Renting in France: the rules

There are three main leases for a home that is the tenant's main residence. A bail vide (unfurnished lease) lasts at least three years with a private landlord, six with a company, and renews automatically for the same period if nobody gives notice; it can be shorter (minimum one year) only if the landlord states a specific family or work reason to take the home back. A bail meublé (furnished lease) lasts one year and renews automatically, or nine months for a student, in which case it simply ends at term (loi du 6 juillet 1989 arts. 10 and 25-7; service-public.fr, checked 2025-06). A furnished home must contain a legal minimum list of furniture and equipment. The bail mobilité, created by the ELAN law of 23 November 2018, is a furnished lease of one to ten months for students, apprentices, trainees, people on a work assignment or in civic service; it cannot be renewed, and no deposit may be asked (ANIL).

The lease must be written and follow the model contract set by décret 2015-587 of 29 May 2015; for leases signed or renewed from 1 October 2026, décret 2026-596 of 6 July 2026 updates the models, which now spell out the termination clause and must state any obligation to occupy the home as a main residence (ADIL 66, September 2026). The lease must state the parties, the start date and term, the habitable surface (if it is overstated by more than 5% the tenant can ask for a proportional rent cut), the rent and how it is revised, the charges, the deposit, and in rent-capped cities the reference rents; a government information notice is annexed. Since the Kasbarian-Bergé law of 27 July 2023 every lease must contain a clause résolutoire (termination clause) for unpaid rent, charges or deposit. The dossier de diagnostic technique must be attached: energy certificate (DPE), lead report for older buildings, electricity and gas checks if the installation is over 15 years old, and natural-risk and noise reports where relevant (service-public.fr F920). There is no public registration of private leases.

An état des lieux (check-in report) is drawn up together at the start and the end. The tenant can ask for it to be corrected within 10 days, and for heating items during the first month of the heating season; if the parties cannot agree, a commissaire de justice (bailiff) draws it up and the cost is shared (service-public.fr F31270, checked 2026-03).

The dépôt de garantie (deposit, often wrongly called 'caution') is capped at one month's rent excluding charges for an unfurnished home and two months for a furnished one; it is banned if rent is paid quarterly in advance and for a bail mobilité, and it cannot be raised during the lease or at renewal (loi 1989 arts. 22 and 25-6; service-public.fr F31269, checked 2026-06). There is no deposit-protection scheme: the landlord or agent holds it. No other sum may be demanded to reserve the home or before the lease is signed.

It must be returned within one month of handing back the keys if the check-out report matches the check-in, or two months if it does not. Deductions must be backed by the reports and by quotes or invoices; in a block of flats the landlord may keep up to 20% until the building's annual accounts are settled. Each month of delay adds 10% of the monthly rent to the sum owed. Low-income tenants can ask Action Logement (Loca-Pass advance) or the departmental housing solidarity fund (FSL) to pay the deposit.

Most landlords also want a garant (guarantor, 'caution'), usually a relative who signs an acte de cautionnement, often 'solidaire' so the landlord can claim from the guarantor at the first missed payment. An individual landlord who has rent-default insurance cannot also require a guarantor unless the tenant is a student or apprentice; a company landlord cannot ask a guarantor of a student who holds a higher-education grant (loi 1989 art. 22-1; service-public.fr F31267, checked 2026-09). No law sets a minimum income: the common demand for net income of about three times the rent is market practice and a condition of rent-default insurers, not a legal rule. Visale is a free guarantee from Action Logement: it covers anyone aged from 17 years 10 months to under 30 regardless of status, and over-30s who are newly hired or transferred private-sector employees or earn up to €1,710 net a month, within rent ceilings of €1,940 a month in Île-de-France and €1,575 or €1,365 elsewhere depending on the commune; in the private sector it covers up to 36 months of unpaid rent over the first three years of the lease and up to two months' rent for damage (service-public.fr F32320, as of 2026-01).

