Property owners in French Alps limited to one tourist rental each

Property owners in Chamonix in the French Alps will not be permitted to let out more than one short-term rental from May 2025.

The mairie of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) is set to introduce the quota from May 1, 2025, in a bid to encourage landlords to prioritise long-term rentals instead of short-term tourist holiday lets via websites such as Airbnb, Leboncoin, or Abritel.

It is the first mountain resort to introduce such a measure in France.

Read more: Has France’s reform of tax on holiday rental properties changed?

Short-term furnished rentals boom

The measure comes as a response to the sharp rise in short-term furnished rentals in the town, which, according to mayor Eric Fournier, have grown from 2,700 to more than 4,000 in the past four years.

This growth is largely due to the lucrative short-term rental market.

The average price of a short-term rental in the city is €256 per night, which equates to €7,936 if paid for 31 nights (and much more for luxury chalets). 

Even if the rental is not fully booked, a landlord still stands to make more money from a short-term let than for a long-term one.

This means that people who want to live in the area permanently are squeezed out and results in a shortage of rentals and affordable property for long-term tenants.

Property prices in Chamonix now hover between €10,000-18,000 per m2, and rental costs average €30 per m2 per month. 

This means that a 100m2 property would cost €1m-1.8m to buy, or €3,000 to rent per month (€36,000 per year in rent alone).

Read also: Can I use Airbnb as proof of residence for official French procedures? 

‘The valley is not an amusement park’

In a bid to curb the problem, from May 1, 2025, landlords will only be able to rent out a maximum of one short-term let property in Chamonix and nearby commune Houches, and two in the commune of Servoz.

In the commune of Vallorcine, on the other side of the col des Montets, there will be no limit on the number of short-term rentals allowed, but licence authorisations will only be granted for one year, before needing to be re-evaluated and renewed.

In a statement, the mayor of Chamonix said: “This measure is part of an overall effort to maintain permanent housing in the valley. Part of our housing stock is lost to short-term rental platforms, causing more and more problems for local residents. Year-round rental offers are few and far between, and prices are skyrocketing.”

The mairie had previously voted to apply a surcharge on second homes in the area in 2023, as more than 70% of properties in the valley come under this banner.

“The valley is not an amusement park,” said the mayor. “We need to restore balance…and respond to the pressure on property prices and the rapidly changing tourist numbers in the area.”

Registration required

Property owners who wish to rent out short-term lets will also need to register their property before they list it on sites such as Airbnb, in a similar system to that enforced in cities such as Paris. 

This enables authorities to keep track of who is renting our property, where, and how many listings they have.

Read also: Airbnb in Paris: Supply outstrips demand during Olympics 

"We have signed agreements with these sites, and if any fail to register, their properties will be removed from their platforms,” said Mr Fournier.

The rules currently only apply to individuals, but Mr Fournier said the move was a “first step”, and could soon also apply to property agencies and companies.

Mr Fournier’s decisions come after a similar measure in Annecy (also in Haute-Savoie) was suspended in July 2023 by the Grenoble judicial court, which said it was "too restrictive". 

But Haute-Savoie MP and Les Houches native, Xavier Roseren, said that he strongly supports Mr Fournier’s actions, and added that he will continue to push for similar legislative efforts in the Assemblée Nationale.

A bill on “strengthening the tools for regulating tourism lets at a local level” had been due to be examined by a joint government committee, but this was postponed after President Macron dissolved parliament unexpectedly in June.

Mr Roseren also said that the law needed to change when it comes to environmental standards for short-term rentals. Currently, a legal loophole means that properties that do not meet insulation standards for long-term rentals can still be rented out for short-term lets.

“It’s not acceptable that you can rent out an under-insulated property on Airbnb but not for a long-term period,” he said. “We need to continue working on the ecological and tourism transition in our valleys.”