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So you want to Airbnb your French property during the Olympics?

The 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and the 2024 Paris Olympics have got many people wondering about whether they could earn some extra cash renting out their homes to sports-mad tourists - but it's important not to fall foul or local rules on registration and taxes.

So you want to Airbnb your French property during the Olympics?
Renting out a property during the 2024 Paris Olympics could be a money-spinner - but there are things you need to know. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

There’s no doubt that both big sporting events have the potential to be a holiday-let money-spinner – especially the Olympics when 10 million people are expected to come to Paris during the Games.

If you own property in France – either a main home or second home – you are entitled to rent it out on a short let – whether that is arranged directly or via a rental platform such as Airbnb. But there are things you should know – such as whether you need to register with local authorities, and pay tax on your earnings.

Register your home with local authorities

Most towns and cities in France now have a registration procedure for any person who wants to rent out an entire property as furnished accommodation for tourists (as opposed to renting your spare room while you remain in the property).

Under French law, homeowners can sub-let their main residence as a short-term let for a maximum of 120 days a year and must seek permission from the local authority to do so. 

So anyone wishing to list their French property on Airbnb will likely need to first register it with the authorities and include it on your Airbnb listing before you start hosting – check with your mairie for the exact requirements in your area.

This procedure is free and only takes a few minutes to complete

NB: If you’re a tenant, you will need written permission from your landlord if you plan to sublet your rented property, otherwise, you’ll get into legal bother and could face a big fine, as well as being made to hand over any earnings to your landlord.

If you’re renting your property in Paris, you can’t legally sublet at all – this doesn’t mean that people don’t do it, of course, but be aware that if you’re renting something as a sublet you have very few rights since it’s likely an unofficial sublet. 

Likewise, if you live in social housing, furnished tourist rental is strictly forbidden: as well as financial penalties, you can have your rental contract terminated. So, don’t do it.

Second homes

A second home for Airbnb-registration purposes is classed a place where you live for less than four months a year. You can rent it all year long provided you’ve declared your rental activity to the city. Some cities and neighbourhoods require permission to use your secondary home as a tourist rental. You can get permission for change of use from your local city hall.

Some areas with a housing shortage have stricter local rules – for example it is illegal to offer a second home in Paris for rent on the popular site. Do so, and you risk a fine of €50,000 per room.

Renting a room

If you intend to rent out a room in your property while you remain on site, this is not considered “furnished tourist accommodation”.

You can therefore rent a room in your main residence without any time limit. But you should still register it with local authorities.

Local regulations

In fact, it is important to be aware of local rules, which may add additional layers of bureaucracy – Paris is particularly strict (Airbnb said it automatically limits rentals on its site to 120 days in central Paris and the government has announced plans to fine the site for publishing listings not properly registered with the local authorities). 

READ ALSO Paris ‘rent police’ crack down on illegal holiday lets in city

The Airbnb website has a handy breakdown of the rules for numerous French towns and cities, with links to local regulations here.

 

Taxable earnings

Income from renting property on Airbnb may be declarable and taxable as micro-BIC income – which means you’ll need to properly register your Airbnb ‘business’ and get a Siret number. Handily, Airbnb offers a guide to what taxes you need to consider if renting out a property in France. It’s here (pdf).

As a general rule, income from holiday letting your property should be declared for tax, but income from occasionally renting out part of your main residence is exempt from tax and does not have to be declared as long as the amount earned is less than €760 per year.

Don’t think, however, you can get away with not declaring your income. Airbnb sends rental details directly to the taxman, which will be cross-checked against your declarations. 

If you’re a second-home owner and live in another country you will likely not make the annual income tax declaration in France – however, if you start to earn money by Airbnb renting your property this means that you now have income in France, and may therefore have to begin making annual tax declarations in France.

READ ALSO Who has to fill in the annual French income tax declaration

Taxe de séjour

Income tax is not the end of it. Numerous French cities have an agreement with Airbnb to collect the tourist tax – taxe de séjour – which means that Airbnb properties in the capital are now classed under the rental category of furnished lets or meublés touristiques non-classés

That, in turn, means that Airbnb adds up to €4.40 per person per night to the cost of a stay. Taxe de séjour levels for towns and cities across France are available here, but this tax is dealt with entirely by Airbnb.

Added tax on second homes

Many areas popular with tourists are suffering from a housing shortage for locals. In a bid to combat this, a number of communes have taken advantage of a law that allows them to impose a surtaxe de la taxe d’habitation which can amount to an extra 60 percent on part of the tax.

READ ALSO Local authorities in France get power to crack down on Airbnb rentals

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PROPERTY

Why France is facing a ‘property crisis’

House-building in France has dropped to levels not seen since 2010, meanwhile prospective buyers face prohibitively expensive mortgages. Here's why industry experts are calling it a 'housing crisis'.

Why France is facing a 'property crisis'

French property sales are down by 15 percent when compared with 2022, while new-build sales dropped by 31.3 percent in 2022. 

Already, several French publications, such as Franceinfo and Les Echos, have begun referring to the situation as a crise de l’immobilier (real estate crisis).

Here is what is going on with France’s real estate market.

