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10/02/2010Renting a home in France

Renting a home in France For new arrivals: save time and unpleasant surprises trying to rent an apartment or house in France with this overview of the market, rental conditions and the pitfalls.

Although home ownership in France is increasing, most people still live in rented accommodation. This is especially so in major French cities where most still live in apartments.

The looking process
The internet is changing how people are looking for rentals in France. Until recently, all property rentals were arranged through a real estate agent, agent immobilier. But as an increasingly number of home rentals are advertised online and sales of private properties increased, the number of agencies offering rental services has decreased, although there are usually some specialist agencies offering rentals in large towns.

A good place to look for apartments that don’t carry an agency fee is the weekly publication De Particulier à Particulier, an excellent source for independent owners to sell or rent their property. You can also search the website which is available in English at www.pap.fr.

If you are looking for rented accommodation and are thinking of doing so through an estate agent, you need to know that there is no central listing service so it is necessary to get information from all agencies in a region to find the available properties.

All local and some national newspapers carry rental ads posted by both agencies and owners. You can also refer to the Yellow Pages or walk into the offices in the area you want to live in.

Many commercial owners do prefer to use agencies to assist in protecting them from "troublesome" tenants. Agents will charge normally at least one month’s rent commission for finding a suitable tenant. They will also charge the same rate for managing the rental. However it is important to know that renting directly from an owner does not often reduce lower the rental price, although you may be able to negotiate the deposit required.

Furnished apartment vs. unfurnished apartments

In France the tenant has very strong rights and is protected in many ways from exploitation by landlords. On the other hand, this protection has caused problems for property owners. There are many cases where an owner has not received rent for years but cannot gain access to their own property. This has discouraged owners from renting. However, there are impending changes to rental laws which aim to grant fair rights to both owners and tenants.

At present an unfurnished property will be offered normally on a standard three-year agreement, renewable for a further two three-year periods with fixed maximums to the increase of rent to be paid. Furnished accommodation is often offered on a one-year agreement while a registered student can obtain a nine-month agreement.

Unless there are restrictions (as there are in central Paris), a furnished property can be rented as a seasonal or vacation property for any period less than six months. In central Paris, only one year tenancy agreements can be offered, vacation rentals are not allowed, unless the property is correctly registered and rated as a commercial property (very few are). See our article on Renting an apartment in Paris.

While the tenant can cancel the rental agreement with a three-month notice,  the owner can only request vacant possession when the lease is up should he want it back for his own use or to sell the property. If the property is offered for sale, the tenant has the first right of refusal to purchase. An owner cannot artificially inflate the selling price or use other devices to inconvenience the tenant without risking expensive penalties.

Property descriptions
The French calculate the size apartments or houses by the number of rooms, pièces, excluding the kitchen and water closets. This is often indicated in advertisements as a T1, T2, etcetera. A deux-pièces or T2 is a one-bedroom apartment. A T1 bis is a studio with a larger living space than a standard T1.

The surface area is described in square metres, mètres carrés. As a rough guide, the average surface area for a three-room city apartment (i.e. two bedrooms and a sitting-dining room) would be between 80 and 100 square metres.

Kitchens and bathrooms may or may not include appliances or even cupboards. A kitchen with cabinets and counters is called a cuisine aménagée; a kitchen with appliances is a cuisine équipée.

Likewise, your landlord is not required to window coverings or light fixtures .

Things to look out for before signing
Unfurnished property can be very basic, a kitchen may only have a basic sink or the light bulbs are removed and not offered with the property. If you are taking over a property and view it when it was occupied, do not expect any of the fittings and fixtures to remain, or insist that those items which are with the property are listed and agreed.

When a tenancy has been agreed, a detailed inspection or état des lieux is made. There are standard forms for this process and everything is usually very detailed. The tenant should check all entries carefully; note any prior defects or damage to the property and take photographs where possible. Make a note of every hole, scratch, mark or stain. There have been cases where departing tenants were accused for causing damage to a property and had to pay for the landlord to have his house completely repainted.

Be sure you are aware of any other costs in renting. You will be liable for the yearly tax, taxe d'habitation, each year. Interestingly it is the person who occupies the property on January the first of a year who is liable, so if you move in on 2 January, you do not have to pay tax for the first year. The local tax, taxe fonciere, will be paid for by the owner.

There are other charges on a property, especially apartments. Management, maintenance and concierge charges may apply, so be sure to get these confirmed and explained in writing before you sign an agreement. These charges change annually and rarely downwards.

Services such as water gas and electricity are usually paid by the tenant. Waste collection and other services may be added charges. Check carefully what is included in the rental.

Proving your income:
Once you have found a place to rent and are comfortable with the agreement, you will have to prove your income.
•    Pay slips, fiches de paie, for the previous three months. In general you will be required to prove that your monthly income is at least three times the monthly rent and that you are not currently on employment probation, nor close to retirement. The most common way to do this is simply to provide a copy of your employment contract, contrat du travail.
•    Agencies will often refuse people who work in contract fields such as entertainment unless they have a co-signer, garant, on the rental agreement. If you are self-employed, you will be asked to provide your previous year's tax returns and up to two letters from guarantors who must also prove monthly earnings of three times the rent.
•    If you have no French pay slips nor French tax return statements, you may be asked to open a bank account with enough cash to cover your rent for a pre-determined number of months.
•    Proof of identity in the form of a residence permit (occasionally a passport)
•    A bank-account slip, relevé d'identité bancaire (RIB), that shows all account information.
•    In most cases you will need a French bank account as payment will usually be demanded by autonomic monthly payment, prélèvement automatique.
•    If you have previously rented in France, you also be asked for a quittance de loyer, or document from your previous landlord showing that you left on good terms.
•    Finally, you will be asked for a deposit of two times or even three times the monthly rent, caution, which will be return to you at the end of the rental period with no interest and less the cost of repairing any damage to the property for which you are held responsible. It is not unheard of to also be asked to pay an additional one to three months rent in advance to insure against your leaving without notice.

Tony Tidswell / Expatica

Renting a home in France has been updated by Tony Tidswell who moved to France with his wife and their young family 20 years ago. He has been blogging about his life, living and working in France since 1996 at http://Twiku.com and his vacation business at http://VillaRoquette.com.


1 reaction to this article

Geoffrey AUCKLAND posted: 2010-02-11 11:00:00

An interesting and well documented arrticle but once again the question of insurance was ignored (or I didn't see it!). It is vital that the prospective tenant gets his insurance in place before signing the rental agreement - in fact he probably wont be able to sign without it. The insurance will cover his liability as tenant which is obligatory and his furniture and personal possessions as well as his general public liability which is also obligatory.

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1 reaction to this article

Geoffrey AUCKLAND posted: 2010-02-11 11:00:00

An interesting and well documented arrticle but once again the question of insurance was ignored (or I didn't see it!). It is vital that the prospective tenant gets his insurance in place before signing the rental agreement - in fact he probably wont be able to sign without it. The insurance will cover his liability as tenant which is obligatory and his furniture and personal possessions as well as his general public liability which is also obligatory.

Add a comment
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