France’s housing inheritances mostly go to people who already own a home
In France, 63 per cent of people receiving homes through inheritance or gifts already owned property before the transfer. A newly published Insee study of 2018–2023 transfers puts the average housing heir’s age at 54. It also follows what happens to inherited homes, including sales, rentals and occupation by heirs.
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Most recipients already have property
Homes passed on through inheritance and gifts in France most often go to people who already own property. A study published on 6 October by Insee, France’s national statistical institute, finds that 63 per cent of recipients owned at least one dwelling before the transfer. Of all recipients, 36 per cent already owned one home and 27 per cent owned several.[1], [2]
The research covers housing transfers from 2018 to 2023 in France outside Alsace, Moselle and Mayotte. An average of 702,000 dwellings a year changed hands through inheritance or gifts during that period. Following a transfer, 70 per cent of recipients owned multiple homes, compared with 20 per cent among adults overall.[1]
Housing heirs average 54 years old
An average of 527,000 people received an inherited home each year. Their average age was 54, and half were between 41 and 61. Housing gift recipients numbered 199,000 a year and averaged 48 years old, with half between 35 and 58. Buyers in the housing market were younger on average: 1.4 million people bought homes annually, at an average age of 43.[1]
Within the study’s geographical coverage, an average of 524,000 people transferred a dwelling each year, including 386,000 whose property passed on following their death. The deceased owners of inherited homes had an average age of 78. Insee links recipients’ existing ownership partly to the time they have had to acquire housing through other means before receiving an inheritance or gift.[1]
Inherited homes are sold, rented or occupied
The study also followed dwellings inherited in 2018. By 1 January 2022, 31 per cent were no longer held by the heir. During the three years after inheritance, 29 per cent were sold; another 1 per cent passed on again through inheritance or a gift.[1], [2]
Among all homes inherited in 2018, 16 per cent were used as a tenant’s principal residence at the beginning of 2022 and 15 per cent housed one of the heirs. Second homes or occasionally occupied dwellings represented 11 per cent, while 8 per cent were vacant. Retained properties therefore had several uses beyond residence by the recipient.[1], [2]
