Landowner refused planning permission granted compensation by French court

A man who bought land to construct a house nearly 20 years ago, but who then found it could not be built upon, has won compensation of €29,500 from the government. 

When the man, who was not identified in court papers, bought the 1,614m2 plot in a hamlet in the commune of Pré-Saint-Martin, Eure-et-Loir, in 2006, it had a certificat d’urbanisme, obtained by the previous owner in 2005.

And in 2008, planning permission was granted for two houses on the site, which were never built.

However, when the owner applied for planning permission for a single house, firstly in 2013 and then in 2022, permission was refused.

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The commune said the code d’urbanisme had been changed in 2013, and the land was no longer allowed to be built upon.

In the administrative court in Orléans, the mairie argued that the code d’urbanisme for the hamlet had been tightened after the fire service expressed concern about its access to water sources if a major fire broke out.

The owner of the land insisted the mairie had simply colluded with the departmental fire service after his request for planning permission in 2013.

He contested both the dates of the advice given by the fire service and its facts, insisting the fire service’s advice was only given after his application was filed.

He argued that the hamlet, which stretches for 800m, was supplied with sufficient water pressure for the fire service, and nothing in the advice from the service showed it had even visited the site to test the water pressure. 

The landowner also argued that the plan local d’urbanisme for the commune, which excludes new buildings outside already urbanised areas, could not be used to block his planning permission.

Using photographs and maps from the government’s free Géoportail website, showing the locality of nearby buildings, he argued both that his plot should be included in the urban area, and that it would not increase the density of buildings more than that found in other areas of the hamlet.

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The administrative court judges ruled in the landowner’s favour, saying the mairie’s reasons for refusing planning permission in 2013 and in 2022 should have been applied in 2005 and 2008 too, and so were not logical. 

They accepted that the price paid for the land in 2006 was determined by it having planning permission, and so the owner was entitled to compensation on the basis of what was worth without — a difference of €25,900.

The state was also ordered to pay €3,500 towards his legal costs.

The judgment can be found online here.