Party Walls and Fences

A party wall is jointly owned by the two neighbours it separates: each owns one half. Article 653 of the French Civil Code presumes that any wall separating buildings, yards, or gardens is a party wall, absent a title or a contrary sign. Article 654 lists the physical clues that rebut this presumption.

Repairing and rebuilding a party wall fall on both neighbours in proportion to their right, generally by half (Article 655 of the French Civil Code). A co-owner can escape these costs by abandoning their party-wall rights, unless the wall supports a building of their own (Article 656).

Yes. Each co-owner may build against the party wall and embed beams in it (Article 657), and may raise it at their sole expense (Article 658). A neighbour can also acquire party-wall status over a private wall by reimbursing half of what it cost and half the value of the land beneath it (Article 661).

In principle, fencing your land is a right, not an obligation: Article 647 of the French Civil Code lets any owner enclose their property. In towns and suburbs, however, Article 663 lets one neighbour compel the other to contribute to a boundary fence, whose height follows local regulations and customs first.

Article 671 of the French Civil Code requires, absent a local regulation or custom, a distance of 2 metres from the boundary line for any plant taller than 2 metres, and 0.50 metres for lower plants. The neighbour can demand the removal or the cutting back of plants that are too close (Article 672).

A hedge separating two properties is presumed jointly owned, absent a title, prescription, or contrary sign (Article 666). A tree growing in a party hedge or planted on the boundary line is deemed jointly owned (Article 670): its fruit is split in half and each owner may demand that it be uprooted.