Foncier Solidaire France
Foncier Solidaire France (FSF) is the national association of Organismes de Foncier Solidaires (OFS), bringing together members from both mainland France and overseas territories.
Created in 2021, FSF has been steadily growing since then. Today, more than 80 OFS are members.
The main goals of FSF are :
- To represent all OFS. We engage with the State to negotiate and advocate for legal reforms and the development of the Bail Réel Solidaire (BRS).
- To promote homeownership through the BRS model and through an annual national event.
- To help OFS work together and learn from one another by organising working groups and exchanges.
- To collect and publish data on BRS activity through its observatory: Observatoire de FSF.
Organisme de Foncier Solidaire
Introduced in French law in March 2014, an OFS (Organisme de Foncier Solidaire) is a non-profit structure or a social housing organisation approved and supervised by the Prefect (the State’s representative in each French region).
The law does not prescribe a specific legal status or require mandatory members in an OFS’s governance.
The concept is inspired by the CLT but adapted to French property law.
The main mission of an OFS is to acquire land or buildings and then sell the real property rights to low-income households through a special contract called the Bail Réel Solidaire (BRS).
Bail Réel Solidaire
The BRS is a legal contract created in 2016 to facilitate long-term affordable homeownership.
Benefits for buyers include:
- A reduced VAT rate on new buildings.
- Acapped purchase price.
- A price reduction of 15% to 30%, corresponding to the land value.
- In some cases, a property tax reduction of 30% to 100%, when decided by local authorities.
Buyer obligations include:
- Respecting income caps.
- Occupying the property as their primary residence.
- Not already being a homeowner.
- Paying a monthly “usage fee” in addition to their mortgage. Otherwise, the household acts like any owner (paying taxes, maintaining the property, etc.).
The same conditions apply to all new households after resale.
The key innovation is that upon resale, the contract reverts to its original duration (between 18 and 99 years). This guarantees the housing remains economically and socially accessible over the long term.
Why is the BRS important ?
Since rising land prices are a major driver of high housing costs, the BRS economically separates the value of land from that of buildings. This reduces purchase prices and allows local authorities to preserve social diversity in their communities.
CLT and OFS: common points
Both CLT and OFS were created for :
- Create affordable housing.
- Operate as non-profit organisations.
- Retain ownership of land and buildings “in perpetuity.”
- Support household mobility and community stability.
CLT and OFS: key differences
Although CLTs and OFS share the same goals, French legal requirements create several differences:
- Governance: OFS structures different from CLT trusts.
- Capital gains: Treatment of capital gains at resale is distinct.
- Contracts: OFS rely on the BRS contract, which regulates relations between OFS, developers, and households.
- Scale: An OFS can operate across multiple territories and regions, and the BRS is designed for wider replication.
- Legal structure: The BRS represents an economic, but not strictly legal, separation between land and buildings.
- State relationship: OFS are more directly tied to the State and its regulatory framework.