French govt to offload 1,700 properties

The French government has announced plans to divest 1,700 real estate assets in the next three years in a bid to reduce the country's public debt.

Budget minister François Baroin this week presented a new strategic real estate programme which envisages the disposal of a large portfolio of properties, located primarily outside Paris. Offices make up 28% of total assets, with plots of land accounting for a further 24%. Residential units and military barracks make up the rest.

Baroin said the country has an excessive amount of state-owned properties in the face of a growing public deficit which currently amounts to EUR 1,490 bn. The properties earmarked for sale are 'useless and unsuitable', he added, and will be sold via transparent public auctions with the local authorities having the pre-emption right on the assets.

The government has sold real estate worth over EUR 3 bn over the past four years.

The new plan will allow the state to have 'a real estate portfolio which is more suited to its purpose, better maintained and of better quality,' Baroin concluded.