Servitudes are not peculiar to France but the average UK purchaser is unlikely to know about them or understand how they operate. The Dream Properties Dordogne web site is dedicated to demystifying the process of buying a French property and to de-bunking the myths and barriers that many see facing prospective purchasers. The issue of servitudes can be a worry but, as usual, knowing how and when they operate will clear the matter up for you.
Generally, servitudes are rights over a property enjoyed by others. These rights are attached to the property and are transferred with a property when it is sold. Some servitudes allow others to do certain things and some restrict a property owner from certain actions or require a property owner to take certain actions. In certain circumstances a new servitude can be created by allowing another person to make use of part, or all, of your land or to the products of your land.
What this means to the prospective purchaser of a French property is that there may be unrecorded rights granted to one or more third party attached to a piece of land. Some such rights should be clear to you when you inspect the property. Easements for telephone and electrical cables should be obvious or pointed out to you. Rights of way to another person's property may be less obvious. The least obvious of all may be that a third party has a servitude that allows him or her to graze animals on a certain field or to cut the hay on another.
It is important to cover the issue of servitudes in any French property purchase agreement and indeed an effective "Compromis" should cover the ground pretty thoroughly and ensure that there are no "hidden" servitudes likely to affect the value or enjoyment of the property. The contract should also ensure that the vendor does not grant any servitudes after the date of the agreement and prior to the final sale.
Servitudes can be brought to an end in a number of ways. The person who benefits from a given servitude may renounce it or, by not exercising the right for some years, may allow it to terminate. Oddly, a servitude terminates if the person who benefits from the right becomes the owner of the property to which it applies.
As a property owner you are in turn bound by certain servitudes that protect the rights of your neighbors and the community. Some typical examples require you to keep rainwater draining from your roofs within the bounds of your own property and to meet the common expense of fencing a boundary between you and a neighboring property.
New servitudes can come into effect if you allow another person to make use of your property in some way and that use extends for a considerable period. If you accept some notional payment for that use (perhaps just the gift of an annual bottle of wine) then there is a risk of your having been deemed to have granted a servitude over your property.
Holiday home owners in particular can be keen to ensure that small fields and meadows forming part of their property are well kept and of some use. Many are happy that a neighbour makes use of the land - perhaps just cutting the hay in the early summer. You can avoid creating a servitude that might affect the long term value of your property in a number of ways. One simple answer is to ensure that such mutually beneficial agreements are short term and/or that they are based upon a contractual agreements that will ensure that you have full title to the land should you need to sell it.
It seems a shame to have to consider bringing in the law of contract between yourself and a neighbour but that may well be the best way to protect the continuing value of your property.
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