Development Finance France

Development Finance France: Development Loans from €2 Million

Page last reviewed: October 2026.

Development finance in France pays for the purchase of a site or building and the construction or conversion works, with funds released in stages as the project progresses. We arrange French development loans from €2 million for French promoters and developers, and for international investors and non-resident sponsors, building in Paris and the Île-de-France, the regional cities, the Côte d’Azur and the Alps. If your project is in the UK, start with our UK development finance page.

French Development Loans at a Glance

The French Development Market and Why Developers Need Specialist Lenders

France has deep demand for housing in its major cities and in prime second-home locations, and a mature property promotion industry. French banks that finance promoters tend to favour established local developers, and even those can reach the limit of what a bank will lend on a given programme. Some lenders in the market specialise in property promotion and dealer-developer finance and prefer schemes in their own region, so they can keep a close eye on progress. That regional focus can work for a foreign sponsor with a well-prepared scheme, but it also means the right lender depends heavily on where the project is.

For a French developer who needs more leverage or speed, specialist lenders offer an alternative to the bank. For a developer based outside France, the practical hurdles are the French legal process, which runs through the notary, a different permit and sales system, and lenders that want to see a local team. A broker who knows which lenders are active in which regions saves a good deal of time.

Programmes and Property Types We Finance in France

French lenders finance a wide mix of programmes, and the right lender often depends on the type of scheme as much as the location.

• Residential programmes: apartment blocks and housing schemes, usually sold off-plan.
• Mixed-use programmes: homes combined with shops, offices or community space.
• Build-to-rent and managed residences: rental blocks and residences managed for students, seniors and co-living tenants, including purpose-built student accommodation.
• Senior living: retirement and assisted-living residences.
• Hotels, leisure and holiday parks: hotels, resorts, leisure schemes and holiday parks, particularly in the Alps, on the coast and in rural tourist areas.
• Retail and commercial: retail space, offices and commercial schemes with clear tenant or operator demand.
• Industrial and logistics: warehouses, logistics platforms and light industrial units near the main transport corridors.
• Renovation and conversion: buying and redeveloping existing buildings, including change of use and division into units, for resale.
• Prime and second-home schemes: residences on the Côte d’Azur, in the Alps and in other premium locations.
• Part-built schemes: stalled projects needing completion. See our part complete development loans page.

Structuring the Loan: SCCV, Notary and Security

Foreign developers usually build through a newly formed French company created for the programme, very often an SCCV, which owns the land, signs the build contract and grants the lender its security. Behind it can sit an overseas holding company, a fund or a family office, provided the lender can trace the ownership and the source of the equity.

The lender takes a first-ranking mortgage or a lender’s privilege over the site, executed before a notary, and commonly a pledge over the shares, an assignment of the building contract and insurances, and a sponsor guarantee for cost overruns and completion. Equity normally goes in first. As units are sold, the lender releases its security unit by unit against repayment of an agreed share of the loan.

If the senior loan leaves a gap, a second-ranking layer can fill it. Our senior debt, stretched senior debt and mezzanine finance pages explain how the layers work.

How Off-Plan Sales Shape French Development Finance

Most French residential programmes are sold off-plan under the VEFA system, in which buyers reserve a unit and pay in instalments tied to construction milestones. This is central to how lenders underwrite a French scheme.

• Pre-sales: lenders usually want a meaningful level of units reserved or sold before they release construction funds. The level varies by lender and location.
• Completion guarantee: developers selling off-plan generally have to provide a financial completion guarantee (garantie financière d’achèvement) protecting buyers, and lenders pay close attention to how it is arranged.
• Staged buyer payments: because buyers pay in instalments, a share of the build is funded by sales receipts, which the lender will want routed through controlled accounts.

What French Lenders Check Before They Lend

Building permit and appeal periods

The scheme needs a building permit (permis de construire) matching what you intend to build. Lenders ask for evidence that the periods in which third parties can challenge the permit have expired without challenge, because an appeal can delay or derail a programme.

