Nice is one of the essential tourist centers of France: more than 5 million visitors a year, including summer visitors and high-end foreign customers. Many people invest in real estate in the capital of the Côte d’Azur, which explains the dynamism of its real estate market. However, before selling or renting real estate, it is necessary to carry out real estate diagnostics. Find out what’s going on in Nice.
Mandatory real estate diagnostics for a property in Nice
The real estate diagnosis consists for the seller or the lessor to pass according to certain criteria or pre-established indicators a technical control. This check is necessary before putting the property up for sale or rental. In this sense, the lessor or the seller of a property will have to request a diagnostician from Nice (06) to ensure that they are in order. This is a trained and certified building technician, specialist in standards governing housing construction. He is responsible, among other things, to carry out an inventory, to check the health and safety of a home, to check for the presence of asbestos, lead, termites and others.
How are the areas to be diagnosed determined?
Usually, areas to be diagnosed vary active :
- the type of property (house or apartment),
- the year of construction of the property in Nice,
- location,
- the object of the transaction (sale, rental or before work, before demolition or other),
- the age of the gas and electricity installations.
All the diagnostics are grouped together in a document called « Technical Diagnostics File » or DTT. Ideally, it should be transmitted when signing the promise or the sales agreement. In all cases, it must be given to the buyer or tenant at the latest when signing the final deed of sale or lease.
Why have a real estate diagnosis carried out?
Carrying out a real estate diagnosis makes it possible to secure real estate transactions between seller and buyer. The diagnosis makes it possible to avoid the legal liability of the seller for latent defects. Likewise, it protects the purchaser by providing him with all the useful information on the condition of the home: energy performance, quality of the electrical installation, etc. It also helps to improve the condition of mandatory installations by indicating to the parties the necessary works.
Mandatory real estate diagnostics for the sale and rental of real estate in Nice
In all regions of France, certain property checks are common. On the other hand, others are carried out according to the peculiarities of the environment in which the property is located. This is the case of the Riviera city, where the majority of the Nice building stock dates from before 1975. These are therefore fairly old housing which does not always meet the current legal obligations of the real estate sector. Moreover, almost all real estate diagnoses appeared well after 1975. Real estate diagnosis has indeed become a reality in France with the creation of the obligation to identify thermal insulation and flocking, and the passage of the Carrez law in 1996.
In Nice, the housing stock is largely made up of main residences comprising apartments. Single-family homes represent only a small part. The mandatory diagnostics for the sale and rental of real estate in Nice are as follows.
- energy performance diagnosis (DPE) : it has been compulsory since April 1, 2003. Its objective is to inform the parties to the real estate transaction about the energy performance of the property, in particular their energy consumption. The DPE is valid for a period of 10 years.
- The pre-sales asbestos diagnosis : it applies to all real estate for which the building permit was issued before July 1, 1997. Its validity is unlimited if the result of the diagnosis is negative. In the opposite case, a triennial control or the realization of works may be required.
- The lead diagnosis or finding of the risks of exposure to lead : it is compulsory for all real estate for which the building permit dates from before January 1, 1949. It must be carried out at most 6 years before the signing of a rental contract. This period increases to 1 year in the event of a sale.
- The termite diagnosis : it makes it possible to search for the presence or not of termites in a house or an apartment and within a radius of 10 meters around the property. It became compulsory in 1999 and is valid for a maximum of 6 months.
- Diagnosis of the state of natural and mining risks : it informs the tenant or the purchaser of the natural risks (natural, mining, technological, soil pollution or radon) that a property potentially incurs. It is valid for 6 months.
- Gas diagnosis : valid for 3 years in the context of a sale and for 6 years in the case of a rental, it is required for all goods whose internal gas installation is more than 15 years old.
- Electrical diagnosis : it must be carried out if the electrical installation of the property is more than 15 years old. It is valid for 3 years for sale and 6 years for rental.
- The collective sanitation diagnosis : its purpose is to control the collection and treatment of wastewater. Made only as part of a sale, it is valid for 3 years. When the property is not connected to the sewerage system, a control of the non-collective sanitation system must be carried out.
- The Carrez law diagnosis : it is carried out only for any property for sale. It also concerns all sales of condominiums (property for residential use, property for commercial use), and concerns the living area.
In addition to these diagnoses, the Boutin law surface certificate is compulsory for signing a house or apartment rental contract. The Boutin 2009 law protects the tenant and fights against exclusion. Its period of validity is unlimited, provided that the property is not subject to renovation. To rent out an apartment in Nice built before 1997, the Asbestos Private Parts diagnosis is also necessary.
Close to the Italian border, Nice has practically nothing to envy to large cities like Paris. It is not for nothing that it has the second hotel capacity in France. To invest in real estate, districts such as the Old Town, Nice Cimiez or the square of water are suitable. However, do not forget carrying out the property diagnostics mentioned above.
Read also : The guide to investing in the Alpes-Maritimes
