Logement et Cadre de Vie), 09/2025 to 05/2026
Energy and the duty to renovate
The DPE class has to appear in every listing, and since 2022 the estimated annual energy costs as well. The letting ban for class G applies to every contract concluded, renewed or tacitly extended from 1 January 2025. A running contract from before that is untouched.
For a buyer that means the ban does not bite at the purchase but at the next change of tenant.
Source: Service-Public, Ministère de la Transition écologique, 03.01.2025
Certificate validity: 10 years
What to watch for in France in particular
For flats, the floor area under the Carrez law has to be stated in the contract. If the actual area is more than five percent smaller, the buyer is entitled to a proportional price reduction. This applies only within one year of the deed. If the figure is missing altogether, the contract can be challenged.
In 2023 the competition authority found at least one objection at 65 percent of the property businesses it inspected.
Source: Loi Carrez of 1996 and DGCCRF, inspection year 2023
Official maps in France
7 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in France.
These bodies are grouped by category: property and encumbrances, energy, natural hazards and more. The report on your property names the responsible bodies, with the date checked and a link. A figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
over 700
official data sources
4
categories
What this costs
3.9m
homes carry the worst energy ratings F and G, roughly one in eight. A class G home may no longer be let to a new tenant since 1 January 2025, class F follows in 2028.
Source: SDES statistics service of the environment ministry and ONRE observatory, published 12 November 2025, as of 1 January 2025, 12.7 percent of 30.9 million main homes
30%
of rental listings in Paris probably ask for more than the cap allows. Where it is exceeded, it is 155 euros a month on average, so 1,860 euros a year.
Source: CLCV, a consumer association, tenth barometer of 26 June 2026, based on 1,800 listings from Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis between September 2025 and May 2026. Asking rents, not signed contracts
These numbers arise after the signature. The report does the maths before it.
The market in France
Around 921,000 sales of existing property in the twelve months to 30 September 2025, up by almost eleven percent on the year before.
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in France — every figure with its source.
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