January 1st often means bad news for homeowners. The year 2025 is no exception to the rule. The property tax will increase, that of garden sheds too and even thermal strainers will be prohibited for rental. Real estate ads will be no exception. From this Wednesday, January 1, 2025, a new mention must appear on real estate advertisements. This is the clearing obligation. In other words, to prune trees or eliminate cutting residue (branches, grass, etc.) in order to slow the spread of a fire. An obligation which falls on the owner but who can very well stipulate in his rental contract that the tenant must take care of it.
The sale or rental announcement must specify: “Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisks website.“. An information sheet on clearing obligations (or bush clearance) and a map of areas subject to a clearance obligation will be available on this site. Another map analyzing the foreseeable risk of forest and vegetation fires will be developed by December 31, 2026, according to the service-public.fr website.
This clearing obligation does not, however, concern all territories but only areas exposed to forest and vegetation fires. In rural areas, you are concerned if you are the owner of a building, a construction site or an installation. In urban areas, this is the case if you own land, built or not. In the case of a rental, the tenant must clear brush if it is mentioned in his lease. The surroundings of all woods and forests are subject to this obligation. The ideal time to clear brush is winter, although this action can be carried out all year round. Be careful, if clearing is carried out during drought, there is a risk of fire. Please note, however, even if clearing is not obligatory in your municipality, it remains strongly recommended.
15,000 euros fine
Currently, in the event of sale or rental, the obligation to clear the land must already appear at least in the promise of sale and the deed of sale or in the lease, but not in the advertisement. If you do not respect this legal obligation, the mayor (or the prefect if the mayor does not act) can give you formal notice to do so. The elected official can decide on a penalty of 100 euros maximum per day of delay. The total amount of sums required is a maximum of 5,000 euros. If the fact that you did not clear brush allowed the spread of a fire which destroyed the property of others, you can be sentenced to up to one year of imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros.
