France: rental market overview

French residential tenancies for an unfurnished, primary-residence rental are governed by the tenancy law of 6 July 1989 and its implementing decrees. Since 2015, every such lease must use the official state contract model set out in Decree No. 2015-587 — a landlord cannot simply draft their own wording for the core clauses.

The standard term is three years, running from the agreed start date to the agreed end date, and it renews automatically (tacit reconduction) unless either party gives notice. The tenant may leave at any time with three months' notice, cut to one month in a designated tight-market zone (zone tendue) or in other cases set by law. The landlord, by contrast, may only end the lease at its term, with six months' notice and a legitimate, serious reason — recovering the home for personal use, selling it, or another motif légitime recognised by the law.

Rent is reviewed once a year against the reference rent index (indice de référence des loyers, IRL) published by INSEE, where the lease provides for it. In cities with rent control (encadrement des loyers), the agreed rent must also respect the applicable capped reference rent. Crucially, no rent revision or indexation may apply at all while the dwelling is rated F or G on its energy performance certificate (DPE) — the rent stays frozen until the landlord improves the rating.

Before signing, the landlord must attach a set of mandatory diagnostics to the lease: the DPE itself, the état des risques (natural and technological risk statement) and, for older buildings, the CREP lead survey plus gas and electrical inspections. Missing documents can undermine the lease.

The security deposit (dépôt de garantie) is capped by law at one month's rent excluding charges for an unfurnished let — the Brokik contract template enforces this ceiling directly in its clauses. It cannot be used by the tenant to cover rent or charges during the tenancy, and it does not earn interest for the tenant.

After the tenant moves out, the landlord has one month to return the deposit if the exit inventory (état des lieux de sortie) matches the entry one, or two months if it shows damage, counted from the day the keys are handed back — minus any justified sums owed. Miss that deadline and the balance still owed to the tenant is increased by 10% of the monthly rent (excluding charges) for every month of delay that begins.

Termination works asymmetrically by design. The tenant can give notice at any time during the three-year term, with three months' notice as the default — shortened to one month in a zone tendue or in the other statutory cases (job loss, first job, transfer, health grounds, etc.).

The landlord can only act at the end of the three-year term, giving six months' notice and stating one of the law's legitimate, serious grounds: reprise (taking the home back to live in or house a close relative), vente (selling with vacant possession), or another motif légitime such as repeated serious breach. A notice without one of these grounds, or served too early, has no effect and the lease renews by tacit reconduction.

The law also voids, outright, any clause that would let the landlord charge a penalty, fine or rent increase for late payment — the landlord's only recourse for unpaid rent is the legal process (commandement de payer, then the resolutory clause in court).

The état des lieux (move-in/move-out inventory) is a mandatory, not optional, part of a French tenancy. It is drawn up jointly ("contradictoirement") and in writing at the handover of keys, and it describes the dwelling, its equipment and the meter readings; it is annexed to the lease itself.

At move-out, a second état des lieux is prepared the same way. Comparing the two is the legal basis for charging the tenant for damage beyond normal wear and tear — without a proper entry inventory, the landlord has essentially no way to prove the dwelling's original condition, and by law the tenant is presumed to have received it in good repair.

Day-to-day upkeep and minor repairs (réparations locatives, defined by decree) fall to the tenant, who must also report the need for any bigger repair to the landlord without delay. The landlord, in turn, is responsible for major repairs and for keeping the fixtures and equipment listed in the lease in working order.

Two protections are guaranteed by law and cannot be contracted away: the tenant may keep a pet (any lease clause forbidding it is void, under the law of 9 July 1970), and no smoking ban can be imposed either — the rented dwelling is the tenant's private home. The tenant remains liable, of course, for any smoking-related damage found at the exit inventory. Subletting or assigning the lease always requires the landlord's prior written consent.