The laws that govern a year-round tenancy, explained simply

The Act of 6 July 1989, the bedrock of every residential tenancy

The governing text is numbered 89-462 and dates from 6 July 1989. Its title announces its purpose: to improve relations between landlords and tenants. It amends an earlier act of 23 December 1986, and it remains the backbone of the residential tenancy. Every act mentioned below adds to it or corrects it.

This act sets the basic balance. It fixes the minimum length of a tenancy, the cases in which a landlord can take back a home, and the form that a notice to quit must take. It also frames the deposit, the guarantee and the documents an owner may ask for. So almost every tenant question finds its answer in this text or in its decrees.

How long a tenancy runs, by type of letting

The minimum length depends first on the type of letting. On an unfurnished tenancy, the term is at least three years where the landlord is an individual. It rises to six years where the landlord is a company, a property partnership for instance. A private individual letting in their own name therefore comes under the three-year tenancy.

There is one exception on an unfurnished tenancy. The tenancy can be granted for at least one year if the landlord plans to take the home back for a family or professional reason. The reason has to be stated at signing. So it is a tightly framed option, not something to improvise part-way through a tenancy.

On a furnished tenancy taken as a main home, the minimum length is one year. It drops to nine months for a student tenancy.

What is more, furnished lettings come under the same 1989 Act, in a part of their own. Letting furnished therefore never places a home outside that act.

At the end of its term, a residential tenancy is tacitly extended if neither side gives notice. On an unfurnished tenancy, it runs again for the same length as the original term. On a furnished tenancy, it runs again for one year. The tenant, for their part, can leave at any time by giving their notice period.

The landlord's notice to quit and its three grounds

A landlord does not give notice whenever they please. The law allows only three grounds: selling the home, taking it back to live in themselves or to house a close relative, and legitimate and serious cause. That last ground covers a breach by the tenant, for example, or a need on the owner's side such as major works. Outside these three cases, the tenancy continues.

Timing counts as much as the ground. On an unfurnished tenancy, notice must be given at least six months before the end of the term. On a furnished tenancy, the period is at least three months. Notice takes effect at the end of the term, not on the date it is sent.

The form is set too. Notice goes by recorded delivery letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by service through a judicial officer, or by hand against signature or receipt.

An electronic recorded delivery letter is accepted if the tenant has agreed to that method beforehand. A plain email therefore does not count as notice.

Two protections are worth knowing. A tenant over 65 on a modest income, or one housing a dependent elderly person, has their tenancy extended despite the notice. The landlord can only set that protection aside by offering a home that meets the tenant's needs within a radius of 5 km. Finally, where notice is given for a sale, the tenant has a right of first refusal that can be exercised within two months.

A landlord does not take back a home whenever they decide to: the law gives them three grounds, and nothing else.

The ALUR Act of 24 March 2014, the standard contract and the notice

The ALUR Act of 24 March 2014 standardised the tenancy agreement. Since then, the contract must be in writing and must follow a standard form set by regulation. That model applies to unfurnished lettings and to furnished main-home lettings alike. So drafting a tenancy on a blank sheet of paper is no longer an option.

The compulsory particulars are many, and easy to check. The tenancy agreement gives the identity of landlord and tenant, the term and the start date, the property's tax reference and the EPC rating. It also gives the habitable floor area, the estimated heating costs, and the amount and terms of the deposit and the service charges. Finally, it states the last rent paid by the previous tenant if that tenant left the home less than eighteen months earlier.

The habitable floor area is no formality. If it is missing, or overstated by more than 5%, the tenant can ask for a rent reduction. A careful measurement therefore protects both sides. It is a point we check home by home before every letting.

The tenant information notice completes the contract. It is one of the compulsory annexes, alongside the home insurance certificate. Its role is simple: to remind the tenant of their rights and obligations, without their having to look up the law. It is handed over at signing, with the rest of the file.

The ALUR Act also closed the list of documents a landlord may ask an applicant for. A decree of 5 November 2015 sets out that list, and it is exhaustive. Anything missing from it therefore cannot be required. Another article on this site covers the documents and the penalties in detail.

The inventory of condition and the annexes to the tenancy

The incoming inventory of condition, then the outgoing one, are among the compulsory annexes to the tenancy agreement. They describe the home room by room at the start and at the end of the letting. Comparing the two gives the reference for judging any damage. A precise inventory therefore heads off most disputes over the deposit.

