Real Estate Market Perspectives
Romain Berthon
Sidonie Fraîche-DupeyratPartnerParisSidonie Fraîche-Dupeyrat
François MetzCounselParisFrançois Metz
Florence DefradasPartnerParisFlorence Defradas
Frédérique ChaillouPartnerParisFrédérique Chaillou
Silke NadolniPartnerParisSilke Nadolni
Sandra FernandesPartnerParisSandra Fernandes
Aurélie DaugerPartnerParisAurélie Dauger
Géraldine PiedelièvrePartnerParisGéraldine Piedelièvre
Hélène CloëzPartnerParisHélène Cloëz
Adapt to respond to issues raised during the health emergency
Deconfinement is underway. However, the real estate world has undergone changes and new issues have emerged, not all of which have yet been clarified. Real estate will probably no longer be fully used as it was before the COVID-19 crisis. Lessors and lessees have been and still are subject to new issues, life on building sites is governed by new constraints. Questions also remain open as to the application over time of the regulations adopted under the aegis of the state of health emergency.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the Government to take unprecedented measures that had a direct impact on the country’s economic activity. May 11, 2020 was a symbolic day for the majority of companies to resume their activities, but the post-confinement period did not put an end to the questions of lessors and lessees on the execution of current leases and in particular on the execution of financial obligations during the period of health crisis. The proliferation of specific texts, added to the pre-existing texts of common law, does not help to make a clear reading.
Our team accompanies and advises its clients in the management of tenants‘ difficulties by favouring an amicable approach but also, if necessary, at the judicial stage.
Construction and building sites
Our specialized team, which is very involved in crisis management related to COVID-19 on the worksites of its clients, can support them in their industrial projects in France by providing them with a view integrating the new sanitary constraints, the inevitable consideration of which will impact future worksites, from a contractual and financial point of view.
Maintaining the recommendations of the OTPBTP Guide of April 2020 as well as the distribution of the new charges on the different actors requires a detailed legal reflection to allow the best arbitrations.
Our legal support will allow to determine the best construction of the contractual documentation and of the price for the works, for the success of building sites.
The deployment of new real estate activities in France requires obtaining planning permission. New ways of living, working and travelling will also lead to urban replanning and the development of reversible uses to better adapt and live the City.
Our specialized team will be able to help clients identify the constraints weighing on their projects and find the tools and opportunities to make them a reality. It will be able to assist them with the authorities in charge of urban planning to determine the best strategies to obtain authorisations and to develop urban planning documents if necessary.
To help companies coping with the financial difficulties resulting from the health crisis, several tax measures have been taken, consisting in rescheduling certain conditional tax debts, deferral of certain reporting obligations, deductibility of rent waivers, etc.
Our team puts its expertise in real estate taxation to identify the measures clients can benefit from and to analyse the tax impact of managing tenant difficulties.
While uncertainty and doubt are hitting the market for the rental and sale of a large number of tertiary assets, housing is unanimously designated as a resilient and secure asset. The residential market, supported by demographics and historically insufficient housing production, is expected to suffer less from the economic crisis than other real estate assets. Moreover, housing began to undergo a profound transformation before the health crisis with a multitude of innovative initiatives in favour of new ways of owning or using housing.
For more than 30 years, we have considered housing to be an original asset requiring the mobilisation of a dedicated team bringing together the specific skills required. We support real estate professionals in their investment projects, and in the development and management of residential assets in all their forms. We support you in the context of innovative and large-scale schemes aimed at renewing the offer to own, sell or rent housing.