The enthusiasm for seasonal rentals with the advent of advertisement platforms for lodging has not failed to attract the attention of the competent authorities, which have established regulations to structure this activity.
Thus, the rental of furnished tourist accommodation as a main or secondary residence creates obligations and procedures for the owner that must follow under penalty.
What are the procedures, declarations and prior authorizations for a seasonal rental? Which owners are affected by these administrative procedures?
Can one exercise the rental without declaring yourself to the town hall? What are the penalties for non-compliance with the legal framework?
We offer you in the following sections an overview of these questions so that you can rent your property with impunity and in accordance with the rules.
Why impose new formalities for seasonal rentals?
In large cities with a strong tourist attraction, more and more individuals are renting out their accommodation on a seasonal basis.
This important or even anarchic development poses a problem because:
- This is an aggravating factor in the housing crisis: reduction in housing space for residents, increase in rents, etc. This leads to the departure of the middle class from the capital and threatens social diversity.
- It is an unfair competition against the professionals of the hotel sector.
- It is a factor of contention in condominiums: neighborhood disturbances by some tourists disturb the inhabitants.
The success of this rental method has therefore prompted the government to take measures to:
- Prevent the housing stock from being diverted from its objective: main residential accommodation.
- Fight against the housing shortage: by requiring individuals to declare their seasonal location, the public authorities can thus verify that individuals do indeed have their obligations.
Steps and obligations to follow
Renting a primary residence should be distinguished from that of a secondary residence since the obligations are not the same.
| Rent out your main residence | Rent out your secondary home | |
| Procedures with the town hall | If the lessor is himself a tenant, he must have obtained the owner’s prior written authorization to sublet the accommodation. The Tourism Code exempts from declaration those who rent out their main residence, that is to say the owners who occupy the accommodation for at least 8 months in the year. Exception: Some municipalities require the owner to declare his main residence at the town hall in order to assign him a declaration number. Check with your town hall to find out if your town has implemented this procedure and how to proceed, if so. | When the accommodation you are offering for seasonal rental is not your main residence, you must not only: – Make the declaration at the town hall -In certain cases, obtain an authorization for a change of use (depending on the municipality, the number of inhabitants, etc.). Obtaining this authorization requires that you have completed a number of steps beforehand (see below). |
| The online declaration must include: – The identity, postal address and e-mail address of the declarant; – The address of the furnished room, with the building, staircase, floor and apartment number if necessary, or, where possible, the number identifying the accommodation appearing on the council tax notice; – Its status of main residence; – The number of rooms and beds; – The estimated rental dates. | The online declaration must include: – The identity, postal address and e-mail address of the declarant; – The address of the furnished property, specifying, if necessary, the building, staircase, floor and the apartment number or, when possible, the number identifying the accommodation appearing on the council tax notice; – The status of the secondary residence; – The number of rooms making up the furnished apartment, the number of beds and, if applicable, the date of the classification decision and the classification level of the furnished apartment. | |
| Upon receipt of your declaration, the town hall will immediately issue you an acknowledgment of receipt including a 13-digit declaration number. | ||
| – The declaration number must be indicated in each of the rental advertisements for this accommodation. – The total rental period for this accommodation must not exceed 120 days per calendar year. This period may only be exceeded for reasons of professional obligation, health reasons or in the event of force majeure. | – The declaration number must be indicated in each rental offer for this accommodation. | |
| The change of use: In Paris, in Hauts-de-Seine, in Seine-Saint-Denis, in Val-de-Marne, in municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants and all the municipalities that choose it, the owner must change the use of the property intended for seasonal rental. | ||
| Authorization: Once these steps have been taken, the owner will obtain an authorization with a declaration number that he must include in his rental advertisement. | ||
| Rental announcement | If you use an internet platform: Before the rental advertisement is published, you must provide it with a sworn statement indicating the following information: – You have fulfilled your prior obligations (declaration, authorization of the owner if you are a tenant) – The accommodation is your main residence – Housing declaration number (if the town hall assigns one) When it has published the ad, the internet platform has the obligation to: -Deactivate it as soon as the accommodation has been rented for 120 days – Provide the town hall with a count of the days you rent your accommodation, if the town hall requests it. If you are not using an internet platform: The town hall can ask you to count the days of rental of your accommodation, until December 31 of the following year. | If you use an internet platform: Before the rental advertisement is published or put online, you must provide this intermediary with a sworn statement indicating: – that you have fulfilled the obligations (declaration, or even authorization of change of use), • that the accommodation is not your main residence, • Housing declaration number (if the town hall assigns one) |
| Procedures at the entrance of the premises: fiche de police | Anyone who rents out a furnished tourist accommodation or a guest room must have an individual police form filled out for occupants of foreign nationality, including European Union nationals. This must contain the following personal data: Last name and first names, Date and place of birth, Nationality, Usual domicile abroad, Mobile phone number and email address, Dates of arrival at the furnished tourist accommodation and planned departure. The files thus established must be kept for a period of six months and handed over, at their request, to the police and gendarmerie units. This transmission can take place in dematerialized form. Nota Bene: the obligation to complete this form is not accompanied by any sanction. In practice, you may have difficulty getting all occupants to fill out this form, because you are not necessarily present when the keys are handed over. | |
| Procedures with tax offices | Siren registration to obtain a Siret number Whether you own or rent your main residence, you must apply for registration in the INSEE Siren directory. This formality is free. You must contact the clerk of the commercial court of the place of the rented accommodation using the POi form. Once this process is completed, you will be assigned a SIRET number by INSEE. This number will be entered on your supplementary income tax return and this income is subject to the progressive scale of income tax. Property tax on companies Depending on your situation (location and personal use of the rented property), you may have to pay the business property assessment. You must consult the business tax service (SIE) of the place where the rented accommodation is located to find out whether or not you will have to pay this tax. | |
| Penalties | Anyone offering rental accommodation declared as their main residence for more than 120 days during the same calendar year is liable to a civil fine of € 10,000. | In the big cities: – Failing to request a change of use authorization is penalized by a civil fine of up to € 50,000 – Can be ordered the restoration to the initial state of the housing and a penalty of 1000 € per day per m2 – Not declaring your accommodation to the town hall is liable to a civil fine of up to € 5,000 In other cities: – Not declaring your accommodation to the town hall is liable to a civil fine of up to € 450 |
| Failing to provide a count of nights during which the property was rented to the town hall when required: fine between 5,000 and 10,000 euros. | ||
| These fines are pronounced by the president of the ‘tribunal de grande instance’, ruling in the form of summary proceedings, at the request of the municipality in which the furnished tourist accommodation is located. | ||
To combat abuses and housing shortages, the government has established obligations for seasonal rentals.
These rules must be distinguished depending on whether the seasonal rental involves your primary residence or your secondary residence.