We get this question a lot from readers outside France: they’ve read a rental guide online, done all the right preparation, and then discover on arrival that half of it doesn’t apply here. It’s an honest mistake, most of what circulates in English about renting was written with an American reader in mind, credit scores, state laws, security deposit rules that simply don’t exist on this side of the Atlantic.
So here’s the version we wish someone had handed us when we first rented in France: the regulations that actually govern an apartment lease here, whether you’re the tenant or, like us, occasionally the landlord.
French rental law rests mainly on the loi du 6 juillet 1989, which fixes the lease type, the deposit ceiling, the notice periods and the documents a landlord is allowed to request. Add to that mandatory tenant insurance and, for short-term lets, a mairie registration number, and you have the four pillars that matter most.
In this guide:
- The lease itself, and what by law it must contain
- Deposit and notice rules for unfurnished versus furnished flats
- Tenant rights, and the mandatory insurance most newcomers forget
- Which documents a landlord legally cannot ask you for
The lease: your one legally binding reference
A French rental agreement (bail d’habitation) is governed by the loi du 6 juillet 1989 for classic residential leases. It must state the rent, whether charges are included, the lease duration, and the conditions for renewing or ending it. Three lease types coexist, and they behave quite differently.
| Lease type | Standard duration | Deposit cap |
|---|---|---|
| Unfurnished (bail vide) | 3 years | 1 month’s rent |
| Furnished (bail meublé) | 1 year | 2 months’ rent |
| Mobility lease (bail mobilité) | 1 to 10 months, no renewal | No deposit allowed |
Figures from the loi du 6 juillet 1989 and the loi ALUR of 2014, in force as of 2025-2026.
Notice periods: shorter than most newcomers expect
A tenant leaving an unfurnished flat generally owes three months’ notice, reduced to one month if the property sits in a “zone tendue”, the list of roughly 1,150 tight-rental-market communes that includes Nice and most of the Côte d’Azur. Furnished leases are simpler: notice is always one month, regardless of location. On the landlord’s side, ending a lease at renewal requires far more justification and a much longer notice, which is one reason long-term unfurnished leases favour tenants more than landlords often expect.
Rights you have, and one obligation people forget
Tenants are entitled to a decent, safe home, and since the DPE energy reforms, rents can no longer be raised on properties rated F or G under an encadrement des loyers zone, Nice among them as of the 2025 decree extending rent control there. Landlords must also give reasonable notice, in practice at least 24 hours, before entering the property outside an emergency.
What surprises almost every newcomer we talk to: home insurance is compulsory for tenants in France, not a nice-to-have. The loi du 6 juillet 1989 requires proof of a policy covering at least fire, water damage and explosion risk, handed to the landlord at key handover and again yearly on request. Skip it, and a landlord can subscribe a policy for you and bill it back with a 10% markup.
Documents a landlord cannot legally ask for
The loi ALUR sets a closed list of documents allowed in a rental application, and anything outside it is, strictly speaking, illegal to request. We’ve seen landlords ask for a bank statement out of habit rather than malice, but it doesn’t make it lawful.
- A criminal record extract
- A bank statement or RIB showing your spending habits
- A photograph of you
- Anything revealing marital status, religion or health information
A landlord who insists on one of these risks a fine between 3,000 € and 15,000 €. Knowing this list protects tenants just as much as it protects landlords from accidentally overstepping.
Short-term and seasonal lets: the registration rule
If you’re renting out (or renting) a meublé de tourisme on the Riviera, a further layer applies: since the loi Le Meur-Echaniz of November 2024, every seasonal furnished rental needs a mairie registration number, which must appear on any listing, online or otherwise. The rule became applicable from 31 March 2025, with a national registry due by May 2026. This is squarely a professional and municipal compliance matter, we mention it here because so many of our readers ask, not because we manage seasonal lets ourselves.
We’re two enthusiasts sharing what we’ve learned as tenants and occasional landlords, not legal professionals. For a lease that doesn’t quite match this general picture, ANIL (the independent housing information network) answers questions for free, and a local notaire remains the safest word on anything contractual.
Since furnished and unfurnished leases carry different obligations for both sides, our comparison of furnished and unfurnished rentals is a natural next read, and the landlord’s specific duties are detailed in our article on landlord and tenant obligations.
Published July 2026.