Further crackdown on tourist rentals under debate in France

Stricter controls on tourist rentals could be enforced as soon as January 2025 in France, after a mixed commission approved a draft law on the subject. 

The new rules allow mairies greater control to manage and restrict short-term tourist lets, including the implementation of quotas on rentals and exclusive ‘main home’ construction zones. 

Tax allowances for furnished short-term lets (meublé de tourisme) will also reduce to be more in line with long-term rentals.

The law still needs to be voted on by both the Assemblée nationale and Senate, but is likely to pass after being given the green light by the commission including members of both chambers.

However, there is disagreement on tax allowance levels, which the Senate sees as too high in the new bill, but the Assemblée nationale backs, that may cause the bill’s passage to stutter or be altered.

The chambers will discuss and vote on the bill at the beginning of November, with an aim of passing the law as quickly as possible, with a view of new rules coming into force by next January. 

Greater power to mairies to limit rentals 

Greater control on tourist rentals will allow communal authorities to react to their local situation, particularly in areas where there is a housing shortage.

Some changes, such as the mandatory registering of tourist lets, will apply to all communes, as will the ability to set up quotas for how many tourist lets can be on the market (previously these rules were only in place in certain areas with a population of over 200,000 facing a housing shortage). 

In addition, all communes will be able to limit the number of days short-term tourist lets can be rented out. 

Currently, the maximum is 120 days, but all local authorities will be able to limit this to 90 if they wish (which is already the case in some areas). 

Exclusive main home construction zones could be enacted in areas where more than 20% of properties are second homes or otherwise not used as a main residence. 

Landlords will also need to conduct energy performance audits (diagnostic de performance énergétique, DPE) on short-term lets, which they have previously been exempt from. 

Bans on renting energy inefficient properties (at a level E or below) would also be implemented under the law. 

Read more: Old energy efficiency ratings for French properties invalid from 2025

Financial changes

The other major change is a shake-up of taxation allowances on rental properties. 

Landlords can receive set tax reductions (these are to cover expenses incurred on their properties) under a simplified system known as the micro-Bic. The rules for this change depending on the type of property let.

Currently, a 71% tax allowance exists for short-term rentals such as gites and chambres d’hôtes, and 50% through platforms such as Airbnb. 

You can read more about the 2024 rules below. 

Read more: Understand French tax rules on furnished rentals

These would drop to 50% and 30% respectively in the new draft law.

Unfurnished long-term lets currently benefit from a 30% allowance, but this may increase to 50% under a proposal in the current 2025 budget, seeking to encourage more landlords to place properties on the long-term rental market. 

The aims of these changes are to make renting properties out on a long-term basis more fiscally advantageous for landlords, encouraging a shift in market trends.

Some experts are dubious, however.

Tax auditor Vital Saint-Marc told media outlet Ouest-France that the changes will disproportionately hit small renters using the micro-Bic system, but not those using the régime réel, where expenses are calculated on a case-by-case basis, usually with the help of an accountant. 

The law “will have an effect on the amount of tax paid by landlords who declare their rental income as micro-Bic, but the effects in terms of reorienting the market will be limited,” said accountant Antoine Simon to the same media outlet.