Land law: a return to ordinary law?

To understand the issues at stake, we need to look at the concept of ‘acquisition by prescription’. This mechanism allows a person to become the legal owner of a plot of land or a house that they have occupied for many years, even if they do not hold a title deed. However, this occupation must meet several conditions laid down by law. In mainland France, the standard period is 30 years.
However, a law passed in April 2024 reduced this period to 10 years in Réunion, Mayotte, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy. The aim was to resolve complex land ownership situations, particularly where properties have remained jointly owned for several generations. Under this measure, some owners and heirs could indeed lose their rights to family land to speculators seeking to acquire ownership.

Protecting family land and inheritance

It was to put an end to this risk that Jean-Philippe Nilor, MP for Martinique (LFI), and several of his colleagues tabled a bill aimed at reinstating the 30-year time limit. During the debates, he highlighted the particular importance of land in the overseas territories, where it often represents the only heritage passed down from generation to generation. He also highlighted the risks of land speculation, particularly through false declarations or the use of frontmen to seize land.
For the MPs behind the bill, the aim is not to call into question the need to settle inheritances and joint ownership, but to prevent these administrative difficulties from facilitating the dispossession of families for the benefit of people who are not even familiar with the territory.
The draft bill also stipulates that property acquired through a declaration of acquisitive notoriety may no longer be resold during the five-year period in which it may be contested, nor before the conclusion of any legal proceedings.

Saint Martin particularly affected

During the debates, the Minister for Overseas Territories, Naïma Moutchou, pointed out that the land registry had only been introduced on the island in 1975 and that Hurricane Irma in 2017 had further exacerbated the difficulties.
However, measures do exist to facilitate the process. In 2018, the Letchimy Act had already provided an initial solution by allowing, under certain conditions, heirs holding the majority of the rights to sell or divide a property without the consent of all the co-owners. This measure, extended until 2038, is not called into question by the new draft bill. Furthermore, the opening of the land registry office in May 2026 also represents a step towards regularising property ownership situations. However, for the government, the challenge remains to strike a balance between the need to resolve land-ownership deadlocks and the protection of owners’ rights.
Despite a sparsely attended Chamber, the bill was passed at first reading during the parliamentary session reserved for the La France insoumise group. 116 MPs voted in favour, 92 abstained and 4 voted against; these included 2 MPs from the Rassemblement National and 2 from the Démocrates group, to which the MP for the Northern Islands belongs. Frantz Gumbs, whilst not taking part in the debate, nevertheless voted in favour, as did the 13 other MPs from the overseas territories present in the chamber (10 overseas MPs were absent). The bill must now proceed through the Senate before it can come into force.