Notaire fees in Nice: how much, who pays, and why the Alpes-Maritimes cost less

What are notaire fees, exactly?

The phrase misleads, and that is the first misunderstanding to clear. What is called notaire fees is a sum collected by the notaire, of which he keeps only a small part. The bulk goes to the State, the department and the commune.

Four items make up the total. Transfer duty first, the tax on the transaction, by far the heaviest. Then the notaire's emoluments, his remuneration, set by government order and therefore identical at every notaire in France. Then disbursements, costs the office advances on your behalf: planning documents, mortgage register searches, land registry fees. And the land registration contribution, 0.10 % of the price, which funds the property register.

On an older property the whole comes to around 7 to 8 % of the price. The notaire's remuneration accounts for less than 15 % of it. Blaming the notaire for the size of notaire fees is rather like blaming the tobacconist for the price of cigarettes.

How much do they come to in Nice, in euros?

Take a 475,000 € apartment, the order of magnitude of a median property on the Promenade des Anglais. The detail is calculated, not estimated.

Transfer duty: 21,375 € to the department (4.50 %), 5,700 € to the commune (1.20 %), and 507 € in collection charges, so 27,582 € in all, or 5.81 % of the price.

The notaire's emoluments: the scale is degressive in bands, 3.870 % up to 6,500 €, then 1.596 %, then 1.064 %, and 0.799 % above 60,000 € (order of 25 February 2026, in force since 1 March). That gives 4,192.50 € before tax, or 5,031 € including VAT.

Land registration contribution: 475 €. Disbursements: around 1,000 €, varying with the file.

Total: roughly 34,000 €, or 7.2 % of the price. The notaire receives 5,031 € of that sum; the remaining 29,000 € is tax and advanced costs.

Why do the Alpes-Maritimes cost less than most departments?

Here is the point nobody makes, and it is worth money. The 2025 Finance Act allowed departments to raise their share of transfer duty from 4.50 % to 5 %, temporarily, for sales concluded between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028. The great majority of French departments voted that increase.

The Alpes-Maritimes did not. As at 1 February 2026 the official DGFiP table still shows 4.50 % for department 06, where the column for departments that resolved to raise shows 5.00 % for almost every other.

On our 475,000 € apartment the difference is 2,431 € less than an identical purchase in a department that moved to 5 %. On a 1.5 million property it exceeds 7,600 €. Nobody buys in Nice for that reason, and it would be a poor one. But a buyer comparing the French Riviera with another French region is entitled to know, and will read it nowhere else.

Who pays, and when?

The buyer pays all of it, save for a contrary agreement, which is rare. Agency fees are a separate matter: they are displayed apart, stating who bears them, seller or buyer. Notaire fees and agency fees are not the same thing, and the listing must distinguish the two.

Payment is made on the day the deed is signed, at the same time as the price, by transfer to the office's account. They must therefore be provided for: a bank financing 100 % of the price does not always finance the fees, and discovering that three days before completion is a bad moment.

The office issues a final statement after the sale. If the provision called for exceeded the actual cost, the excess is returned to you. That is not a favour, it is the rule.

Can they be reduced?

Three levers exist, of very unequal weight.

Furniture first. If the sale includes furniture, its value may be deducted from the base on which transfer duty is calculated, provided it is supported by a priced and honest inventory. A fitted kitchen, a bespoke dressing room, quality furniture: this is documented, with invoices. Inflating that item artificially is a reassessment waiting to happen.

A discount on the emoluments next. The regulations allow the notaire to grant a discount on his emoluments alone, above a certain base amount and within a capped limit. It is not assumed, it is asked for, and a notaire who grants it must apply it the same way to every client in the same position. On a 475,000 € property it covers a few hundred euros at best: useful, never decisive.

New-build last, and it is the only lever that changes the order of magnitude. See the next section.

New-build and older property: why such a gap?

On a new-build, notably an off-plan sale, fees fall to about 2 to 3 % of the price instead of 7 to 8 %. The reason is fiscal, not commercial: the sale is subject to property VAT, and transfer duty is then reduced to its minimum rate.

The saving is real, in the order of 20,000 € on a 475,000 € property. It says nothing about the price per square metre, generally higher on new-build, nor about location: on the Nice seafront the front row has been built for a century and new-build sits further back. Comparing fees without comparing addresses teaches nothing.

One last marker for a buyer from abroad. Those 7 to 8 % apply identically to everyone, resident or not, first purchase or second home. France has neither a non-resident surcharge nor an additional-dwelling surcharge, unlike England where a non-resident buying a second home stacks both.