You have signed a preliminary sale agreement on farmland or a farmstead, and the SAFER (société d’aménagement foncier et d’établissement rural, the French rural land agency, which holds a pre-emption right over sales of agricultural land) has pre-empted, offering a lower price. You may accept, withdraw the property from sale, or ask the court to fix the value. But what happens if, after going to court, you change your mind? And must the offer at a revised price be accompanied by the agreement of the government commissioners? Two reported decisions of the Third Civil Chamber of the Cour de cassation (French supreme court for civil and commercial matters) answer, in both cases in favour of a clear mechanism.
The facts
Withdrawal during the proceedings. On 27 August 2010 a sale of agricultural property was notified to SAFER Maine Océan at a price of €490,000. On 22 October 2010 the SAFER pre-empted and offered €307,000. On 20 April 2011 the sellers sued it for annulment of the pre-emption and, in the alternative, for judicial revision of the price. The husband died in 2012. In 2016 the widow discontinued the proceedings and stated in her submissions “that she ultimately intended to withdraw the property from sale” (translated from the French). The SAFER then sued her to have the sale declared complete at €307,000. The ANGERS Court of Appeal, on 9 May 2023, found for the SAFER: the withdrawal had to take place within the six-month period and be brought to the SAFER’s attention through the notaire (French civil-law notary).
The reference to the commissioners’ agreement. In another case, SAFER Bourgogne Franche-Comté pre-empted plots of land, coupling its decision with a revision of the price. The sellers sought annulment of the pre-emption on the ground that the express agreement of the two government commissioners was not attached to the notification. The DIJON Court of Appeal dismissed the claim on 24 September 2024.
The decision
In the first case the Cour de cassation quashed the appeal decision (Cass. 3e civ., 28 November 2024, appeal no. 23-18.746, reported), under articles L. 143-10 and R. 143-12 of the French Rural and Maritime Fishing Code. It recalled the mechanism: where the SAFER considers the price excessive, it sends a purchase offer on its own terms; “the seller may either withdraw the property from sale or request a revision of the price” (translated from the French); “if, within six months of the notification of that offer, the seller has neither indicated that he accepts it, nor withdrawn the property from sale, nor applied to the court, he is deemed to have accepted the offer”. It then laid down the rule: “Where the seller has applied to the court for judicial revision of the price within the six-month period provided by these provisions, he may, at any stage of the proceedings, even before the decision fixing the market value of the property, withdraw it from sale, without being required, in order to inform the SAFER, to go through the notaire instructed to draw up the deed.” The case was sent back to the RENNES Court of Appeal.
In the second case it dismissed the appeal (Cass. 3e civ., 15 January 2026, appeal no. 24-21.703, reported). It follows from articles L. 143-10, R. 141-10 and R. 143-12 of the same code that a SAFER which “considers that the price and the conditions of the sale are excessive, in particular in the light of the prices paid in the region for property of the same kind” (translated from the French), sends to the seller’s notaire, “after the express agreement of the government commissioners, a purchase offer drawn up on its own terms”, and that this notification “must include a statement of the express agreement of the government commissioners”. The Court concluded “that it is not required, on pain of nullity of the pre-emption decision, that the express agreement of the two government commissioners be attached to the notification, but only that it be mentioned in it”.
What the expert takes from it
The revised price is discussed against regional references. The law itself sets the ground for the discussion: the SAFER revises the price “in the light of the prices paid in the region for property of the same kind”. A seller who goes to court asks the judge to fix the market value of the property. In both cases, comparable sales of arable land, meadows, woodland or farm buildings, in the same area and at close dates, decide the matter. The Charte de l’expertise en évaluation immobilière (French property valuation charter, 6th edition, November 2025) recalls that the comparison method “is the reference approach for determining market value” and that “any discount or premium applied must be justified” (Title III, § 2.1). A farmstead with its dwelling house, its outbuildings and its land calls for a valuation by component, each with its own references.
The valuation informs a choice that remains open until judgment. The 2024 decision gives the seller a freedom he often does not know he has: after going to court, he may still withdraw the property, without waiting for the judgment and without any notarial formality. An independent valuation carried out as soon as the offer is received allows him to place the agreed price and the SAFER’s price against the market, and to decide with full knowledge: accept if the offer is close to the value, go to court if the gap is clear, withdraw the property if the proceedings no longer seem useful. In the case decided, the gap between €490,000 and €307,000 was more than a third of the agreed price.
Formalities are checked, but they do not replace the figure. The 2026 decision recalls that the notification must mention the commissioners’ agreement, without having to attach it. Challenges based on form have their place, but they turn on precise provisions and do not always succeed. The discussion on value, by contrast, remains possible in every case where the seller has acted within the six months. The valuation report, with its valuation date, its references and its written reservations (Charter, Title I, § 2.2), is the document that makes that discussion possible.
Further reading
The Compulsory purchase and pre-emption page describes the valuation in the event of pre-emption, its timescale and its fee. On the same theme: Pre-emption price in France: valued as it stands at judgment and Compulsory purchase in France: three recent Cassation rulings. The decisions are available on Légifrance: 28 November 2024 and 15 January 2026.
What next
Has the SAFER pre-empted your sale and revised the price?
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