Object of the decision
The GOLDWIN firm, represented by Maître Jonathan BELLAICHE, defended the interests of a property owner during a pre-emption law procedure.
When a property put up for sale is located in a pre-emption zone, a public person has the possibility of purchasing said property at the preference of any person, often for a derisory price.
In this case, on November 22, 2019, through a notary, the owner of a one-bedroom apartment and a cellar filed a Declaration of Intent to Sell (DIA) for a price of €315,000. This price includes an agency commission of €15,300.
By a decision dated February 18, 2020, a public land establishment exercised its right of pre-emption and offered to purchase the property for the sum of 182,000 euros, including agency commission. This represents 58% of the property’s requested price. The owner refused the proposed price by registered letter dated March 23, 2020. The public land establishment therefore referred the matter to the Nanterre Judicial Court on May 6, 2020, so that the expropriation judge could set the price of the pre-empted property.
Thus, the expropriation judge had to assess the surface area of the property and determine which criteria would be applied to define its price.
According to the public land establishment, the property was worth 188,108 euros, or 6,200 euros/m2, assuming a surface area of 30.34 m2.
In order to choose such a price, the EPF relied on two elements:
– The condition of the property : there may be elements of lesser value which would lower the price (difficult access to the cellar and to the common areas, electrical installations not brought up to standard, damage to the facades)
– Elements of comparison : the EPIF noted that the property is not in line with the evolution of the real estate market over the period 2009-2020, and was estimated at a price much higher than similar apartments.
Finally, the public land establishment retained only 30.34m² of surface area, invoking the Carrez law to exclude the surface area of the attic from its calculation.
In response to these grievances, the owner denied any element of capital loss. Furthermore, she estimated a surface area of 62.04 m2, including the floor area of the attic. This is especially true since she had carried out work to expand the living space. The government commissioner agrees with her reasoning.
Thus, his calculation is as follows: 6500 euros / m2 by retaining a surface area of 30.34m2 + 3000 euros by retaining a surface area of 31.70m2 (corresponding to the floor area of the attic in exclusive use), i.e. a total of 292,000 euros.
After having considered all the grounds and arguments put forward by the parties, the judge dismissed the Public Land Establishment’s claims.
The expropriation judge determined the property’s surface area to be 40.12 m², taking into account only the habitable surface area of the attic of 10.16 m². To assess the property, the judge compared it to similar properties in a geographically nearby area.
Thus, by judgment dated February 9, 2021, the Nanterre Judicial Court:
- The acquisition price of the property by the Public Land Establishment was set at 263,250 euros.
- Ordered the Public Land Establishment to pay Ms. L the sum of 15,300 euros including tax as agency commission
- Ordered the Public Land Establishment to pay the sum of 5,000 euros on the basis of Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure
