The ten days after signing, and what they actually allow
A non-professional buyer has ten days to withdraw, without reason and without cost. The period is simple; when it starts is less so.
Article L271-1 of the French construction and housing code grants the non-professional buyer of a dwelling a ten-day withdrawal period. Nothing needs to be justified, nothing paid, and any deposit made is returned.
The period runs from the day after the preliminary contract is first presented or handed over. It is this starting point that gives rise to disputes: the notification must be complete, annexes included, failing which the period does not begin.
The seller has no equivalent period. Once the preliminary contract is signed they are bound, subject to the conditions precedent set out in it — obtaining a mortgage first among them.
The imbalance is deliberate: the legislator sought to protect the lay buyer from a commitment made too quickly. It replaces no prior checks, and it is no substitute for reading the technical survey file, which must be annexed to the preliminary contract.