L'Acajou

Hi there

Does anyone know about planning permission here? We have been here 3 years, having bought a farm. The family we bought from retained a field which is separated from our property (house and farmyard) by a single track tarmacked road. At the time we bought they told us they planned eventually to build three houses for the family, we had no problem with that. Today we are told they plan to build no less than eight, which can only be shoe-boxes. We are appauled as we are about to invest bucket loads of money building a covered patio, swimming pool, etc, and this will make it like being on the edge of a housing estate! Sorry to sound like a snob but we value our privacy!

Basically, do we have any rights to object? Incidentally we bought the farm from the mayor and his (very large) family and up to now have a good relationship!

Ka Ora!

The fact that you purchased the property from the marie says it all is the person still the marie and is the land still in his name this can be checked at the Cadastre this dept holds all land registry info and gives it freely. Then go to the DDE this is the planning control department nothing can be done with out their consent i can only imagine that the land had a CU certifecate du URBINISM for it but this should stipulate what can be done. and how many houses can be built but the size of the plot will also define how many houses can be built as drainage for the fos septic for each house.

I would like to point out that unless something is stated in your comprmis then you will have no come back and may still not win even if you do this is france they will close ranks and you will get no where with it but good luck

L'Acajou

Hi

Thanks for the response. In fact quite a few things have come to light today (local knowledge) which have answered a few questions and given us confidence that we can overcome this. It is very complex but basically one of the family who sold us tha farm has an agenda, he believes that us Brits stay only 5 years, so in 2 years his mate will buy the farm, he will then re-buy it and rent it out, he even has the farmer lined-up. This is a simplified version, but the mayor, his brother is straight and doesn't approve of this. So off to the Maire at 9 am tomorrow... but rather horrified that we may have no say in the matter. Still, there is no way he will get his hands on this place again!

Ka Ora!

Dont be surprised if you get no where at the maries but do go to your local DDE office its them that hold the details about the CU. It may say he can only build one house but he has delusions of grandeur. This is very common in the French dna chain

L'Acajou

Just an update on the land saga... it seems to be true that someone was planning on empire-building! We have now been offered the land to buy ourselves, which we are in the process of doing. The price is very reasonable for building land, so reasonable that the bank are a bit suspicious! We are of course making sure the deal is water-tight, you can't trust anyone. There have been some behind-the-scenes politics, we hear, so the land was offered to us, which is a huge relief. We are planning on selling off a couple of plots and retaining the main as a very expensive garden, or possibly a paddock for a pony, but don't tell our kids!

Debbie June

A 'POS' plan d'occupation des sols must exist. The mairie (irrespective of your mayor) can provide you with this information and as previously said you cn contact your DDE. Depending on the location of your property, certain plots must be of more than a certain surface (eg ours had to be minimum 1000 m2). The POS is decided by all the people elected in your commune and must be in accordance with the law and certain organisations for enironmental protection. All the best.

Debbie June

Sorry, didn't get whole story. Goodfor you. Check out with a geometre and the POS what is buildable and sell off the plots you want. Obviously, there was no planning permission for this land when you bought it. Good luck with your investment.