Rent can be revised once a year only if the lease has a revision clause, and never by more than the change in the IRL (Indice de référence des loyers, rent reference index) published by INSEE. The latest IRL, for the second quarter of 2026, is 148.37, up 1.15% on a year (published 10 July 2026); the first-quarter 2026 figure was +0.78% (service-public.fr F13723, as of 2026-07). The landlord has one year to claim a revision and cannot backdate it. The 'bouclier loyer' (rent shield) that capped the IRL at 3.5% from the third quarter of 2022 ended on 31 March 2024. Rent on a home rated F or G on its energy certificate cannot be raised at all for leases signed, renewed or tacitly renewed since 24 August 2022 (service-public.fr F1310, checked 2026-08).

In a zone tendue (stressed-market area, a legal list of communes, widened in August 2023), a yearly decree limits rises between tenants (currently décret 2026-644 of 20 July 2026, in force from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027; Kohen Avocats, 2026-09): a new tenant's rent may not exceed the previous tenant's (plus at most one IRL rise if none was applied in the last 12 months) unless major works were done or the old rent was clearly too low. On top of that, in communes that opted into encadrement des loyers (rent ceilings) the base rent may not exceed a published loyer de référence majoré (reference rent plus 20%). As of 2026-09 this applies in Paris, the Plaine Commune and Est Ensemble areas of Seine-Saint-Denis, Lille (with Hellemmes and Lomme), Lyon and Villeurbanne, Montpellier, Bordeaux, 24 communes of the Pays Basque and part of Grenoble-Alpes Métropole (service-public.fr F1314, checked 2026-08). A complément de loyer (rent supplement) above the ceiling is allowed only for exceptional location or comfort features stated in the lease, and has been banned since 18 August 2022 if the home has defects such as a toilet on the landing, damp, a DPE of F or G or a facing building within 10 metres. The tenant can challenge it before the commission départementale de conciliation within three months of signing, then before the judge. Landlords who break the ceiling face fines up to €5,000 (€15,000 for a company).

The rent-ceiling scheme is an experiment under article 140 of the ELAN law, extended by the 3DS law of 21 February 2022, and is due to end on 24 November 2026, the end date service-public.fr gives for the current reference-rent orders (F1314, checked 2026-09), although Montpellier's own order runs to 23 November 2026, which it gives as the end of the experiment. A bill to make it permanent passed the Assemblée nationale on 11 December 2025; the government has said it backs a two-year extension, and on 14 October 2026 the Senate's economic affairs committee amended it into a two-year extension, to November 2028, limited to the areas already covered; the full Senate debates it from 21 October 2026, and the bill must then complete its passage through Parliament (Batiweb, 15 October 2026; SeLoger, 16 October 2026). Nothing was final as of 2026-10: check whether it was extended before relying on it after November 2026.

A tenant can leave at any time. Notice is one month for a furnished home or a bail mobilité, and for an unfurnished home three months, cut to one month in a zone tendue or for listed reasons (first job, new job after losing one, job loss or transfer, health reasons, receiving RSA or AAH benefits, domestic violence). The reason must be stated in the letter with proof, otherwise three months apply. Notice goes by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by commissaire de justice or by hand against a signature, and runs from the day it is received (loi 1989 art. 15; service-public.fr F1168, checked 2026-04).

The landlord can only give notice for the end of the lease, and only to sell (the tenant gets first refusal to buy), to live there or house a close relative, or for a legitimate and serious reason such as repeated late payment. Notice must reach the tenant at least six months before the end of an unfurnished lease and three months before the end of a furnished one. Tenants over 65 with modest incomes are protected: the landlord must offer rehousing nearby unless the landlord is also over 65 or on a low income. A sham notice to sell or move in can cost up to €6,000 in fines (€30,000 for a company) plus damages (service-public.fr F929, checked 2026-06).

For unpaid rent, a commissaire de justice serves a commandement de payer; since the July 2023 law the tenant has six weeks to pay before the termination clause can apply, after which the landlord must go to court. Even with a court order, no one without rehousing can be evicted during the trêve hivernale (winter truce), from 1 November to 31 March inclusive (service-public.fr F1213, checked 2026-08).

