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Service · heading C.18.4

Quantifying a loss of value or damage to a property in France

Neighbouring construction, loss of view or sunlight, nuisance, hidden defect, floor area error, late delivery, professional negligence: the loss of value and the loss of enjoyment quantified, for the claimant and for the defence.

  • Expert registered with the RENNES Court of Appeal
  • Charte de l’expertise 2025
  • EVS 2025 TEGOVA
  • Professional indemnity insured

Property damage, préjudices immobiliers in French, is a sub-heading of my registration in its own right, and probably the least known. It consists of translating into euros an injury to the value or the enjoyment of a property: how much less a house is worth because a building has taken its view, what a flat should have cost given its true floor area, what a buyer lost by purchasing an overvalued property.

The method accepted by the courts is simple to state and demanding to apply: value of the property without the disturbance, value of the property with it, and the difference is the loss. Everything turns on justifying that difference.

Your situation

  • A block of flats or a housing estate is about to be built next to your house and you will lose view, sunlight or privacy.
  • You discovered a hidden defect (vice caché) or a floor area error after buying and are claiming a price reduction (article 1644 of the French Civil Code or article 46 of the Law of 1965 on co-owned buildings).
  • A building site, public works, a mast or a wind turbine impairs the enjoyment or the value of your property.
  • You bought an overvalued property under a tax incentive scheme or off plan (VEFA) and are pursuing the seller or the adviser.
  • You are a developer, an insurer or a builder and must respond to a claim for loss of value that you consider excessive.

What the report contains

  • Market value and rental value of the property before the event, at the relevant date
  • Analysis of the disturbance: plans, heights, distances, orientations, sunlight study at the solstices and equinoxes, overlooking measured room by room
  • Comparables with and without the nuisance, case law applicable to the type of disturbance
  • Reasoned discount and value after: loss of value in euros and as a percentage
  • Temporary loss of enjoyment (building works, uninhabitable property, rehousing) and loss of rent
  • Reservations on the forward-looking nature of the analysis until construction is complete

Methods used

Frequently asked questions

Do you diagnose defects (damp, cracks, poor workmanship)?
No. The technical findings and the origin of a defect are for a building surveyor. I come in afterwards, or alongside them in a joint appraisal, to quantify what the defect costs in value: residual discount after repair, stigma on resale, loss of rent.
Can the loss of value be quantified before the neighbouring building is built?
Yes, from the plans in the planning application, with express reservations on the forward-looking nature of the analysis (Charte de l'expertise, Title I, §2.2: duty of care and reservations). The report then serves to demonstrate standing to challenge the permit (article L. 600-1-2 of the French Planning Code, appeal within two months of the notice being displayed, article R. 600-2) or to prepare a civil action for abnormal neighbourhood disturbance.
Does a permit that complies with the local plan rule out any loss?
No. Compliance with planning rules does not prevent an abnormal neighbourhood disturbance from being established (article 1253 of the Civil Code, created by Law no. 2024-346 of 15 April 2024). The disturbance must exceed the normal inconveniences of neighbourhood; the action is time-barred after five years (article 2224 of the Civil Code).
What percentage of loss of value can be obtained?
For a house affected by a neighbouring block of flats (view, sunlight, noise), the decisions most often retain between 5 and 10 % of the value, sometimes more for a lost sea view or a serious loss of privacy. The percentage is never a flat rate: it results from the analysis of each property.
Do you also act for the defence?
Yes. A developer, a liability insurer or a builder needs a counter-calculation of the alleged loss of value. The independence of the method is the same in both directions.

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