Notary fees in 2025: composition, calculation and impact of the increase on 1 April
When you buy real estate you will pay “notary fees”. It represents a significant part of the budget. These fees are composed of various taxes and fees. “Notary fees” are often poorly known and understood by purchasers. From 1 April 2025, they will increase temporarily. This will impact the budgets of buyers. In this article, we will explain notary fees in detail and explain when they will increase. We'll also give you some tips on how to anticipate future changes.
Composition of notary fees
Notary fees are broken down into several components.
1. Transfer duties (DMTO)
These taxes represent the majority of the fees. They are collected by the State and local authorities for each real estate transaction. Currently, the overall transfer tax rate is 5.80% throughout France, except in the departments of Indre, Isère, Morbihan, and Mayotte, where it is 5.10% of the sale price for older properties.
2. Notary fees
These are the actual, regulated fees charged by the notary. It is used to draft and authenticate the deed of sale. Fees are calculated on a sliding scale based on the price of the property:
- From €0 to €6,500: 3.945%;
- From €6,500 to €17,000: 1.627%;
- From $17,000 to $60,000: 1.085%;
- Over $60,000: 0.814%.
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3. Disbursements
These are the sums advanced by the notary on behalf of the buyer. They are used to pay for various formalities and to obtain the documents necessary for the transaction. These include land registry fees, urban planning documents, and land publication fees.
4. Real estate security contribution
This is a tax collected by the government. It contributes to the registration of the deed of sale with the land registry. It is set at 0.10% of the sale price.
On average, notary fees represent around 7.5% of the purchase price for an older property. For new-build purchases, you should expect to pay between 2% and 3% of the purchase price.
Increase in notary fees from April 1, 2025
The 2025 Finance Act allows departments to increase transfer duties (DTMO) for three years. This increase is capped at 0.5%. The current maximum DTMO rate is 5.8% and will rise to a maximum of 6.3% from April 1, 2025.
This increase is not mandatory. Each department has the choice of whether or not to implement it. However, it is expected that the majority of departments will do so, as they have been experiencing significant declines in revenue in recent times. It should be noted that DTMO represents an important source of funding for local authorities. It accounted for more than 15% of their revenue in 2023. For information, in Paris, DTMO will increase by 0.5% from April 1, 2025.
IMPORTANT: the increase in DTMO only applies to the purchase of older properties. It will not affect buyers of new homes. For the latter, notary fees will continue to be between 2% and 3%.
Tips for anticipating these changes
How can you mitigate the impact of this increase in notary fees?
- Speed up the purchase process: if your project is well advanced, you can try to sign the deed before April 1, 2025.
- Negotiate with the seller: it is possible to negotiate for the seller to cover part of the notary fees. This can be done in a “deed in hand” sale. In this type of sale, the seller pays the notary fees (I will soon be publishing an article on this type of sale, which is still quite rare);
- Opt for a new property: the increase does not apply to new homes. However, bear in mind that new properties are sold at significantly higher prices than older ones. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth it.
- Find out about departmental decisions: since the increase in DMTO is left to the discretion of the departments, we advise you to keep yourself informed of the decisions taken in the geographical area where you are planning to buy.
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To conclude on notary fees in 2025
Notary fees should not be overlooked. They represent around 7.5% of the budget for a purchase in France. With the increase planned for April 1, 2025, purchase budgets will increase by 0.5% in most cases. This should not weigh heavily on the Paris real estate market or the rest of France, which has already been under severe strain for the past two years.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our real estate hunters.
We can only recommend and advise Parlez-moi de Paris for your real estate searches. We contacted them in September 2024 and our interlocutor, Olivier, was able to understand our request and refine our search criteria. He has shown patience and commitment to our project and thanks to him we have an apartment that we would not have had access to without his network and his knowledge. Thanks to Olivier and to the Parlez-moi de Paris team.
After having had a very disappointing experience with an apartment hunter for a year, given that we live abroad, in February I contacted “Parlez-moi de Paris” and from the first meeting with Susan we were reassured and comforted! And already in June, we signed the bill of sale! She immediately identified our priorities and needs, she has a gift for listening and feeling the other person. Very responsive, always available, calm and very professional, she accompanied us in all the procedures with the notary and even showed us the neighborhood that we did not know at all! A very nice experience!
I had the opportunity to collaborate with Suzan on two common issues and everything went well. She was very involved, available and efficient from start to finish, resulting in a smooth and timely transaction. It is a real pleasure to work with such a serious professional, whom I highly recommend!