The landlord must provide a décent (decent) home in good repair and handle major repairs; the tenant pays for routine upkeep and small repairs, and must take out home insurance covering at least fire, water damage and explosion, even on a bail mobilité (service-public.fr F1349). Since 1 January 2025 a home rated G on its DPE counts as not decent and cannot be let or re-let, including on renewal; F-rated homes follow from 2028 and E from 2034 under the Climat et résilience law of 22 August 2021. DPEs made between 2018 and June 2021 are no longer valid, and from 1 January 2026 a new electricity factor (2.3 to 1.9, then 1.7 under an arrêté of 19 August 2026) has lifted many electrically heated homes out of F and G (service-public.fr F1615, checked 2026-01). A Housing Recovery bill passed by the Senate on 8 July 2026 would let some F and G homes stay on the market while works are under way; it is before the Assemblée nationale and not yet law as of 2026-09.

Rent is usually quoted 'charges comprises' (CC, charges included) or 'hors charges' (HC). Recoverable charges, such as building upkeep, lifts, cold water and refuse tax, are limited to a legal list; the tenant pays monthly advances with a yearly reconciliation, or a flat fee in furnished lets and a bail mobilité (service-public.fr F947). Electricity, gas and internet are usually in the tenant's name.

Agency fees are split by the ALUR law: the landlord pays for finding and marketing, and the tenant can only be charged for viewing, the application file, drafting the lease and the check-in report, never more than the landlord pays and capped per m² of habitable surface. For leases signed from 1 January 2026 the caps are €12.10/m² in the zone très tendue (Paris area), €10.09/m² in a zone tendue and €8.07/m² elsewhere, plus €3.03/m² for the check-in report (revised with the IRL for the first time since 2014; service-public.fr F10696, Journal de l'Agence).

France has no compulsory address registration with the town hall. Your address is proven with documents such as the lease, rent receipts (quittances de loyer) and energy bills, and you will need one for a bank account, the CAF (family benefits office), a residence permit or school enrolment. The taxe d'habitation (council tax) on main homes was abolished on 1 January 2023; it still applies to second homes, including a furnished flat a tenant keeps at their disposal that is not their main home (service-public.fr F42, checked 2026-08).

The documents a landlord may ask for are fixed by décret 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015: one ID (French or foreign ID card, passport, driving licence or residence permit), one proof of current address, proof of work or study, and proof of income such as the last tax notice, three payslips or an employment contract; foreign documents must be translated into French with sums in euros. Asking for anything else, such as bank statements, a carte Vitale (health card), a family record book, a marriage contract, a criminal record or a separate photo, is forbidden, with fines up to €3,000 (€15,000 for a company) (service-public.fr F1169; CNIL). The state service DossierFacile lets tenants build a verified file with only the allowed documents.

Housing benefit comes from the CAF (or MSA for farm workers): APL for 'conventionné' homes, ALS or ALF otherwise, depending on income, rent and household, for tenants and subtenants. Since 1 July 2026 non-EU students on a student residence permit only get APL if they hold a means-tested grant, work, or are on an apprenticeship contract (service-public.fr F12006, checked 2026-07). Social housing (HLM) is applied for through one national application (demande unique) online or at a registration desk, which gives a numéro unique and must be renewed every year; a legal resident whose application has waited 'abnormally long' or who is in an urgent situation can file a DALO (enforceable right to housing) claim (service-public.fr F869, F18005).

Sous-location (subletting) of a private home needs the landlord's written consent to both the sublet and its rent, and the rent per m² cannot exceed what the main tenant pays. The main tenant must give the subtenant the written consent and a copy of the lease; the sublet cannot outlast the main lease and the subtenant has no rights against the landlord when it ends. Subletting without consent can lead to both leases being terminated, and the tenant can be ordered to hand over the sublet income and pay damages (loi 1989 art. 8; service-public.fr F2449, checked 2025-07). Rent-ceiling rules do not apply to sublets, but the rent cap on the main lease still limits what can be charged. This also covers letting out your rented flat on Airbnb-type platforms, which need the landlord's authorisation.