Building slowdown

Experts say that the slowdown in building new homes can be attributed to three factors; fewer building permits being issued (which may be connected to changes in property tax rules), the rising cost of building materials and tougher environmental legislation.

Permits – In the past year, there has been a 11.5 percent decrease in new building permits issued. Those in the construction industry, like Olivier Durix, the head of Bouygues Immobilier, say this is due to elected officials who refuse to award them and are opposed to new building projects.

Durix told Franceinfo that administrative appeals and petitions against the inconvenience caused by construction projects, such as noise, dust and unsightly equipment like cranes, have multiplied in recent years. By Durix’ estimation, this has pushed local officials to be more reticent in signing off on new building permits. 

However, mayors like Jean-Philippe Dugoin-Clément (mayor of Mennecy in Essone), disagree that mayors simply do not wish to issue more permits.

“There’s no longer any point in building because we have lost the crucial link between tax revenues and the arrival of new residents, who generate new expenses for the municipality,” Dugoin-Clément told Les Echos, referring to the gradual phasing out of the residency tax (taxe d’habitation). 

Taxe d’habitation was previously paid by all householders and the money raised funded local authorities. Now it is being phased out for all but second homes, although local authorities do still collect taxe foncière – which is paid by property owners.

There’s also an environmental aspect – parts of the Var département in southern France have issued a moratorium on new building projects, since the area’s drought is so bad they are struggling to supply water in summer to the properties that are already there.

As of May 16th, reservations for new building projects with real estate developers in France fell below the 20,000 mark, the lowest it has been since 2010, according to France’s Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Rising costs – Inflation has it all aspects of life, but building materials are particularly badly affected. The supply of building materials was disrupted by the pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine then affected the cost of certain raw materials.

Many people across France are opting to postpone building projects, while developers are facing even bigger problems due to spiralling costs.

For example, when taking an equivalent surface area, the cost of building a house in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, Vendée, jumped from €135,000 in January 2022 to €165,000 in January 2023, according to TF1.

In the past two years, the cost to install toilets has risen by 25 percent, and floor and wall tiles also went up by at least 25 percent. 

Environmental rules – Some members of the construction sector have also pointed to tougher environmental regulations (the ‘RE 2020’), which went into effect at the start of 2022, for playing a role in driving up construction costs.

The RE 2020 also introduced several new ceilings for CO2 emissions and energy consumption, which would take into account the lifetime of the building, starting with its construction.

A French government study found that the application of the RE 2020 on its own would increase construction costs by 3.4 percent for single-family homes. Nevertheless – the new regulations would improve energy efficiency, leading to savings of up to €200 per year, according to real estate site Bati-Web.

READ MORE: What you need to think about before buying that dream house in France

Mortgages

And while new houses are getting fewer, it’s also getting harder to get a mortgage, thanks to soaring interest rates.

The head of the Federation of Real Estate Developers, Pascal Boulanger, told AFP that the current situation is a “disaster” for those hoping to buy or build a first home are caught between rising construction costs and challenges with access to credit. 

With interest rates on the rise in France – going up from an average of 1.03 percent in October 2021 to over four percent as of May 2023 – and strict regulations for borrowing, qualifying for credit has become increasingly difficult for would-be home buyers.

READ ALSO How to get a mortgage in France

In order to meet the requirements, repayments – including insurance charges – must not exceed 35 percent of their income, and borrowers must take on a loan with a maximum of 25 years, or 27 years in certain cases.

Referencing access to credit, Boulanger, told Capital FR that: “These measures, which were taken at a time when demand for housing was strong and sustained, are proving to be totally counter-productive now that the market has turned around. It’s vital to reverse these decisions to avoid sinking further into the crisis.”

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of loans granted fell by 31.9 percent. According to the France’s central bank, the Banque de France, loan production reached its lowest level since 2015 in March 2023. These difficulties in accessing loans help to explain the fall in the number of real estate transactions, as well as a decrease in new home construction projects.

In response to the decrease in loans being issued, the Banque de France, began reviewing the usury rate each month to ease credit distribution, starting in February and set to continue until July 2023, instead of every three months as done previously. 

Despite this measure, the Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory released a report in April, noting that “the tightening of access to credit and the contraction of the banking supply are weighing on demand, which has been weakened by a loss in purchasing power and a rise in mortgage rates.

“Access to the market is therefore becoming more and more difficult,” explained the Crédit Logement/CSA Observatory to MoneyVox.

Slowdown

While it may be a good time to buy for those who can do so with cash, Robin Rivaton, real estate specialist for Le Figaro, called the situation could lead to a “social bomb”.

In particular, the slowdown in new home sales could lead to a shortage of rental accommodation, as households that would normally be able to purchase a home will continue renting.

The decrease in construction projects has also affected the availability of subsidised housing. Already, at the end of 2022, 2.4 million French households were still waiting to be placed in social housing. In 2022, only 95,000 approvals for the construction of new social housing, even though the French government had set a target of 125,000.

There is also concern over jobs in the construction industry at large – according to a report from French building federation, up to 100,000 jobs in the sector could be lost by 2024-2025 if trends continue.

The government says it intends to review mortgage rules, while President Emmanuel Macron addressed the subject on May 10th, saying that he planned to hold a conference for the concerned parties.

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