20/ Freehold property

Any property in France is sold freehold. Just like with any other property in a condominium type development, you become a co-owner in the property along with all the other proprietors.

You will sometimes be charged a one-off 200 or 250 euros fee for the drawing up the co-ownership regulations, exactly as you would if you owned any property in France. There is a compulsory annual co-owners meeting during which problems relating to the property and any kind of forthcoming expenditure are discussed. Any decisions have to be taken by majority vote and each owner has a number of parts according to the size of their property. When you sign the deed of sale, you will also be signing a power of attorney for the management company to represent you at these meetings; your interest is generally the same as theirs remember. If there was to be a disagreement, you would have to come yourself or rely on the other proprietors to defend your interest. In most cases, a legal representative would be appointed to sort matters out, but this would be in exceptional circumstances. None of the leaseback developments have a majority of foreign owners (this would not be allowed by law, after all, this scheme was initially designed for the French tax payer) and you can certainly count on the French majority to defend their vested interest and yours at the same time!