04 July 2025 Real estate: greater legal certainty in the face of usage reform

📣 Publication | Non-retroactivity of the reform of usage legislation: towards a return to legal certainty?

📖 Damien Grosse and Gabriel de Champeaux publish in the columns of RDI an analysis of the consequences of the reform of usage operated by the Le Meur Law of November 19, 2024, and the issues raised by this stricter regime, which the Cour de cassation refused to apply retroactively (opinion n°25-70.002 of April 10, 2025).

Revue de Droit Immobilier n°6 – June 2025 (page 281 to 336) : Lefebvre Dalloz | Editions Dalloz: https://lnkd.in/e8hPk2q2
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🎥 Broadening the spectrum of real estate assets now eligible for residential use. The qualification of premises is no longer assessed on the basis of a “photograph” taken on January 1, 1970: the administration can now unroll a 37-year “film” in order to provide proof of residential use, at any time, even punctually.

❓The application over time of this regime raises questions, with regard to new leases (or their renewals) entered into after November 21, 2024, on premises that were previously regular.

🏙️ It also raises questions about the criteria to be applied by local authorities when deciding whether to apply the legislation in their area.

🧑‍⚖️ The methods for demonstrating use (in “fact” or in “law”) are evolving, to the disadvantage of owners and the benefit of the administration.

📕 The consequences of this reform raise questions about its constitutionality, particularly with regard to the proportionality of the infringement of property rights.

⚡ The publication of the FAQ by the DHUP of the Ministry of Ecological Transition highlights that the administration will retain a strict interpretation of the texts.