Buying checklist
French house buying checklist
This checklist is for UK buyers who want a steady process before they fall in love with a French house. Use it to separate viewing-day excitement from the practical checks that affect cost, comfort and risk.
Before you book viewings
- Set a real budget that includes purchase costs, surveys, travel, insurance, utilities and first-year repairs.
- Choose your must-have location rules: healthcare, shops, driving time, airports, winter access and broadband.
- Decide which renovation jobs you would genuinely take on, and which ones would make the house wrong for you.
- Ask the agent whether the diagnostic file is available before the viewing or before an offer.
At the viewing
- Score the roof, damp, structure, electrics, plumbing, heating, drainage, access and daily-life comfort separately.
- Take photos of risk areas: roof edges, chimneys, damp marks, fuse board, heating, cellar, fosse area and boundaries.
- Ask what is included in the sale, especially land parcels, barns, appliances, furniture, tools and wood stores.
- Write down anything the agent says about repairs, permissions, boundaries or neighbours.
Before making an offer
- Read the DPE and the rest of the diagnostic file, then list the items that need a quote or professional opinion.
- Check whether a fosse septique, low DPE rating, asbestos, lead, termites, electrics or gas report changes your risk view.
- Estimate the cost of urgent work separately from nice-to-have upgrades.
- Check the journey again at a different time of day if the location is a major reason for buying.
- Ask which conditions could be included before the compromis de vente if you need further checks.
Before the compromis de vente
- Ask the notaire to explain purchase costs, timescales, deposit handling and your withdrawal period.
- Confirm boundaries, rights of way, planning restrictions, easements and any local pre-emption rights.
- Ask what documents the seller still needs to provide before you are fully comfortable.
- Keep your own written list of questions, answers and unresolved risks.
Useful next guides
- House Viewing Checklist for France
- What to check before buying property in France
- Notaire questions before buying French property
- French house viewing questions to ask
Official references to keep handy
- Service-Public.fr: diagnostics for a property sale
- Notaires de France: compromis de vente
- Notaires de France: acquisition costs
This is a buyer organisation guide, not legal, financial, diagnostic or surveyor advice. Ask qualified professionals before relying on any major decision.