Buying in rural France?

French property records, explained in English.

A desk report, not a survey.

France publishes a great deal about every house, in French, across a dozen official websites. We read it for the house you are looking at and explain it in English, with the questions to ask before you offer.

Check a house Read a sample report

What the checks can’t tell you

What does a report tell you?

A real example · summarised

Country house, asking €122,500

What have nearby houses sold for?: A larger house 600 metres away sold for €124,500, so the two figures are not directly comparable.
What does the plan show about building nearby?: The nearest buildable sector is 745 metres away. A separate business sector 513 metres west provides for a grain store.
What do the risk registers show?: The registers checked record no risk prevention plan for the commune, and the nearest mapped watercourse is more than 1.6 km away.
What needs checking before an offer?: The listing says the drainage is non-compliant. Ask for the SPANC drainage report to understand the work needed.

Read the full report

Each finding gives what the record says, what it means and who can answer the open question, with its source and the date it was read.

One house or a shortlist

Send us the house

Email us the listing link, or use the form. We reply within one working day with a quote and a date, and nothing is paid until the report is delivered.

Check a house

Opens a new email with a short template to fill in. If nothing opens, write to reports@frenchhousecheck.com.

A small village among trees on a hillside, seen across a harvested field in evening light — Saint-Lary, Gers. Photo: Desman31, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

How it works

From listing to report, by email

A report comes before the notaire’s work, while you are still comparing houses: the public records for each house in English, with the questions to take to the agent, the mairie and the notaire.

Send us the listing
A link from Green-Acres, Leggett, SeLoger or the agent’s own site is enough to enquire. You don’t need the exact address; we confirm the house and its land with you before we start.
We reply within one working day
By email, from a person, with what we will check, the cost and the delivery date. Nothing starts until you have agreed to the terms.
Your report arrives
A summary you can read in five minutes, and an evidence appendix with every source and the date it was read. One house usually takes two working days once the house is confirmed; for a shortlist we give you a date.
See the sample report
Pay once it is delivered
The payment details come with the report. If something doesn’t match what you know about the house, tell us and we reissue the report at no cost.

What clients said

“So much better than what we received from the Estate Agent, and in a couple of areas provided extra detail than what we eventually received from the notaire.”

Jane, on a report on the house she bought

Her report sat alongside the notaire’s work. It is not a replacement for it.

“I would red flag that house and location. Without that knowledge you would be going in blind.”

Ian, on a house on his shortlist

“Very helpful and informative. And it’s useful for us in putting together our sellers pack.”

Sue, on the house she is selling

The service is discussed on the Survive France forum: read the thread on pre-offer property checks.

What a report is not

Public records can be incomplete or out of date. The report identifies what still needs checking.

Not a survey. Nobody visits the house, and nothing in the report describes its condition.
Not a valuation. The price section is sold-price arithmetic with its sources, not an opinion of worth.
Not legal, tax or planning advice. Where a rule can be read two ways, the report states the reading and names the body that gives the binding answer.
Not a replacement for the notaire or the mairie. The report hands you the questions and says who answers them.

From the reports

What three reports found

Each one changed what the buyer needed to ask before an offer.

Planning restrictions

Two rules left no place for the annex

The plan required an annex close to the house. A no-build strip along the road covered that same ground.

Read the annex finding

Advertised floor area

The advertised area included a garage and cellar

The energy certificate’s living-space figure was about a quarter smaller. On that figure, the price per square metre was about a third higher.

Read the floor-area finding

Renovation budget

The renovation estimate exceeded local house values

In the report’s full-renovation scenario, the estimated work alone exceeded the local finished-house values used for comparison.

Read the renovation finding

All three findings