Can you withdraw after a purchase offer?
Yes: the non-professional buyer of a home benefits from a 10-day cooling-off period after signing the preliminary contract (Article L.271-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code), without having to justify it or pay any penalty. The sums paid are refunded to them.
The 10-day cooling-off right
Article L.271-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code grants the non-professional buyer a ten-day cooling-off period for any act aimed at the construction or acquisition of a building for residential use, the subscription of shares giving entitlement to a home, or the sale of buildings to be constructed.
This period runs from the day after the first presentation of the letter notifying the preliminary contract (bilateral or unilateral sale agreement), or from its delivery in person when the act is concluded through a professional. It is counted in calendar days; if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it is extended to the next working day.
During these ten days, you can give up the purchase without having to justify your decision and without penalty. It is enough to notify your withdrawal by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt (or any means providing a certain date) before the period expires.
Before the preliminary contract: the nuance of the purchase offer
The 10-day cooling-off right attaches to the preliminary contract, not to the mere purchase offer. Yet, as soon as the seller accepts your offer in writing without reservation, the sale is in principle formed within the meaning of Article 1583 of the French Civil Code.
In practice, the non-professional buyer of a home is nevertheless not definitively bound at this stage, as they recover their legal cooling-off right upon signing the preliminary contract, which materializes and secures the commitment. This is why the sale of a home systematically goes through a sale agreement or a unilateral sale agreement notified to the buyer, triggering the 10-day period.
Refund of sums and absence of advance payment
If you withdraw within the period, any sum paid must be refunded to you with no retention. The professional holding the funds has 21 days from the day after the withdrawal to refund you.
The Code also protects the buyer upstream: when the act is concluded without the involvement of a professional holding a financial guarantee, no payment can be demanded from the buyer before the expiry of the cooling-off period, on pain of criminal sanction (Article L.271-2 of the French Construction and Housing Code). In practice, the security deposit is held in escrow by the notary or the estate agent, never handed directly to the seller.
Frequently asked questions
After the 10 days, can you still give up?
Once the cooling-off period has passed, you can no longer freely give up. You will only be able to exit the sale if a condition precedent provided in the contract is not fulfilled (loan refusal, for example). Otherwise, giving up exposes you to losing the security deposit, or even to an action for forced performance.
Does the seller also benefit from a cooling-off right?
No. The cooling-off right of Article L.271-1 is reserved for the non-professional buyer. Once they have accepted the offer or signed the preliminary contract, the seller is bound: they cannot withdraw and expose themselves, if they refuse to sell, to an action for forced sale or damages.
How do you notify your withdrawal?
By registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt addressed to the seller (or to the professional who notified the act), sent before the expiry of the 10-day period. No justification is required. Keep the proof of dispatch: it is the dispatch date that counts.
Does the cooling-off right also concern land?
The cooling-off right of Article L.271-1 covers the building for residential use. It does not apply in the same way to the purchase of mere bare land not intended for such use. Check the nature of the property and have your situation confirmed by the notary.
Read next
- Code de la construction et de l'habitation, article L271-1 (Légifrance)
- Code de la construction et de l'habitation, article L271-2 (Légifrance)
- Code civil, article 1583 (Légifrance)
- Service-Public.fr - Délai de rétractation après un compromis de vente
- INC - Se rétracter dans le délai de dix jours après un compromis
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