What is the Alur law of 2014?
Summary of the Alur law
The Alur law (law for access to housing and renovated town planning) is intended to modernize and strengthen the legal framework for housing and town planning. Promulgated on March 24, 2014 at the instigation of the Minister of Housing Cécile Duflot, it aims to facilitate access to housing, to regulate abusive practices and to strengthen the rules applicable to lessors.
It is linked to planning tools such as the local housing program carried out by public intermunicipal cooperation establishments, particularly in urban renewal policies.
A reform of the real estate market
The Duflot law establishes a more legal framework transparent and balanced for all players in the real estate sector. It regulates relations between owners and tenants, reforms the management of co-ownerships, strengthens obligations linked to safety rules (generalization of smoke detectors) and fights against substandard housing.
What are the central objectives of the Alur law?
The Alur law nevertheless introduces several structuring measures aimed at private housing, the main residence, the fight against substandard housing and the practices of slumlords, while participating in the development of the housing supply.
Supervise relations between owners and tenants
The primary objective of the Alur law is to clarify and regulate relationships between landlords and tenants, in order to limit contractual imbalances. It establishes a standard lease contractspecifies the conditions of the notice period, regulates the setting of the rent and requires the submission of strictly defined supporting documents in order to limit abuse.
Fight against excessive rents in tense areas
In order to respond to the tensions observed in certain real estate markets, the Alur law introduced a mechanism ofrent control in so-called tense areas. This system, now regulated by the ELAN Law, is based on the setting of reference rents, intended to prevent excessive increases when renting or renewing leases.
Even if its application was restricted subsequently, this measure reflects the legislator’s desire to regulate the inflationary effects of the rental market.
Strengthen tenant protection
The Alur law strengthens the protection of tenants against abusive evictionsparticularly during the winter break, improves information on the state of housing, requires the production of an energy performance diagnosis and actively fights against substandard housing, particularly that operated by slumlords.
Improving transparency and management of co-ownerships
The text imposes a standard contract for trustees, regulate their fees and strengthens financial transparency obligations. It also provides for better information for co-owners (provision of documents on a dedicated website) and more rigorous management of buildings.
Simplify and adapt town planning rules
The Alur law aims to modernize and simplify town planning rules for promote construction of housing. It seeks to limit certain regulatory blockages, to combat land retention and to encourage more rational use of land.
This adaptation aims to develop the housing supply, in line with local policies carried out by local authorities and public cooperation establishments.
Is the Alur law mandatory?
The Alur law is obligatory to the persons and entities it targets, under the conditions provided for by the law and its implementing decrees, published in Official Journal. This means that the rules it establishes must be respected by the tenants, landlords, real estate agencies, co-owners and professionals concerned.
In which cities does the Alur housing law apply?
A national application for general rules
The Alur law applies throughout France for all its general provisions. This concerns the standard lease contract, the lessor’s information obligations, the limitation of real estate agency fees, the rules relating to the security deposit, the notice period and even the management of co-ownerships.
A territorialized application for rent control
On the other hand, the most emblematic measure of the Alur law, the rent control, only applies in tense areas and having obtained authorization from the State as part of an experiment provided for by the ELAN law. It therefore does not automatically apply to all municipalities.
Cities affected by rent control
Thus, rent control is in force, notably in Paris, Lille (as well as Hellemmes and Lomme), Lyon and Villeurbanne, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, as well as in several areas of Île-de-France, such as Plaine Commune and Est Ensemble, and in certain municipalities in the Basque Country. These perimeters are defined by prefectural decrees.
Who can benefit from the Alur law?
The Alur law is aimed at all players in the real estate market (tenants, owners, landlords, trustees, agencies).
The tenants : main beneficiaries of the Alur law
The Alur law significantly strengthens the rights of tenants in the context of rental relations. It imposes stricter information obligations and better organizes the rules for setting and changing rents in tense areas. This law also introduces provisions facilitating the reduced notice.
People in precarious situations or looking for housing
The Alur law contains measures intended to facilitate access to housing for people in precarious situations. It aims to fight against unworthy offers and to develop guarantees and assistance systems, in order to reduce obstacles to access to housing for vulnerable groups.
Owners and lessors: increased protections and obligations
Even if the Alur law is often perceived as favorable to tenants, it is also aimed at owners and landlords by clarifying their obligations and introducing protections. It also strengthens the liability of the lessor in the provision of decent and compliant housing.
Co-ownerships and property management players
The Alur law reformed the framework of co-ownership and the missions of the professionals who manage it. It imposes a increased transparency on documents, better organization of general meetings, as well as precise rules for trustees (contracts, remuneration, information obligations).
What work is affected by the Alur law?
Work related to decent housing
The Alur law reinforces the requirement for decent accommodation. This concerns the work necessary to guarantee safety, health and minimal comfort (heating, electrical installation, waterproofing, ventilation, absence of health risks). When the accommodation does not meet these criteria, the lessor is required to carry out the work before or during the rental.
Joint ownership work
The Alur law profoundly modifies the work regime in co-ownerships. It concerns in particular:
- THE maintenance and conservation work of the building;
- improvement works, in particular those linked to energy performance;
- the work voted on by the general meeting of co-owners.
It also imposes a better work planningvia the global technical diagnosis (DTG) and the obligatory works fund, in order to anticipate the future needs of the building.
Energy improvement work
Even if energy obligations have been reinforced by subsequent texts, the Alur law constitutes a founding stage. It promotes work aimed at improving the insulation, heating or overall performance of collective buildings, by facilitating their voting in co-ownership.
Work carried out by the lessor or tenant
The Alur law clarifies the distribution of responsibilities between lessor and tenant:
- The lessor remains responsible for major works, repairs linked to dilapidation and bringing the accommodation up to standard.
- The tenant remains responsible for rental repairs and routine maintenance, within the limits set by decree.
This clarification aims to reduce disputes and legally secure the rental relationship.
The main concrete measures introduced by the Alur law
A compulsory lease contract model for empty rentals
The first major practical change, the Alur law introduced a model lease contract for empty rentals whose contract was signed after March 27, 2014. This standard lease imposes a certain number of obligatory informationintended to improve transparency and secure relations between owners and tenants.
It is possible to find all the information to be included in the lease according to its date of signature on the official website of the French administration.
Guarantee for unpaid rent: from the GUL to Visale
Emblematic measure, the Universal rent guarantee (GUL) was to compensate owners in the event of unpaid rent from January 1, 2016. However, the government has decided not to publish its implementing decree, in particular due to the reluctance expressed by insurers.
The GUL was replaced by the device Visale (Visa for housing and employment), a more targeted guarantee, reserved for landlords renting to young people under 30 or to employees in a precarious professional situation. This guarantee covers unpaid rent up to a limit of 1,300 euros per month, increased to 1,500 euros in Île-de-France.
The creation of a standard trustee contract in co-ownership
Like the standard lease, the Alur law established a standard trustee contractthe mandatory information for which is set by Decree No. 2015-342 of March 26, 2015. The reform also strengthens the obligations of trustees: they must now have a separate bank account for each co-ownership and ensure more complete information for the co-owners.
New mandatory documents given to the tenant
The lessor must give the tenant, when signing the lease, a information leaflet detailing the rights and obligations of each party. For contracts concluded since January 1, 2018, the owner must also provide diagnostics relating to gas and electricity installations when they are more than 15 years old.
This obligation has applied since July 1, 2017 for housing located in collective buildings built before 1975.
>> Our service – Save money by testing our home insurance comparator
