Do l have any existing SHON?

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

I am hoping that some kind soul could shed some light on something that has had me confused for months.  I recently purchased some land adjacent to my home and with it came a little house\barn on the other side of the road.  I can only describe it by saying that it was a barn where someone had bricked up part of it (only about 16 square metres) and lived in it, leaving the other 70 square metres unconverted.  This was over twenty years ago and although it once had water, electricity and sewerage connected, it is all now disconnected.  The property has a front door and it's own street number.  There is no tax d'habitation payable on the property, only tax de fonciere.

My plans are to convert the building and the large hay loft into a small two bedroom home for future rental.

To my question....  Do I treat this property as a barn conversion with 100% SHOB, or as a house (allbeit miniscule) with 16 square metres of SHON and attached barn.  I had hoped that my CDU certificate would explain this to me, but it has arrived back today approved but just says 'la renovation du batiment en maison d'habitation'.

I thank in advance any person who takes the time to offer me assistance.

 

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

I'm no expert, but it sounds like you can convert the whole building into a house. As I understand it, after a house has been derelict for a few years it loses its habitation status. The safest thing is to write to the mairie saying what you plan to do and asking if it's OK.

By the way, is the 86 m2 you describe the total including the hay loft? For a 'small 2 bedroom home it sounds like it, but if it's actually 86 m2 habitable on each floor you could be up against the 170 m2 rule for needing an architect.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Thank you for your response Albert.  The areas that I quoted does not include the hay loft which covers about half of the building.  I have a final SHON of 115 square metres which means I can do the plans myself.  This proposal has been put to the Maire via a CDU application, and he has today approved the conversion of the entire building into a house (in principle), leaving me with the application for a Permis de Construire, and the looooong wait as the house/barn is in a protected area.

The fact that you said that a house can lose its habitation status after a few years, coupled with the fact that we do not pay tax d'habitation, leads me to the conclusion that I should state on my Permis de Construire that there is no current SHON.  I will just calculate my SHOB and not deduct the old house section when making the necessary deductions.

By the way, does anyone know if a rental property is considered a Maison Secondaire?  Just trying to get a heads up on how much TLE I will be up for.

 

 

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Can you believe it????

I have been struggling for months over this question and many other questions. Just after I posted my last reply, a frenchman that I haven't seen in over a year turned up for a surprise visit.  He has just finished the restoration of a house himself.  We were showing him the house over the road and I was firing a million questions at him, many which he couldn't answer himself.  Just then.... his friend (the Maire) drove past and he flagged him down.  The two men then proceeded to answer all of my questions.  Things look much better than I could have ever hoped.

Sometimes life deals you such delightful surprises. 

[BIG MAC]

Laughing here...only in France. It's great when a plan comes together...even if it is from a clear blue sky! I spend so much time worrying about whether I am getting it right I am my own worst enemy sometimes. You know how it is...every thing in triplicate translated CAD Discs in full indexed pack a ll forms done. Maire French equivalent of should be ok but what did you do all that for............arggghhhh!  You gotta love em.