European property law
Squatters' rights in France: how long, and how owners remove them
Thirty years of possession, or ten for someone who acquired the property in good faith under a deed that turned out to be defective. Eviction is a separate question, and since July 2023 the law on it has moved in the owner's favour.
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- Statutory period
- 10 or 30 years
- What's different here
- squatting a home carries up to 3 years in prison since 2023
- Statute
- Code civil, art. 2272
Article 2272 of the Code civil sets two periods for acquiring real property by possession. The general one is thirty years, and good faith is not a condition of it. The short one is ten years, but only for someone who acquired the property in good faith and by "juste titre", a deed of sale or gift that would have transferred ownership had it come from the true owner. A squatter who simply moves in has no deed, so the ten-year route is closed to them and only the thirty-year one remains.
The law of 27 July 2023 on protecting homes against unlawful occupation, often called the loi Kasbarian, raised the penalty for entering or staying in someone's home (violation de domicile, Code pénal art. 226-4) to three years in prison and a 45,000 euro fine. It also created article 315-1, which punishes entering a residential, commercial, agricultural or professional building by trickery, threats, force or constraint with two years and 30,000 euros, and it widened the administrative eviction procedure of article 38 of the 2007 DALO law. Under that procedure the prefect has 48 hours to decide on the owner's request and, if granted, gives the occupants at least 24 hours to leave where the property is the applicant's home, and seven days where it is residential but not their home.
The same criminal code works against the owner who acts alone. Article 226-4-2 punishes forcing a person out of the place they live without the assistance of the State, by trickery, threats, force or constraint, with three years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. Changing the locks or putting belongings on the street is the kind of act it reaches.
Where France sits against the rest of Europe, in years
Of 31 places in Europe on these pages, 3 have a shorter clock and 10 a longer one or none at all.
How it unfolds
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 10 or 30 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
Before it is ever a court case
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
How long is squatters' rights in France?
Thirty years of possession as an owner under Code civil art. 2272, whatever the occupant believed. Ten years applies only to someone who acquired in good faith under a deed that would have transferred ownership had it come from the true owner, which a squatter does not have.
Is squatting a crime in France?
Yes. Entering or staying in another person's home is violation de domicile, punishable by up to three years in prison and a 45,000 euro fine since the law of 27 July 2023. Entering other residential or business premises by trickery, threats or force is a separate offence under Code pénal art. 315-1.
How fast is squatter eviction in France?
Under article 38 of the DALO law, after a complaint and a police finding of the occupation, the prefect decides within 48 hours. If the request is granted, the occupants are given at least 24 hours to leave a home, or seven days for residential property that is not the applicant's home, before removal by force.
Can an owner change the locks on squatters in France?
No. Code pénal art. 226-4-2 makes it an offence to force someone out of the place they live without the State's assistance, by trickery, threats, force or constraint, punishable by three years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so