What is a building by destination in the property sector?

The origins of this property concept

First of all, let's put things into context. One of the special features of France's property market is that the country's rental stock is full of properties that are already furnished or equipped. Houses or flats that are offered for rent completely unfurnished are actually quite rare, especially in rural areas. Occasionally, you will find unfurnished flats in town centres that do not actually have any form of furniture, but this is not commonplace.

On the other hand, on wine estates, for example, many properties are rented out with all the appliances and equipment needed for wine production around the property. This is also the case for some farms and châteaux. The vats used to make the wine, which are installed in an annex of the château, are precisely what is known as buildings by destination.

A legally established property concept

Property by destination is a concept defined in article 524 of the French Civil Code. This article stipulates that objects, appliances, equipment and even animals that have been placed or installed in a property by its owner for the specific purpose of being used for the operation of that property qualify as buildings by destination. Under the law, anything that is considered to be immovable by destination must therefore have been placed in a business for the exclusive purpose of contributing to its operation. In the aforementioned case of a vineyard, this makes perfect sense. What would a vineyard be without its vats and stills? Strictly speaking, these objects are legally movable assets which, in a particular real estate context, become fictitiously considered as real estate, since they contribute to the smooth running of a business.

A concept extended to the current property market

We might be legitimately tempted to believe that a property by destination is a concept that only concerns winegrowing or agricultural properties that are still in use. But even if this is the original definition, it's not entirely accurate.

Today, the concept of immovable property by destination has been broadened, and now also covers what the law calls movable effects "attached in perpetuity". These are objects or decorative items that the owner of a property has chosen to incorporate into the property on a permanent basis. They are items of furniture that have become, over time, an integral part of a property, in the same way as its walls, sanitary fittings and floor coverings.

In order to determine whether a particular item of furniture can legally be considered to be permanently attached to a property, and therefore to have become a building by destination, we simply need to know whether the land or property would be altered, or even degraded, if the item were to be disassociated or removed.

Some examples of buildings by destination

In addition to the definition of "immovable property by destination" in the Civil Code, there is no real law that both fleshes out and clarifies this concept. For a clearer definition, we need to look at case law. We can study various cases in which certain items of furniture have been considered by the courts to be immovable by destination. The most modern and most common example is the built-in kitchen with wall-mounted equipment, without which the room would inevitably lose its essence and be distorted.

Some of the firebacks are also sealed into the wall, forming an integral part of the fireplace. Removing them would damage the mantelpiece, and in turn damage the value of the entire property. Finally, there are some carved cupboard doors, which have both aesthetic and functional value. Each of these items, the removal of which would inevitably damage the property, is therefore attached in perpetuity.