Is your land frozen for over 10 years by a plan?
you can claim compensation (Administrative Cassation 2007)

1. The weapon of the ten-year deadline — article 28 of law 12-90

The Court's core reasoning rests on a strict reading of article 28 of urban planning law 12-90:

The Court mechanically draws two logical consequences. First, the extinguishing effect is automatic: no administrative decision or declaratory judgment is needed. After 10 years, the declaration of public utility lapses on its own. Second, the patrimonial effect is restitutory:

Now if the commune keeps occupying, without title, when it should have returned the rights, that occupation becomes unlawful. Hence the order to pay compensation which the Court of Cassation upholds:

2. Rejecting the municipal defence — no eternal declaration of public utility

The Court sweeps aside the argument that the plan would keep producing effects indefinitely, in a formula worth quoting verbatim: “the plan cannot serve as an eternal basis for restricting the property right”. The Court thus recalls an implicit constitutional principle: the property right is protected, and administrative encroachments must be limited in time, failing which they degenerate into disguised confiscation.

3. The practical method for the heirs and owners concerned

If you hold (or inherit) land reserved by a development plan approved more than 10 years ago without a completed expropriation, here is the sequence of action:

1. Check the plan's approval date (Official Bulletin, ministerial order, municipal register). More than 10 full years = declaration of public utility extinguished by operation of law
2. Check the state of the expropriation: cessibility decree published? Expropriation order? Effective taking of possession? If nothing is finalised, the authority has occupied without title since the extinction
3. Obtain an independent appraisal of the land's rental value over the post-expiry occupation period. That is the basis of the loss of enjoyment
4. Bring a claim before the administrative court for compensation for loss of enjoyment. This avenue was upheld all the way to the Court of Cassation in this ruling
5. Also request the effective return of the land or — if you wish and the commune still needs it — restart a new expropriation procedure with compensation at the current value

4. Interaction with the expropriation reform (law 07-25)

Expropriation law 07-25, which succeeds the former law 7-81, strengthens the procedural and compensation guarantees of expropriated owners. The 2007 ruling remains fully relevant: it applies to the upstream mechanism of article 28 of law 12-90 (ten-year extinction of the declaration of public utility), which the reform does not amend. The combination of the two is, on the other hand, powerful: an owner who invokes both the ten-year extinction AND the fair compensation of law 07-25 has a complete arsenal to obtain redress.

5. The systemic scope — a strong signal to authorities

This ruling sends a clear signal to communes and other local authorities: a development plan is not a free and perpetual land reserve. Either the authority completes the expropriation within the 10-year deadline with fair compensation, or it returns the property — and compensates for the period of undue occupation. This discipline is healthy: it pushes authorities to structure their projects, to budget acquisitions, and not to freeze private land indefinitely for projects that never materialise.

Have your land and its loss of enjoyment valued by our independent RICS appraisal service and read more analyses on the ReaConsult blog.