A stone house in the hills behind Nice, thick walls, a fig tree, and a price that seemed almost reasonable. My friends bought it. Eighteen months later they were still discovering things about it. Nothing they found was hidden on purpose, and nearly all of it was written in a folder they had skimmed at the notaire’s office.
In brief
- Lead check applies to anything built before 1949.
- Asbestos check applies if the permit predates 1 July 1997.
- Wiring and gas over fifteen years old must be inspected.
- Houses rated G sold 25 % below equivalent D houses in 2024.
- 1 1. Know what the diagnostics folder covers, and what it does not
- 2 2. Lead, if the house predates 1949
- 3 3. Asbestos, if the permit predates July 1997
- 4 4. Wiring and gas past fifteen years
- 5 5. The energy label, and the audit that now comes with it
- 6 6. Termites and the risks written into the ground
- 7 7. The running cost, and what it does when you resell
1. Know what the diagnostics folder covers, and what it does not
A French seller hands over a set of reports. Each has its own trigger and its own shelf life, and knowing them stops you accepting an out-of-date document.
| Report | When it applies | Validity for a sale |
|---|---|---|
| Lead, CREP | Built before 1949 | 1 year if lead found, unlimited if none |
| Asbestos | Permit issued before 1 July 1997 | 3 years if present, unlimited if none |
| Electrical installation | Installation over 15 years old | 3 years |
| Gas installation | Installation over 15 years old | 3 years |
| Termites | Communes listed by prefectural order | 6 months |
| Risks and pollution, ERP | Always, where a risk plan exists | 6 months |
Nothing in that list is a structural report. France has no standard equivalent of a full building survey, so if you are buying anything older than a few decades, budget for an independent expert or an architect to spend two hours on site. It is the best money I have seen anyone spend on a purchase here.
2. Lead, if the house predates 1949
The CREP is compulsory for any dwelling built before 1 January 1949, and old Riviera villages are full of them. Lead in old paint layers is not dangerous while it stays sealed under later coats. It becomes dangerous when someone starts sanding, which is exactly what a new owner does in the first month.
Read the report for the location and the condition of what was found, not just for the yes or no. A lead layer on an exterior shutter is a different project from a lead layer on a stair rail a toddler will grip.
3. Asbestos, if the permit predates July 1997
The asbestos check applies when the building permit was issued before 1 July 1997. On this coast it usually turns up in the least glamorous places: corrugated roofing on an outbuilding, old floor tiles and their glue, pipe lagging in a cellar.
The rule to hold on to is simple. Removal is regulated work, done by a certified company, with waste tracked to a proper disposal route. It is never a weekend job, and any seller who suggests otherwise is telling you something useful about the rest of the property.
4. Wiring and gas past fifteen years
Both installations must be inspected once they are over fifteen years old, and the report is valid three years for a sale. Old houses tend to fail on the same points: no earthing, no differential protection, sockets in wet rooms in the wrong place.
That last one is not cosmetic. French wiring standard NF C 15-100 defines safety volumes around a bath and a shower, and what may be installed in each. An electrical fitting in a bathroom is never a simple DIY job, whatever a video suggests, and rewiring a bathroom is a job for a qualified electrician with the compliance paperwork that goes with it.
5. The energy label, and the audit that now comes with it
Since 1 April 2023 the sale of a single-ownership house rated F or G has required a full energy audit on top of the DPE, extended to class E from 1 January 2025 and due to reach class D in 2034. That audit lays out renovation scenarios. Ask for it early, because it is the seller’s own expert costing the work you will inherit.
The stakes are documented. In their green value study published in December 2025 on 2024 transactions, the Notaires de France found that houses rated G sold on average 25 % below comparable houses rated D, with a 12 % gap for apartments. Letting is restricted too: class G has been barred from the rental market in mainland France since January 2025, class F follows in 2028.
One nuance in your favour. Since 1 January 2026, under an order of 13 August 2025, the primary energy factor for electricity in the DPE calculation dropped from 2.3 to 1.9, and the French government estimated that around 850,000 dwellings left the F and G bracket without any work being done. If the certificate you are reading was issued before that date on an electrically heated house, it may be harsher than the current method would be.
6. Termites and the risks written into the ground
Along the Mediterranean coast this is not a formality. The Alpes-Maritimes are covered by a prefectural termite surveillance and control order, and diagnostic firms working locally list several dozen communes concerned, from the coastal towns up into the hills. Where the order applies, a termite report dated within six months goes into the sale file.
The ERP, the statement of risks and pollution, is the other one people skim. It covers flooding, seismic classification, radon, clay shrinkage and swelling, and any technological risk nearby. Clay movement in particular is what cracks old masonry in a dry summer, and this region gets dry summers. It is also, in my experience, the document that best explains cracks a seller describes as settlement that stopped years ago.
7. The running cost, and what it does when you resell
Old houses cost more to keep, and the difference is not evenly spread. Before committing, get written quotes for anything the reports flagged, then add three lines people forget: the annual property tax, the insurance premium for an older building, and the energy bill you will actually pay rather than the one modelled on paper.
Transfer duties sit on top and are not negotiable with the seller. Since 1 April 2025 French departments have been allowed to lift their share, which puts total duties near 6.32 % of the price in most departments against 5.81 % where the rate did not change, with first-time buyers of a main residence excluded from the increase.
Does any of this actually reduce the price? Yes, when it is documented. Every report above is written evidence, which is precisely the currency that works when you negotiate a property price down.
Is an old house still worth it? Around here, often yes. Thick stone walls behave well in August, the plots are larger, and the streets are the ones people photograph. Just buy it with the folder open on the table rather than in the boot of the car.
First room to redo, almost every time
In an old house the bathroom is where the wiring, the plumbing and the budget meet.
Updated 14 August 2026. Sources consulted: French rules on the dossier de diagnostic technique for the triggers and validity periods; the prefectural termite order for the Alpes-Maritimes, with commune lists published by local diagnostic operators; the energy audit obligations from 1 April 2023 and 1 January 2025; the Notaires de France green value study published in December 2025 on 2024 transactions; the order of 13 August 2025 on the electricity conversion factor, with the estimate of 850,000 dwellings published by the French ministries; the 2025 finance act provisions on departmental transfer duty; standard NF C 15-100 for bathroom electrical safety volumes. General information only, not a substitute for advice from a notaire, a diagnostician or a qualified tradesman.