Insurance and guarantees

French developers must hold construction damage insurance and ten-year liability cover through their contractors. Lenders expect these in place, together with proof of insurance for the works.

Contractor, costs and monitoring

A fixed-price contract with a financially sound contractor is strongly preferred, and a technical adviser appointed by the lender reviews the budget and certifies progress before each drawdown.

Land, pre-emption and planning compliance

Your notary will check title, easements and any rights of pre-emption that could affect the acquisition, and lenders confirm that the site and permit comply with local planning rules.

Location and sponsor

A French track record helps, but an experienced local project manager, architect and contractor can offset a sponsor who is new to the country. If this is your first development, our guide for first-time developers explains what lenders look for.

Choosing Your Location: Regional Cities, the Riviera and the Alps

In France the location often decides which lender is right for the scheme.

• Paris and the Île-de-France: deep demand and high values, but also high land costs and a demanding permit environment.
• Regional cities such as Lyon and Bordeaux: strong local demand, where regional lenders with close knowledge of the market are often the most comfortable.
• The Côte d’Azur and the Alps: prime second-home markets with international buyers. Coastal and mountain planning rules can limit what may be built, so lenders examine the permitted use closely.

Because some lenders prefer to stay close to their projects, matching the scheme to a lender with real appetite for that region saves time and often improves terms.

Development Finance by City and Region: Where We Cover in France

We arrange development finance for programmes across France. The cities and areas below are where most enquiries come from, though we will look at any well-planned site.

• Major cities: development finance in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nantes, Lille and Strasbourg.
• The Riviera and the south: Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Saint-Tropez, Montpellier and the wider Provence and Côte d’Azur area.
• The Alps: Chamonix, Annecy, Courchevel, Méribel and other ski and mountain locations.
• Île-de-France and the Atlantic coast: the Paris region, Biarritz and the surrounding coastal markets.

If your site is not listed, send us the details anyway. Lenders assess the programme, the permit and the exit rather than a fixed list of places.

From First Call to First Drawdown: What to Expect in France

Timing depends mostly on how complete your paperwork is, but the sequence is consistent.

1. Preparation. The French company, often an SCCV, is formed, its ownership documented and a bank account opened.
2. Initial summary and indicative terms. You send us the site, scheme, budget, structure and sales plan. With a complete summary, indicative terms can often come back within days.
3. Heads of terms and due diligence. The lender appoints a valuer and technical adviser, and its French counsel reviews title, the permit and appeal position, the completion guarantee and reservations.
4. Credit approval and documentation. The facility and guarantees are agreed, and the security is executed before a notary.
5. Conditions before drawdown. Equity is paid in, the required level of reservations is reached, and insurances and the build contract are confirmed.
6. First drawdown. The land element is advanced, followed by construction drawdowns against the adviser’s certificates.

Costs, Rates and Terms

Pricing varies with the lender, leverage, location and your experience, and euro pricing moves with EURIBOR. As a general guide only:

• Interest: for stronger, lower-leverage schemes, all-in pricing often starts at around 6% a year and rises with gearing, mezzanine or a less experienced sponsor. Interest is usually rolled up or retained and charged only on funds drawn.
• Arrangement fee: typically around 1% to 2% of the facility, with some lenders also charging an exit fee.
• Third-party costs: valuation, technical adviser, notary fees, and legal costs for both sides.
• Term: usually 12 to 36 months, covering the build and the sales period.

Any figures we give for your scheme will come from live lender feedback, not from this page.

A Worked Example

The figures below are illustrative only and do not represent an offer or a real case.

A developer plans 30 apartments in a regional French city, sold off-plan. The independent valuation puts the completed programme at €12,000,000, and total costs, including the land, construction, fees and finance costs, come to €8,600,000. Applying the two common limits:

• 90% of cost: €7,740,000
• 70% of GDV: €8,400,000
• The lower figure sets the loan: €7,740,000, which is 64.5% of GDV
• Sponsor equity required: €860,000, paid in before the lender advances

The lender would also expect a minimum level of reservations before releasing construction funds, and would retest the loan if costs rose.

