Parish councils seek communal pre‑emption right in land law

The parish councils (comuns) have proposed introducing a communal right of pre-emption into the General Law of Land Organization and Urbanism (LGOTU). The amendment would give local administrations a legal mechanism to acquire properties on a preferential basis in predefined situations.

Under the proposal, the right of pre-emption would be extendable to more properties in legally defined cases, such as areas declared to have highly pressured housing markets or sites of strategic interest. When a property owner in such an area intends to sell, they would be required to notify the administration of the sale terms — including price and the identity of the prospective buyer. The administration would then have a fixed statutory period to match the offer and acquire the property. A related right of retract would allow the administration to step in after a private sale has been completed and similarly reverse or match the transaction.

Proponents say the tool would make it easier to secure public housing, reduce land speculation, and strengthen protection of cultural and natural heritage, while giving the administration more instruments for territorial planning and management. Parish leaders argue the right should remain conditioned and limited to clearly defined circumstances, rather than applied universally.

At the same time, officials including Sant Julià de Lòria’s cònsol major, Cerni Cairat, have stressed that because the measure affects private property rights, it must be regulated with rigorous legal precision. The proposal seeks to broaden the occasions on which such rights can be used, while keeping safeguards and clear procedural rules to govern their application.