Rental in tense zone: how to find yourself in the rules for the management of rents?

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Experimentation in the caps of rents, supervision of rents to relocation … Do you lose your Latin? Baptiste Bochart, lawyer at JédéclaremonMeUplé.com, offers an overview of the rules relating to rent in the municipalities located in a tense area, where the demand for housing is much higher than the offer.

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Rental in tense zone: how to find yourself in the rules for the management of rents?

In recent years, the municipalities located in a stretched area have been able to apply a rule of rent supervision, very often at the origin of debates, and which could soon be called into question. However, the ceiling on rents is not the only rule relating to the amount of rent applicable in a tense area, sometimes contributing to the birth of many doubts among owners. Overview of the Rental Rules in the municipalities located in a tense area.

The rent cap

This is certainly the most famous rent management measure, and which is also the most speaking. Introduced by the 2018 ELAN law, the caption of rents, regulations that the municipalities located in a tense area have the possibility of setting up, without this being mandatory, aims to control the rental prices set by housing owners, empty or furnished.

If applied, this measure takes the form of a scale which fixes a maximum amount of rent per square meter of living space, thus capping the rental price of the goods. Be careful however, there is not a unique scale by municipality, and the prices vary according to several factors, such as the year of construction of the building, the district in which it is, or the rental mode practiced, since the scales are different for empty rental and furnished rental, with an advantage for the second which has higher ceilings. These scales are often easily available on the website of municipalities that have implemented this regulation.

This measure nevertheless opens the door to a few exceptions or adaptations. Thus, certain dwellings are not concerned, such as those subject to the law of 1948, approved by the ANAH, social housing, or even tourist rentals, for which the price to the night can be fixed freely. In addition, if the rented accommodation has certain characteristics of comfort or a particularly advantageous location, it is possible to set up an additional rent. But beware, it is better to check twice before claiming the possibility of setting up such a supplement, as this could then be called into question, especially since, since 2022, the latter can no longer be requested for low standing housing or thermal colanders (DPE G and F).

Finally, it should be recalled that the capacity of the rent of rents does not question the possibility, for donors who have rented their property under a long -term lease as a principal residence, to proceed to the revision of the rent annually. Indeed, even if the revised amount then exceeds the theoretical ceiling, compliance with the ceiling of rent is appreciated with regard to the price set at the time of the establishment of the contract, and not at the time of any revisions.

Supervision of rents to relocation

If the cap of rents is a measure made available to the municipalities located in a tense zone, which can therefore choose, or not, to use it, the supervision of rents at the relocation concerns all the municipalities located in a tense area, the list of which is fixed by the decree of August 25, 2023.

The supervision of rents at the relocation requires donors not to change the price of rent between two tenants, that of the new tenant who is therefore to correspond to that applied to the former tenant.

However, as for the caps of rents, some exceptions exist. Thus, in the event that the last tenant has left accommodation for more than 18 months, the one where the last rent was obviously undervalued, or if important work has recently been carried out in the property, the rent may be modified. But beware, caution will still be in order, because the lessor will not necessarily have total freedom. For example, an owner who has set an undervalued rent will not directly align the new rent on market prices, since the increase cannot be greater than half of the difference between the normal market price and the rent paid by the former tenant. It will therefore be necessary to redouble attention in the event of a rental to a family member or to a friend for a more modest price, because, if the accommodation is located in a tense area, bring the rent back to the market after the tenant’s departure could request several successive rental.

Are all rental modes concerned?

Empty rental and furnished rental are both affected by these measures, with however some nuances on the side of the furnished rental. Indeed, since the empty rental allows only the rental as a main residence, all the rented goods will be affected. For furnished rentals, the property rented under a long -term furnished lease as a principal residence, a student lease, or even a mobility lease will be affected. Seasonal rentals and those made as part of a civil code lease are therefore not impacted, but be careful for the former, the municipalities located in a tense area are also likely to have demanding regulations with regard to the practice of a short-term rental activity.