their permit to build a house is canceled, the couple turns against the town hall

By a decree dated July 6, 2012, the mayor of Pénestin (Morbihan) issued a building permit for a house to a couple. On May 16, 2014, the Rennes administrative court canceled this permit. The appeals against this judgment were rejected by a judgment of December 11, 2015 of the Nantes administrative court of appeal, then by a decision of March 31, 2017 of the Council of State. The couple then turned against the municipality to demand compensation. The Rennes administrative court has just delivered its judgment.

After the State Council, the town hall

The couple sent a letter to the mayor of Pénestin in December 2021, to request compensation for their loss, which they estimated at €28,834.90: €793 for property tax between 2012 and 2021, €6,210 for architect and project management costs as part of the filing of the building permit, €1,337.90 for the connection to the sewer, €10,494 for lawyer's fees in the context of contesting the building permit and €10,000 for moral damage.

The couple blames the municipality's faults in the classification of the disputed plot and in the issuance of the building permit on July 6, 2012. This request was rejected by the municipality.

The applicants then appealed to the Renne administrative court to order the municipality to compensate them for their losses.

No prescription

The court ruled out, in view of the different procedures spread over time, the four-year limitation period, put forward by the town hall.

“Since the couple's claim for compensation was received by the municipality of Pénestin on December 28, 2021, the debt attributable to the issuance of the building permit on July 6, 2012 was not time-barred. Likewise, since the illegality of the classification in the Uba zone of the part of the plot on which the residential house was to be located was also revealed by the judgment of the administrative court of May 16, 2014, the corresponding debt does not is no longer prescribed.”

Outside villages and towns

The building permit issued on July 6, 2012 was canceled by a judgment of the Rennes administrative court on the grounds that the place where the land is located was not located within a village or urban area.

The classification in the local urban planning plan of Pénestin of the part of the plot supporting the project in the Uba zone, corresponding to housing spaces and activities compatible with housing, “is also illegal in that it allows construction of residential houses in an area which is neither an urban area nor a village, within the meaning of the aforementioned provisions. These illegalities constitute faults likely to engage the responsibility of the municipality of Pénestin,” declared the court.

Risk of recourse

The municipality argues that the applicants were informed of the fact that planning authorizations issued for projects close to the coast were frequently the subject of litigation and that they should therefore have preceded their building permit application with a request for a town planning certificate.

But, considers the court, “the issuance of such a certificate would not have protected them from the risk of a contentious cancellation of the permit”.

“No fault of the victims”

If the municipality of Pénestin also maintains that it was up to the couple to seek the responsibility of the professionals who assisted them in submitting their building permit application, “this circumstance has no impact on the municipality's own responsibility in the occurrence of the damage for which the applicants are seeking compensation”, indicate the judges who add: “no fault of the victims is likely to reduce their right to compensation”.

The town hall condemned

Regarding the damages, that “drawn from the sums exposed for the payment of the tax must be set aside”, indicates the court, “the commune of Pénestin has not decided to increase the property tax on undeveloped properties for the building land”.

Concerning the architect and project management costs, “only the invoice for the amount of €1,800 indicates that it was paid by the couple. There is therefore reason to limit the amount of the compensation to €1,800,” the court continues.

On the connection to the sanitation, “the applicants do not establish the reality of this damage and the payment of the corresponding sum, even though the title was issued after the introduction of the contentious appeal against the building permit”.

The municipality of Pénestin is ordered to pay €14,794 to the applicants for damages and legal costs.

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