The cogs are turning, albeit very slowly. No help from the solicitors, bad information from the town hall, and a land surveyor that we can’t tie down.
The pressure is beginning to build now – the vendors want some movement as I do, but more red tape is intertwining all my efforts.
This small piece of land in front of the house is crucial in its development towards a gîte, and it’s this that’s causing the hold up.
I know from experience that any work that involves Planning Permission will be scutinised by the powers-to-be, and if an anomaly is found I’m up the proverbial creek.
According to the lady mayor, the land was never theirs – the village had always considered it the property of the owners of the house, but the street plans show otherwise.
She has agreed that I can have the land, and that once the surveyor has been to confirm the boundaries, she will rubber stamp her decision for the solicitors.
In reality of course, it appears it’s a whole different story!
The area outlined in red is what the hold-up is all about
…..and in reality it’s the corridor in front of the house defined by the railing
The surveyor now tells me that no amount of land (however small) can be gifted by French Law. The land must be sold to me.
So for this to happen, the mayor needs to convene a meeting with the council to ask whether they will accept to sell the land to me. If they agree, they need to accord a price.
This could be anything from 1€ ‘symbolique’ to the price of constructible land in the village 50€/m2. Regardless of the price, the whole needs to pass through the legal system as an ‘acte notorié’, meaning the damned solicitors are going to get involved yet again.
The surveyor says he’ll do something, then doesn’t. For a professional body, I find that abnormal.
So I await the decision of the Council before proceeding with the meeting of the land surveyor and the mayor on site.
The plans are quickly drawn (apparently), and are then send off for yet another rubber stamp at the préfecture.
Then another rubber stamp at the town hall, and yet another at the solicitors I guess.
If I can read the paper underneath all that, it’ll be a miracle!
One response to “STOP PRESS: LIVE UPDATE!”
Mmm… surprising they said land can not be given. We exchanged some plots to change ownership. No problem. Our notaire simply put the old value on it for taxing purposes and passed the act. The amount to give away is limited though. Maybe in marriage things are different and the fact that the commune is involved the cause. € 50 seems pretty much though. Would you be allowed to construct (eg extend the house on that strip? probably not so strictly it would not be constructable).
Good luck with the formalities.