Exit Strategies Lenders Accept

The usual exit is sale of the units, with buyers’ payments and completion proceeds repaying the facility as the lender releases its security unit by unit. For a hold strategy, the exit is a refinance onto a longer-term investment loan once the programme is let. Lenders want evidence for the route you choose. Where the building is complete and only sales remain, see our development exit finance page.

Common Problems, and How to Avoid Them

• Insufficient pre-sales. Lenders often will not release construction funds until a minimum is reached.
• Appeal periods still running. A permit that can still be challenged is a risk lenders will not take.
• Guarantee and insurance gaps. Missing completion guarantees or insurances can hold up funding and sales.
• Unclear ownership or source of funds. Overseas structures take longer to verify, so prepare early.
• No French legal support. Use a French notary and lawyer from the beginning.

Documents to Have Ready

• Title documents, purchase agreement or evidence of ownership
• Building permit, approved plans and evidence that appeal periods have expired
• Development appraisal showing costs, GDV and profit
• Construction contract, programme and details of the contractor and design team
• Reservation or pre-sale contracts and details of the completion guarantee
• Details of the borrowing company, its owners and the source of your equity
• A summary of your development experience and that of your team

How We Can Help

We start with a conversation about the site, the scheme, the structure and your exit, so we can tell you quickly whether French development finance suits the project and what a realistic loan looks like. We then approach lenders whose appetite and region fit, help you present the case in the way they need to see it, and stay involved through valuation, legal work and drawdowns. If your requirement is below €2 million, our international bridging loans page covers shorter-term options against overseas property, including in France.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can French developers use specialist development finance, or is it only for foreign borrowers?
Both. French promoters and developers use specialist lenders when they need more leverage, speed or flexibility than a bank offers, and foreign and non-resident borrowers are equally welcome. The loan is normally made to a French company, which can be owned locally or from overseas. Lenders carry out full identity, ownership and source-of-funds checks.

What is the minimum loan size?
We arrange French development facilities from €2 million.

How much equity do I need?
Expect at least 10% of total costs, and often more where leverage is stretched or experience is limited. Equity normally goes in first.

Do I need pre-sales before I can draw?
Usually a meaningful level of pre-sales is required for off-plan residential programmes, though the exact level depends on the lender and the scheme.

Can the loan fund renovation and resale of an existing building?
Yes. Acquisition, redevelopment and resale of existing buildings is a recognised use, and some lenders specialise in it.

Is interest paid monthly?
Normally not. It is usually rolled up or retained from the facility and charged only on funds drawn.

Do lenders prefer certain regions?
Some lenders keep to particular regions so they can monitor schemes closely, so the right lender depends on the location of your project.

How long does it take to arrange?
Allow several weeks to a couple of months, depending on valuation, legal due diligence and how quickly your documents can be verified.

Will I need to give a guarantee?
Lenders commonly ask for a cost overrun and completion guarantee from the sponsor, and some want wider recourse where the sponsor is less experienced. Terms vary by lender and scheme.

Can I borrow in a currency other than euro?
French programmes are normally financed in euro, because costs and sales values are in euro. Any currency hedging is a matter to discuss with your own advisers.

What if reservations are slower than planned?
Speak to your lender early. Construction funding is often tied to a minimum level of reservations, so a slow start can delay drawdown, and options may include adjusting the programme or the structure.

Is this regulated lending?
No. This is unregulated lending, arranged for business and development purposes, so it is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Development Finance in Other Countries

We also arrange development loans in Ireland, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Our international development finance overview explains how the pieces fit together.

Tell us about the site, the scheme and the structure you have in mind, and we will tell you what the French market is likely to offer.

Figures on this page are indicative only, vary by lender, country and scheme, and do not constitute an offer of finance. Overseas development finance for business purposes is unregulated lending. Premier Expat Mortgages is a trading style of Global Financing Services Ltd. Regulated mortgage advice is provided separately by Gerard Ward, a certified and assessed individual of Marklay Mortgages Ltd (FRN 930490), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We do not provide legal, tax or local regulatory advice, and you should take independent advice in the country concerned. Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a loan secured on it.