State owned property

Updated on Monday 13 June 2016

Inquire

The French General Code of Public Property contains the definition of state owned property arising from dec­isions rendered by the Council of State throughout the 20th century.

What does the state owned property include ?

Thus, in addition to the property which is an essential part of other property that is part of state owned property, the public domain of a public entity consists :

  • of property that belongs to it and that is directly assigned to public use,
  • or assigned to a public service provided it is subject to special provisions that are material for this public service to be performed.

While entering into state owned property does not require any instrument, the leaving from state owned property on the contrary requires the adoption of a decision of declassification of the property.

Specific rules of the state owned property

While the use of private property is mainly covered by the rules on private law, the use of the public domain requires complying with a large number of special rules such as authorisations, which are temporary and revocable, the ban on signing a commercial lease, etc.

Pinel Act 2014 enshrines, however, the principle that a business may be operated on public property subject to the existence of own customers.

Experience shows that it is not always easy to determine whether property belonging to a local authority is in the public domain or not.
But the issue is of utmost importance as it determines whether or not the envisaged instruments can be drawn up.

The situation needs to be examined by a Notaire in close cooperation with the local authorities’ representatives. The Notaire responsible for drawing up the instruments will take great care. As a public officer, the Notaire is liable for ensuring that his/her instruments are effective.

Find a notaire

Find the details in the Directory of Notaires of France.
Your notaire is at your disposal to help you.