The off-plan process
Off-plan sales are called in France a vente en l’état futur d’achèvement (VEFA). The off-plan sale is strictly regulated by law (articles L. 261-1 and following of the Code of Construction and Housing).
This technique of selling makes it possible for a purchaser to progressively become owner as the work progresses, paying the price step by step. The sale of off-plan properties applies to apartments and houses.
Financing your purchase
Before getting documentation or visiting anything, we always advise you to prepare your finances. For off-plan properties, our customers usually take a mortgage in France, because the rates are better compared to the UK and it allows them to avoid currency fluctuation — it is better to send monthly payments from the UK to France over a 10-year basis rather than doing a transfer at a high rate.
Choosing the right property
There are several types of off-plan properties in France — think first about what you are looking to do with it (pure investment, a holiday home with rental, or a holiday home for yourselves), then choose accordingly:
- Classic off-plan — you buy a property freehold. Ideal if you want to use it yourself.
- Buy to let — you buy a property freehold and rent it through a management company with secured rental.
- Leaseback — you buy a property freehold and sign a 9 or 11.5 year lease with a management company, which guarantees your rental income for the lease’s duration. Most of the time you can use the property one or two weeks a year, subject to agreement with the rental company.
If you like a development, you will need to check availability before a visit. We always advise our customers to visit a site, because it is an important step in their decision — most of the time the site is just a field, but if you buy in a large residence the developer may have built it in several phases. You can view the properties already sold and built, and see where yours will be located among them.
How the purchase happens, step by step
- Taking an option. If you take an option, the developer holds a property for you with no commitment to buy — usually for one or two days, until your visit or until you finalise your decision if you don’t intend to visit.
- The preliminary contract. The first stage is signing a preliminary contract with the promoter — the contrat préliminaire, also called the contrat de réservation. By it, the promoter commits to reserving a property for you, and you pay a deposit. To let you judge the extent of your commitment, it must be in writing and include a detailed description of the future property, the quality of construction, the estimated sale price, and the date the final sale contract will be signed. The deposit cannot be more than 5% of the estimated price if completion is within a year (2% if within two years, and nothing beyond that), held in a separate account, generally opened by a notaire. Once you’re notified the preliminary contract is signed, you have a 10-day cooling-off period to withdraw — extended from 7 days by the 2015 Loi Macron, under the same article L. 271-1 CCH.
- The final deed of sale (contrat définitif de vente). The promoter must notify you at least one month before the final signature, so you can check the project matches what was promised — this deed carries more detail than the preliminary contract, including the delivery period and any loan condition. The promoter must also give you a plan with housing dimensions and a copy of the co-ownership rules. If the final contract shows an abnormal difference from the preliminary one, you can walk away and your deposit is refunded within three months. It is signed in front of a notaire.
- Delivery. The contract can name a specific date or a period (for instance, a given quarter or a number of months from a stated event), and it can include penalties for a delayed delivery, for your benefit as the purchaser.
The payment schedule
Payment is progressive, matching the building work — the amounts requested cannot exceed these cumulative totals:
5%
Initial deposit
35%
Foundations complete
70%
Weatherproof
95%
Construction complete
100%
Keys handed over
Guarantees for off-plan buyers
When you buy off-plan, or build a house, you benefit from specific guarantees on the builder’s responsibilities. Once the building is delivered, legal guarantees protect you — you can still act if you find defects after taking ownership.
The guarantee of completion
Obligatory, this ensures the promoter will be able to continue construction through to completion. It takes one of two forms:
- Intrinsic guarantee — exists without the seller needing an external organisation’s backing, provided the operation meets one of these conditions: the building is already weatherproof (roof on, windows not yet installed) with no mortgage or charge on it, or the foundations are finished and the promoter already has the financing to cover most of the expected sale price (60–75%).
- Extrinsic guarantee — given by a bank, financial institution, guarantee company or insurer, either as a credit line the guarantor advances to the promoter to complete the work, or as a guarantee convention under which the guarantor jointly commits, with the promoter, to pay the sums needed to finish it. The sale contract must specify your right as purchaser to call on this guarantee.
Responsibility and conformity
From signing the reservation contract to delivery, the promoter is responsible for the property’s conformity — it must match the characteristics stated in the contract, and you cannot be made to accept a different one. If it doesn’t conform, you can require it be brought into conformity where that’s still possible, or ask to cancel the contract, with damages if applicable.
Defects — what’s covered, and for how long
1 month
To report an apparent defect
Detectable by a non-professional at handover. You have a month to report it by registered letter; if the promoter doesn’t act, you can seek a price reduction or a court order to repair — and up to 13 months from delivery to go to court over a serious defect.
10 years
Hidden defects (the décennale)
Covers hidden defects, including ground defects, that compromise the building or make it uninhabitable — the promoter and contractors are fully responsible for 10 years from your acceptance of the completed work.
2 years
Equipment
Covers elements that can be removed or replaced without damaging the building’s structure — shutters and interior doors, for instance — for correct operation.
1 year
Soundproofing
If minimum soundproofing standards aren’t met, the contractor is responsible for the necessary work for a year after acceptance, and the promoter for conformity to the standard over the same period.
The guarantee of refunding
Optional, this is a joint guarantee under which a bank, mutual guarantee company or insurer refunds the payments you’ve made if the sale is resolved — by agreement or by court order — due to a failure to complete. It ends once the building is finished, and only applies if the sale contract states it clearly.
Environmental standards and quality labels
Every new-build permit filed since 1 January 2022 has to meet RE2020 (Réglementation Environnementale 2020), which replaced the older RT2012. Where RT2012 only capped energy consumption, RE2020 also counts the building’s carbon footprint across its whole life — construction materials included, not just how it performs once occupied — and its thresholds tighten in further stages through 2031, with the next round of requirements applying to permits filed from July 2026. It’s a mandatory regulation, not a voluntary label.
Labels sit alongside that baseline as certificates of technical quality, not a substitute for it. The two main ones are Qualitel and Promotélec. Promotélec covers the electrical installation — its quality, performance and safety, including heating and hot water production, insulation and ventilation. Qualitel certifies the whole construction against seven criteria: noise protection (interior and external), estimated heating and hot water costs, summer heat insulation, plumbing and electrical quality, and the durability of roofs and façades.
Notaire’s fees
Among the advantages of an off-plan purchase, the acquisition costs — the notaire’s fees — are relatively low, which is a real economic advantage: count on roughly 2% to 4% of the sale price for a new-build home, compared to 6–8% for a resale property.
We do not charge you any commission for our service, as we are paid by the property developers.