ABSTRACT
Property valuers were originally employed in France as arbitrators or expert witnesses in law courts. This role was expanded in the middle of the nineteenth century as mortgage lending increased. In 1848, the Comptoir des Entrepreneurs was founded to finance development projects and in 1852 the Crédit Foncier de France was established as a mortgage bank specializing in the long-term financing of all types of properties. After 1945, post-war reconstruction stimulated property development throughout the country, particularly in the residential sector. The French government subsidized and controlled most of these developments and in the process boosted demand for valuations from the banking sector. By this stage, the valuation services of mortgage banks were also in demand in cases of divorce and inheritance as well as in company mergers and acquisitions. The profession only began to expand outside the banking sector following the law of 1971 on judicial valuers. This legislation standardized the selection of valuers by judges, following consultation with the Society of Judicial Valuers. Post-war legal developments on planning, residential financing, housing rent controls, commercial leases and compulsory purchase further widened the role of the valuer in France (Table 7.1). Valuation purposes and bases https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
Valuation purposes
Valuation basis
Purchase/sale/letting of property
Open market value/open market rental value
Leasing finance/leasebacks
Open market value
Loans
Mortgage value
Repossession
Open market value/forced sale value less legal costs
Successions/gifts
Open market value
Mergers
Open market value/depreciated replacement cost
Portfolio of an investor
Worth to investor
Revaluations
Open market value/depreciated replacement cost
Insurance companies’ fixed assets
Open market value – Decree of 5 November 1990
Sociétés Civiles de Placement Immobilier (SCPIs) – a form of property unit trust
Open market value – Law of 31 December 1993
Development sites
Open market value
