Selling a building plot, or buying one to build on, is a trade of its own: what you are allowed to build, service connections, slope, natural hazards, permits. At the agency it is Anne Marie Lambert’s field.
Calculated live from the building plots the agency has for sale. The figures change the moment a plot comes in or goes out.
For 220 000 €, the median price of our plots, you buy on average 23 m² of apartment in Chamonix. In Passy, the same budget buys a 808 m² plot: room for a house, a garden and the view.
And for an apartment, the square metre costs on average 65 % less in Passy than in Chamonix.
Chamonix: 9 583 €/m²; Passy: 3 384 €/m² (apartments, 2024-2025 sales, DVF register, French tax authority). Plots: median price and size of the plots we have for sale.
A plot does not sell like an apartment. The buyer is buying a project: they want to know what they will be allowed to build, what the service connections will cost and whether the permit will be granted. The readier those answers are, the faster the sale and the better the price holds.
The zone set by the plan local d’urbanisme (the commune’s local planning scheme), together with the permitted footprint and height, decides what can be built, and therefore the value.
Water, electricity, mains or private drainage, access: a plot that is already connected saves the buyer thousands of euros.
In the mountains, the slope and the nature of the ground weigh on the cost of foundations and earthworks.
A south-facing plot looking at the Mont Blanc range does not sell for the same price as one in the shade of the slope.
The commune’s plan de prévention des risques (natural-hazard prevention plan) can impose construction rules, or forbid building on part of the plot.
A large plot can sometimes be divided into several lots, which together are often worth more than the whole.
The 2021 Climate and Resilience Act sets the goal of “zero net land take”: by 2031, communes must halve the amount of natural and agricultural land they consume compared with the previous decade. New building plots will therefore become rarer and rarer.
The plan local d’urbanisme (local planning scheme) can be consulted at the town hall. For a specific project, the certificat d’urbanisme opérationnel (operational planning certificate) states whether the scheme is feasible; the town hall has two months to reply.
Avalanches, floods, ground movement: the plan de prévention des risques (hazard prevention plan) and the Géorisques website set out the constraints on the parcel.
Connections, access, drainage: ask for the quotes before you sign, they can change the budget.
The compromis de vente (preliminary sale agreement) usually includes conditions precedent: obtaining the building permit and the loan.
Two months of assessment for a single house, then two months during which third parties may appeal, counted from the day the permit is displayed on the plot.
Once the conditions are met, the deed of sale is signed before the notaire (the public officer who completes property sales in France) and work can start.
Building in order to let? Care Concierge, our rental-management company, can then run everything for you, long-term or short-stay: from purchase to management, you have a single point of contact.
Découvrir Care ConciergeFrom 532 m to 1 489 m above sea level: from the valley floor to the heights, every plot has its own market.
Across the plots we have for sale today, the median price is 220 000 € for a median size of 808 m², or roughly 202 € per m² of land. But two neighbouring plots can be worth very different amounts: what counts is what you are allowed to build on them, the cost of bringing services to the boundary, the slope, the aspect and the view. Only a valuation carried out on site gives a fair price.
By answering the buyer's questions in advance: what the plan local d'urbanisme (the commune's local planning scheme) allows, where the service networks run, whether a certificat d'urbanisme (planning certificate) has been applied for, and whether the plot has been formally surveyed. A complete file and a fair price from the outset make the difference: an overpriced plot sits on the market and ends up being negotiated down.
The title deed, the état des risques (the natural and technological risk statement, compulsory for every sale), and if possible a certificat d'urbanisme and a boundary survey plan. If the plot lies in an area of medium or high exposure to clay shrinkage and swelling, the law requires the seller to provide a preliminary geotechnical study. We help you gather that file before the plot goes on the market.
Yes, if the plan local d'urbanisme permits it. The division goes through a déclaration préalable (a prior notification) at the town hall, or a permis d'aménager (development permit) depending on the case, plus a survey carried out by a géomètre-expert (chartered land surveyor). It is often the best way to get more value from a large plot: we tell you first whether the local market lends itself to it.
The capital gain on a plot can be taxed, with allowances that grow the longer you have owned it. A specific tax may also apply to land that has recently become developable. Every situation is different: your notaire (the public officer who completes property sales in France) works out the exact figure before the sale.
Allow two months for a single house building permit to be assessed, then a further two months during which third parties may appeal, counted from the day the permit is displayed on the plot. The build itself usually takes more than a year. That is why a purchase agreement nearly always includes a condition that the permit must be granted.
Give us the commune, the size and, if you have it, the land-registry reference. Anne Marie calls you back to arrange a visit. The valuation is free and without obligation.