Technical certificates go with the contract as well. The list includes the energy performance certificate, the report on the electrical and gas installations, the lead exposure risk report and the risks statement. An extract from the co-ownership rules is added where the home sits in a co-ownership. These papers are handed to the tenant, they do not stay in a drawer.

The ELAN Act of 23 November 2018 and the mobility lease

The ELAN Act of 23 November 2018 created a new contract, the mobility lease. It is a furnished tenancy of one to ten months, not renewable. It is aimed at people on the move for a while, in particular students, apprentices, interns and employees on assignment or in vocational training. It is governed by Title 1 ter of the Act of 6 July 1989.

The status is not presumed. The contract must expressly state that it is a mobility lease "governed by Title 1 ter of Act no. 89-462 of 6 July 1989". Without that wording, the mobility lease status does not apply. So the drafting of the contract has a direct effect here on the law that applies.

The home must be furnished within the meaning of the regulations.

The list covers bedding, cooking equipment, a fridge and enough crockery. It also covers a table, seating, storage and cleaning equipment suited to the home. A part-furnished home is therefore not a furnished home in the eyes of the law.

Two rules set this contract clearly apart. The deposit is banned on a mobility lease, and the landlord cannot ask for one. A guarantee, on the other hand, is still possible, so a guarantor can stand behind the tenant. The tenant, for their part, leaves on one month's notice.

One last rule is worth remembering. When a mobility lease ends, if landlord and tenant enter into a new contract on the same home, that contract is necessarily an ordinary residential tenancy. So it is not possible to run two mobility leases back to back on the same home. The tenant then regains the protections of the ordinary furnished tenancy.

The Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021

The Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021 added an energy performance condition to the definition of a decent home. The timetable has required consumption below 450 kWh of final energy per square metre per year since 1 January 2023. It then requires class F at minimum since 1 January 2025, class E on 1 January 2028, then class D on 1 January 2034. These thresholds apply in mainland France.

The same act froze rents on homes rated F and G from 24 August 2022, across the whole country. That freeze bars any increase, whether between two tenants, on renewal of the tenancy or through the annual indexation. It is a national rule, so it does not depend on whether the town is a designated high-demand area.

Another article on this site covers the timetable and the EPC calculation method in detail.

Why the Hoguet Act does not cover a landlord letting their own walls

The Hoguet Act is Act no. 70-9 of 2 January 1970. It governs the estate agency profession and requires a professional licence, a financial guarantee and professional indemnity insurance. The activities that need a licence are property transactions, property management, co-ownership management and the sale of property lists. The conditions of practice include professional competence, a financial guarantee of at least €30,000 for the first two years and €110,000 thereafter, and a written mandate from the client.

The scope is set out in Article 1. The text covers people who "habitually engage in, or lend their assistance to, even as a secondary activity, transactions involving the property of others".

Those transactions include the purchase, sale, search, exchange and letting of buildings. The Ministry of the Economy describes the estate agent, for its part, as an intermediary between two or more parties.

The consequence follows from that text, and we present it as such. A private landlord letting their own homes does not deal in the property of others, so they carry on no brokerage activity. No official page consulted writes that exclusion down in black and white, it follows from the wording of Article 1. This reasoning would be worth confirming with the ADIL du Var for a specific situation.

This point has a concrete meaning for a tenant. The cap on letting fees is a measure of the ALUR Act, implemented by Decree no. 2014-890 of 1 August 2014. It concerns only the fees charged by a professional. A landlord who meets applicants himself charges no letting fee at all.

What to remember, and where to check

Five texts, then, are enough to frame a year-round letting as at 12 September 2026. The Act of 6 July 1989 sets the bedrock, the ALUR Act of 24 March 2014 standardises the contract, the ELAN Act of 23 November 2018 creates the mobility lease. The Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021 adds energy performance to the definition of a decent home. The Hoguet Act of 2 January 1970, for its part, covers professionals who deal in the property of others.

At LOCAMAXIME, these rules translate into a simple way of working. We let our own homes, we meet applicants ourselves, and we charge no letting fee. The tenancy agreement follows the standard form, the inventory of condition is done with the tenant, and the annexes are handed over at signing. It is the legal framework applied without a middleman.

Finally, a word of caution is in order. Every situation has its own features, and an article is no substitute for looking at a file. For a specific case, service-public.gouv.fr publishes the official guidance, ANIL offers national legal information, and the ADIL du Var answers free of charge across the department. The law described here is the law as it stands on 12 September 2026.