Rents soar in Paris after caps axed

Rents in Paris have rocketed in the six months after a French court scrapped caps, according to a consumer protection watchdog.

Rent caps came into force in 2015, but were scrapped by the Paris administrative court in November. Since then consumer association the CLCV has monitored rent prices in the capital - and it found that fewer than one in two rental ads still take note of the old rent laws.

The caps banned landlords from setting rent prices more than 20% higher than the reference price for the neighbourhood when renting a flat for the first time or renewing a lease.

"Property owners have become overconfident," Jean-Yves Mano, president of the CLCV, told France Info. “We have seen a significant average price increase of €1,530 per year. In extreme cases in the 20th arrondissement more than €450 per month, which amounts to nearly €5,400 per year."

Authorities in Paris have said that rent caps will return when the new Elan law, which is currently being debated in the Senate comes into force. The provides for the integration, for municipalities that so wish, of a rental framework on an experimental basis for up to five years.