Quick questions: DPE and audit energetique

[IfNotNowWhen]

Hello, first post so please be gentle... we're researching a move for next year (long term retirement visa initially) to Pas de Calais or nearby, and checking out houses (in town, so on mains everything).

With the diagnostic de performance énergétique (DPE), which I understand is provided by the seller and hopefully made available for our inspection before we get to compromis de vente stage, is there an obligation on the vendor to carry out improvements (or on us once we buy the house), or is it like UK's EPC which is for information/comparison only (unless you're a landlord). Same question with the audit énergétique - or is this a sub-part of the DPE? We're looking at older properties, so inevitably poorer energy scores.

 

Thank you,

Mark

[anotherbanana]

As far as I know there is no obligation on the part of the vendor to do quoi que ce soit.

[Lehaut]

15 hours ago, IfNotNowWhen said:

We're looking at older properties, so inevitably poorer energy scores.

There are quite a few articles in the French press over the pros and cons of buying a property in this state.  I think that the poor DPE can be used as a bargaining tool to drive down the price - in principle anyway.  If you are able/capable of doing the work yourself it would be an interesting proposition.

[menthe]

18 hours ago, anotherbanana said:

As far as I know there is no obligation on the part of the vendor to do quoi que ce soit.

Yes, I agree, banana.  When we sold our previous house, there was a problem but not one about the energy report.

The notaire said we had to declare it to the buyers but that we were not responsible for whatever solution there might or might not be thereafter.

Seems as though, if you went ahead and bought, then you inherit the problem😜

[IfNotNowWhen]

Ok, thanks for the replies, useful to know.

cheers, mark

[Loiseau]

Agreed about the DPE just being for info to the buyer.

But the (separate) septic tank report can possibly be a bit of a bargaining tool.  If the fosse is declared "non conforme", in theory the purchaser has 1 year in which they must replace it with a new system, so possibly could get a bit of a reduction based on the assumed cost of that.  But, in practice - and I am afraid my experience is a little out of date, as I sold some six years ago - the notaire is likely to shrug and say that nobody will be checking, so don't worry.