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The registers of the Bureau des Hypotheques
cannot be "frozen" by search, and the French
system is therefore to make searches after "com–
pletion". The purchase money is normally paid to
the notary, and he holds it until a clear search,
made at the same
time as
registration of
the
acte de vente,
is obtained. If outstanding charges
are disclosed, the notary pays them off, and pays
over the balance to the vendor. If the charges
disclosed exceed the purchase price, there is an
elaborate procedure called
purge
whereby
the
charges have the option of accepting the purchase
price, discharging the property and pursuing the
vendor for the balance, or of requiring the prop–
erty to be resold by auction.
Cost to
Parties
What then is the cost of all this to the parties?
To the vendor, the surprising answer is, nothing
at all. In the absence of special agreement to
the contrary, the notary's fees and disbursements
are paid by the purchaser; even if two notaries
are instructed, one by each party, the purchaser
normally pays both, but the amount of the fee is
the same, and is divided between the two notaries
in a manner laid down by their professional body.
The expenses paid by the purchaser must be
divided into two classes :
the fees of the notary,
corresponding
to profit costs, and the
timbre,
droits d'enregistrement,
and
droits de publicite
fonciere,
corresponding to stamp duty, Land Reg–
istry fees, and search fees. The heaviest burden is
that of the
droits d'enregistrement,
for which the
normal scale is 15 per cent of the purchase price;
for dealings with private dwelling-houses, and
various other favoured transactions, this reduced
to 4.2 per cent of the price. The other disburse–
ments are comparatively small. The notary's own
fees are on a sliding scale :
4.5 per cent on the
first 6,000 fr., 3 per cent on the next 14,000 fr.,
1.5 per cent on the next 40,000 fr., and 0.75 per
cent thereafter. If there is a mortgage involved
also, the notary is entitled to a further fee on a
slightly lower scale, varying from 3 per cent to
0.5 per cent of the loan.
Two examples may make a comparison pos–
sible;
the first
is
the purchase of a dwelling-
house at £3,000 with a mortgage of £2,000, on
the assumption that the English title is not regis–
tered at H.M. Land Registry; the second is the
purchase of a dwelling house which is registered
land at a price of £7,000 without a mortgage.
Example 1
:
Purchase for £3,000 (i.e., 40,500 fr.
approx.) and mortgage for £3,000 (i.e., 27,000
fr. approx.).
England
£
s
d
£
s
d
Vendor's solicitor's scale fee
52 10
0
Purchaser's
solicitor's
scale
fee on purchase ............ 52 10
0
Purchaser's
solicitor's
scale
fee on mortgage
......... 14
0
0
Stamp duty on mortgage ...
2 10
0
Search fees (say)
............
2 10
0
71 10
0
£124
0
0
France
£
s
d
Notary's fees on
acte de vente
.........
73 18
0
Notary's fees on
hypotheque ............
31
0
0
Timbre
(duty on paper used) (say) ...
1
10
0
Enregistrement,
at 4.2 per cent on
acte
de vente
.................................
126
0
0
Enregistrement,
fixed rate on
hypo
theque
....................................
17
6
Fees for publicite fonciere ...............
21
0
0
£254
5
6
Example 2 :
Purchase for £7,000 (i.e., 94,500 fr.
approx.) registered land.
England
£
s
d
£
s
d
Vendor's solicitor's scale fee
51
5
0
Purchaser's solicitor's scale
fee
........................ 51
5
0
Stamp duty .................. 70
0
0
H.M. Land Registry fees ... 17 10
0
Searches
(say)
............
2 10
0
141
5
0
£192 10
0
France
£
s
d
Notary's fee on
acte de vente
.........
104
0
0
Timbre
(say)
..............................
1
10
0
Enregistrement
at 4.2 per cent ......... 294
0
0
Publicite fonciere
........................
45
0
0
£444 10
0
Conclusion
The conclusion which these examples suggest is
that buying land in France is more expensive than
in England, but that this is largely as a result of
the extremely high rate of taxation represented
by the
droits d'enregistrement.
The amount which
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