Colocation (flat-sharing) is either one shared lease signed by all or separate leases per room. Shared leases usually contain a clause de solidarité (joint liability clause): a co-tenant who leaves stays liable for rent and charges until a replacement signs the lease, or at most six months after their notice ends; the same goes for their guarantor (service-public.fr F31267). Tenants aged 60 or over may sublet a room to someone under 30 under a cohabitation intergénérationnelle solidaire contract after informing the landlord, who cannot refuse.

To let legally the landlord needs a written lease on the model contract, the diagnostic file (a valid DPE of at least F; G is banned since January 2025), a home that meets the decency standard, and must respect the deposit cap, the closed list of applicant documents and, where it applies, the rent ceiling (which must also appear in listings). Some communes require a permis de louer (prior authorisation or declaration) in run-down areas, which must be attached to the lease (service-public.fr F920).

Unfurnished rent is taxed as revenus fonciers (property income). Under €15,000 a year the micro-foncier regime applies with a flat 30% allowance; above that, or by choice for three years, the régime réel deducts actual costs and can create a property deficit (service-public.fr F1991, checked 2026-04). Furnished long-term rent is taxed as BIC under the LMNP status (non-professional, typically receipts under €23,000 or less than the household's other earned income): micro-BIC with a 50% allowance up to €77,700 of receipts for 2025 income and €83,600 for 2026, or the régime réel, which allows depreciation. Since the 2025 finance law, for sales from 15 February 2025 depreciation claimed under LMNP is added back when calculating the capital gain (service-public.fr F32744, F10864, checked 2026-04).

Short lets as meublés de tourisme were tightened by the 'anti-Airbnb' law 2024-1039 of 19 November 2024 (loi Le Meur). Non-classified tourist lets now get micro-BIC with only a 30% allowance up to €15,000 (classified: 50%), since 2025 income. A main home can be let to tourists for no more than 120 days a year, and communes can lower this to 90 (Paris has done so since 1 January 2025, Marseille and Bordeaux since 1 January 2026, Montpellier since January 2026, and Lyon applies 90 too); a second home needs a change-of-use authorisation in Paris, the inner suburbs and large cities. The loi Le Meur and the EU short-term rental regulation extend registration to every tourist let through a national online service from May 2026, but that service was not yet open as of 2026-10: Lyon expects it in the fourth quarter of 2026, and until then registration is made with the commune where the commune requires it, and the number must appear in listings (Ville de Lyon, checked 2026-10). Tourist lets need a DPE of A to E to get change-of-use permission, and from 2034 all non-main-home tourist lets must reach A to D; new co-ownership rules must state whether tourist lets are allowed (ecologie.gouv.fr guide, September 2025; service-public.fr F33175, checked 2026-05). Exceeding the day limit on a main home carries a civil fine of up to €15,000 under the tourism code as amended by the loi Le Meur (art. L324-1-1; Kohen Avocats, 2026-09); some official pages, including service-public.fr, still show the earlier €10,000.

Free legal advice on any tenancy question comes from the ADIL, the departmental housing information agency coordinated by ANIL, open to tenants and landlords alike. For disputes over rent, rent supplements, deposits, check-in reports, repairs or charges, either side can go to the commission départementale de conciliation (CDC, departmental conciliation board) or a conciliateur de justice (court conciliator); both are free. For claims up to €5,000 an attempt at amicable settlement is compulsory before going to court, and CDC conciliation is compulsory for a rent supplement challenge (service-public.fr F31301).

If that fails, cases go to the juge des contentieux de la protection (protection judge) at the tribunal judiciaire where the home is; a lawyer is not compulsory before this judge, and legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) depends on income. Claims for rent, charges or the deposit must be brought within three years.

Tenant associations such as the CLCV and the CNL give advice and represent tenants, mostly for members. Misleading listings, abusive agency practices or illegal fees can be reported to the DGCCRF (consumer-protection authority) through SignalConso, and a landlord breaking the rent ceiling can be reported to the prefecture.