Organization and operation of a local authority

Updated on Wednesday 30 September 2026

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Preemption and expropriation rights

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Municipal pre-emption right

By virtue of their municipal pre-emption right [droit de préemption urbain (DPU)] local authorities have the right to acquire real estate put up for sale by private individuals or companies, in preference to any other buyer.
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Wastewater treatment in France

Collective sanitation and non-collective sanitation systems are important for local elected officials for their environmental consequences. They often deal with these issues through intermunicipal structures.
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Compulsory purchase order in France

Expropriation is a procedure that allows the administration, for purposes of public interest, to compel a person to assign property for compensation, or to transfer it to another person.
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Powers of mayors

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Delegation of powers

The purpose of delegating powers or jurisdiction is to modify the distribution of jurisdiction.­
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Manage real-estate property

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The Notarised document or Administrator deed

An administrative act is a legal act subject to administrative law, the litigation of which is the responsibility of the administrative judge. Mayors and presidents of local authorities may use real estate acquisitions in a development or road project, either in administrative form or by notarial deed.
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Country lanes

The rural road has three cumulative criteria: it belongs to the communes, is assigned to the use of the public, and is not classified as communal way. It benefits from a particular legal regime.
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Burial plots

A burial plot is a piece of land in a cemetery that a commune may decide to grant to someone wishing to establish a grave for him/herself and his/her children or successors.
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Privatisation of public domain

Decommissioning ceases the use of government-owned property, local communities and public institutions or other public entities. Decommissioning brings the good out of the public domain.
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Buildings in a very poor state of repair

When a building is a danger to the safety of occupants, neighbors or passersby, the mayor (or the prefect of police in Paris) can initiate a risk of proceedings against the owner to take the necessary measures
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Renting to associations

The French General Code of Public Property states that a private person/entity occupying the public domain is liable to pay a fee for use of public property (redevance domaniale).
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Protection of trade

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Exercising pre-emption right

When a preliminary alienation declaration has been filed with a municipal authority concerning a commercial or crafts business, commercial lease or land on which business premises have or will be built, it has two months in which to choose between waiving or exercising its pre-emption right.­
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Pre-emption of all commercial buildings

In contras­t with rights of pre-emption designed to protect local businesses, the exercising of pre-emption right for commercial building cannot be exercised by any commune.­
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The retrocession of land, funds and pre-empted leases

The commune must, within 2 years from the transfer becoming effective, retrocede the commercial or crafts business, commercial lease or land to a company listed on the Trade and Companies Register for it to be used in such a way as to preserve the diversity of the commercial or crafts activities in the zone concerned.
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Protective zone for local businesses

In order to have the boundaries of a protective zone for local businesses and crafts validly adopted, a mayor must submit a municipal council draft motion to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Trades and Crafts in the jurisdiction of which the commune is situated.­
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A question ? Need help ?

No. A municipality can very well decide to pre-empt a property offered for sale at a selling price lower than that desired by the seller. The latter must send the owner its proposal by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, within 2 months of receiving the DIA. The seller then…
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No. The notary must submit a Declaration of Intent to Alienate (Déclaration d’Intention d’Aliéner – DIA) to the municipality. In principle, the municipality has two months to exercise or waive its right of pre-emption (Article L. 213-2 of the French Urban Planning Code). In the event of disagreement over the…
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