In French, the distinction between “acheter dans le neuf“, purchasing a new property, and “acheter dans l’ancien“, purchasing an old property, is a taxation matter.

This is a pretty obvious point for an apartment located in a traditionnal Haussmann building, or when purchasing off plan. But what  is the rule for a property sold just a few years after delivery? We tend to call a recent property one located in a residence that was built less than fifteen years ago, yet such building will be considered as an “old property”.

The taxation rule is that any building completed in the last five years is considered as new. And, at the opposite, any property completed more than five years ago will be considered as “old“.

 

As a consequence, in a transaction concerning a new property, will apply a reduced transfer taxes. The amount of fees due by the purchaser will thus be smaller (0.715% for a new property instead of 4.89% for an old one). In addition, since the 1st of March 2014, the French departments have the possibility to increase the transfer tax. Almost all departments have decided to increase the transfer tax. The increase rate does not exceed 0.7%.