Last reviewed
Short answer
An attestation de financement is a letter a bank or mortgage broker issues after reviewing your finances, to show that your purchase looks fundable. It has no legal value. It is not a loan offer, it binds no one and French law does not require it. Agents and sellers ask for one because it shows you are a serious buyer, and it should be less than two months old. French Finance prequalifies you against real lender criteria and can then introduce you to one of the leading, reputable specialist mortgage brokers and lenders we work with. Some lenders can issue a written decision in principle once they have assessed your documents.
What is an attestation de financement?
It is a short letter issued by a bank or a courtier, a mortgage broker, once it has reviewed your file. That means your income, your savings and deposit, your existing loans and the purchase you have in mind. It tells a seller that someone who understands lending has looked at your numbers and thinks the purchase can be financed.
It is just as important to know what it is not. French sources put it plainly: the attestation n’a aucune valeur juridique, it has no legal value. It is not a loan offer. It does not commit the bank or broker to lend and it does not commit you to borrow. French law does not require you to have one. It should be less than two months old when you show it, so time it for when you are ready to make offers.
Source: Pretto on the attestation de financement, September 2026.
Why do French estate agents and sellers ask for one?
Because a failed mortgage costs them time. In France a written offer to buy, the offre d’achat, binds the seller once they accept it. No money changes hands at that stage. The law forbids any payment with the offer, and a payment would make the offer void.
If you are using a mortgage, the compromis de vente that follows normally includes a loan condition, the condition suspensive d’obtention de prêt. If your loan is refused despite a genuine application the sale falls away and your deposit is refunded. The seller will have spent weeks committed to a buyer who could not complete.
Agents have their own reason. Under the loi Hoguet an agent immobilier cannot take a fee before the sale completes, so a buyer whose finance fails means unpaid work. An attestation shows the agent and the seller that your finance has been looked at before they commit to you.
Sources: Service-public.fr on the offer to buy; Service-public.fr on the loan condition, August 2026; DGCCRF on estate agents.
How does it compare with a UK decision in principle?
Both are early signals, not promises. A UK decision in principle is an indication from a lender of what it might lend, and it is not a mortgage offer. An attestation de financement does a similar job for a French seller, but it can come from a broker as well as a bank and it rests on a review of your file rather than a credit score. France has no UK-style credit score. French lenders check the Banque de France register of repayment problems, the FICP, and Applicants living outside France usually supply a credit report from their home country, such as Experian or Equifax in the UK.
| Document | Issued by | What it commits anyone to | When you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attestation de financement | A bank or broker after reviewing your file | Nothing. It has no legal value. | Before you make an offer. Keep it under two months old. |
| Decision in principle | A lender, directly or through a broker | Nothing. It is an indication, not an offer. | Before or around the time of your offer |
| Loan offer (offre de prêt) | The lender after a full application | A firm offer that stays open for at least 30 days | During the loan condition period in the compromis |
Sources: Pretto, September 2026; Service-public.fr on the loan offer; Banque de France on the FICP.
How does it fit with the compromis and the loan offer?
The attestation earns its keep in the weeks between an accepted offer and a firm loan offer, because French deadlines are short once the compromis is signed.
| Stage | What happens | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Offer accepted | The offre d’achat binds the seller. No money is paid. | Your attestation should be under two months old |
| Compromis signed | You pay a deposit, the dépôt de garantie, usually 5% to 10%, which the notaire holds. You then have a cooling-off period, the délai de rétractation. | 10 days from the day after the registered letter notifying you is first presented |
| Loan condition | You apply in good faith for a loan matching the amount, rate and term in the compromis. | At least one month by law, typically 45 to 60 days |
| Loan offer | The lender’s firm offer satisfies the loan condition. A 10-day reflection period applies before you can accept. | Open for at least 30 days. You can accept from the 11th day after receiving it. |
| Completion | The deed of sale, the acte authentique, is signed before the notaire. | Usually about three months after the compromis with a loan, and within four months of accepting the offer |
A loan condition of 45 to 60 days is not long for a UK or international buyer. Your file has to be assembled, and some lenders want sworn French translations of your documents, which can take 2 to 3 weeks. Work done before you offer gives the lender more of that window to assess your case. If the loan is refused despite a genuine application, the loan condition protects you and your deposit is refunded.
Sources: Service-public.fr on the compromis, April 2026; Service-public.fr on the loan condition, August 2026; Service-public.fr on the loan offer; a notaire’s guide to completion dates. Our buying guide walks through each stage.
What should I have ready before I make an offer?
Having these to hand speeds up both prequalification and the full application later:
- your passport and a second form of ID, with proof of your home address
- your employment contract or an employer’s letter, three months of payslips and your P60
- two to three years of tax returns or SA302s, or if you are self-employed three years of accounts and a letter from your accountant
- three months of bank, savings and credit card statements
- statements for existing loans and any mortgage you already have
- a credit report from your home country, such as Experian or Equifax in the UK
- proof of your deposit and where the money came from
Once you have signed a compromis the lender will also want a copy of it. Our documents checklist has the full list.
Source: checklists published by UK-facing French mortgage brokers including French Private Finance, June 2026, and Bluesky France Finance.
How French Finance helps you get ready
We are not a bank or a broker, so we do not issue an attestation ourselves. What we do is prequalify you against the criteria the lenders we work with actually use: a deposit of around 30%, a loan of at least about €200,000, the loan repaid by about age 70 and all repayments within 35% of your income. If your case does not fit we will tell you before you make an offer.
If it does fit, and with your consent, we introduce you to one of the specialists we work with. Some lenders can issue a written decision in principle once they have assessed your documents, and you can show it to the agent and the seller.
Our how it works page sets out every step from enquiry to completion.