Property investors in France need to be aware of local risk plans

Local and regional risk plans are being drawn up throughout France to alert owners to potential threats to their property. However, French authorities are failing to make property investors aware of the new plans.

The risk plan - Plan de Prévention des Risques - for an area divides the locality into three planning zones: Red Zone - no planning permission permitted; Blue Zone - planning permission subject to conditions; White Zone - planning permission subject to local planning regulations.

However, it is estimated that less than five per cent of France will fall into a red zone, according to french-property.com.

It is claimed that local officials are drawing up the local risk plans, but Notaires, the lawyers who handle the property transaction on behalf of the buyer and seller, are not making prospective property investors aware of them, reports Property Wire.

"It is quite clear that anyone buying building plots in France should make sure that they have a copy of the risk plan for the area. Unfortunately local officials seem to be ignorant of the rules," said a spokeswoman for the Chambres des Notaires de Paris .

In one case, a couple bought land on a building plot in the village of Marenla in Northern France and received planning permission to build a property without knowing that the plot was in an area at risk of flooding.

The Notaire did not make the couple aware of the risk plan when buying the plot of land. The local planning authority then granted planning permission, despite the existence of the risk plan that made clear the area was at risk from flooding. The couple have since had to abandon their plans.

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