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Cabinet VoirinWealth advisoryfor new-build homes
New contemporary wood-and-stone chalet on an alpine lakeshore, snow-capped mountains at dusk

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Alps & lakes

In the mountains and on the shores of the Alpine lakes, you do not buy an investment: you buy a place for the family to gather, used in winter as in summer, and often meant to pass to the children. It is this succession purpose that shapes the thinking.

Megève · Combloux · Chamonix · Lake Annecy — Talloires · Évian

A new-build development to a high standard in the Alps or by a lake.

A family property, between peaks and shores

From the resort-villages of the Arve valley to the shores of Lake Annecy, this area runs on two seasons: skiing and the mountains in winter, the water and hiking in summer. People look for a high-end chalet or apartment that brings several generations together, rather than a mere pied-à-terre. Megève, Combloux, Chamonix on the peaks side; Talloires, Évian, the lake shores on the water side: each has its atmosphere, but the same logic of family use.

It is an asset you keep for a long time and want to pass on whole. The question is almost never ‘for how long’, but ‘how to hand it down to the children without breaking it up’.

Rare and protected mountain and lakeside new-build

Altitude, local planning rules and the protection of shorelines limit buildable land: new-build here is rare and tightly regulated. High-end developments, in the heart of a resort or close to the water, meet strong and loyal demand, where build quality and family use matter more than any logic of return.

  • Constrained land (altitude, planning, shoreline protection): scarce new-build.
  • Strong, loyal demand for multi-generational family use.
  • Build quality and durability to the fore.
  • Classic wealth ownership, designed to last and to be passed on.

The territory in pictures

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Passing on a place without breaking it up

A family property intended for several children raises a question that is simple to state, delicate to settle: how to pass it on equally without one day having to sell it to divide it? Holding through a family SCI and gifting the shares gradually — sometimes only their bare ownership — are tools made for this. We set out the mechanics and the constraints; setting up the company and the pace of the gifts are decided with your notaire.

A concrete case

New-build residence to a high standard in the Alps or by a lake, illustrating the type of property referred to in the case.
Illustrative portrait of a retired director, representative of the profile described — non-contractual image, with no link to any real person.
Profile
Retired director, 72, three children, household liable to the IFI.
Project
New-build second home (off-plan), Lake Annecy / Megève area, around €1.2m, held through a family SCI.
Structure
Property held by a family SCI; a gift of the bare ownership of the shares to the three children, with the usufruct retained, to pass on the place without selling it.
70%

Bare ownership of the shares gifted at 72

scale under art. 669 CGI

100%

Second home in the IFI base

the 30% allowance (art. 973) applies only to the main home

€100,000

Allowance per parent per child, every 15 years

up to this limit — arts. 779 and 784 CGI

Illustrative case, rounded figures, anonymised situation subject to an adviser’s analysis. Split ownership organises the transfer; it does not reduce the donor’s IFI: as long as they keep the usufruct, the donor remains liable on the full-ownership value (art. 968 CGI). The €100,000 allowance is applied first; anything above it is taxed on the progressive scale. The IFI is due only above €1,300,000 of net taxable property wealth (art. 964 CGI). The structure is decided with your notaire.

A project in this region?

A wealth study starts from your actual situation: a first structuring outline and the property types suited to this region, followed by a thirty-minute scoping call.

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