Housing is considered decent if it meets a minimum of security, comfort and health criteria. French legislation imposes strict rules on landlords to guarantee the well-being and safety of tenants. Definition, law and criteria, here is everything you need to know about the decency of rental properties.
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What is decent housing?
Decency of housing: definition
Decent housing is property suitable for rental, free from apparent risks to the physical safety and health of the occupants. Its equipment must allow living there in normal conditions. It must also meet specific criteria in terms of safety and health, while being energy efficient.
Law of July 6, 1989
The housing lease contract governed by Law No. 89-462 of July 6, 1989 must respect the standards of decency as set by Decree No. 2002-120 of January 30, 2002.
What are the criteria taken into account to determine the decency of housing?
French legislation imposes strict criteria on landlords to guarantee the well-being and safety of occupants. They relate to:
- The surface area of the accommodation
- Its energy performance
- Its equipment, which must ensure the safety and health of the tenant
- The absence of pests of all kinds.
Let us see in detail all of these characteristics defining decent housing.
Protected tenant: definition, conditions and termination of the lease
What surface area should a property offered for rental be?
First of all, the surface area. In accordance with the provisions of article R. 111-2 of the Construction and Housing Code, to be decent, housing must be either:
- With a living area of at least 9 m² and a ceiling height of at least 2.20 m
- With a habitable volume of at least 20 m³
If the accommodation offered for rental does not meet one of these two criteria, it cannot be considered decent.
What energy performance must a home obtain to be rented?
Limited energy consumption
The decency of housing is also assessed from the point of view of its energy consumption. There is a recent evolution of standards in this area, linked to the question of energy performance diagnosis. Thus, since 2023, rental housing must consume less than 450 kWh of final energy per m2 of living space per year. However, it is the energy performance diagnosis which specifies the consumption of a home per m2.
Minimum energy performance from 2025
The legislation provides for a move towards more restrictive criteria while giving landlords time to adapt. Depending on the condition of the housing concerned, they will need to have energy renovation work carried out in order to bring them into compliance with decency standards, which involves changing the energy class of the DPE. So :
- From 2025, the accommodation rented must belong to classes A to F of the DPE
- From 2028, housing must belong to classes A to E
- From 2034, housing must meet the criteria of categories A to D of the energy performance diagnosis.
Good to know : both new leases and tacit renewals and renewals are affected by the new energy decency criteria.
>> Our service – Energy renovation: calculate the amount of your aid (MaPrimeRénov’, CEE, etc.) and find the right craftsman for your work
What conditions must the rental property meet to ensure the safety and health of the tenant?
To ensure the health and safety of the tenant, the rental property must meet a certain number of conditions.
The accommodation must provide enclosure and cover
This means that the structural work, the building which houses the accommodation must be in good condition. It must be solid, protect the tenant against runoff water thanks to a covering (roof) and suitable exterior joinery. Likewise, the tenant must be protected against rising water through the ground and infiltration.
The accommodation must have secure equipment
Thus, the guardrails of windows and balconies, loggias and staircases in the accommodation must guarantee the safety of the occupants and be in good condition. Heating equipment, hot water production, electricity and gas networks comply with current technical standards.
The accommodation must be provided with protection against infiltration and drafts
The accommodation must:
- guarantee the tightness of doors, windows, walls and partitions,
- be equipped with chimneys with ventilation hatches,
- be sufficiently ventilated with ventilation devices in good condition,
- allow moisture to escape.
In addition, the main rooms of the accommodation, living room and bedrooms, must have natural lighting and an opening opening to the open air.
Housing materials and coverings must be healthy
The materials and coverings located in the accommodation must not present risks to the health of the occupants (lead paint, asbestos, etc.)
These conditions are cumulative. If one of these is lacking, the accommodation may be considered substandard.
Water leak: who must pay, tenant or owner?
What are the mandatory amenities of decent housing?
As we have just seen, the conditions for decent housing are numerous. They materially translate into a certain number of equipment made compulsory within the accommodation.
Drinking and sanitary water installation
The rental accommodation must have an installation ensuring the supply of drinking water (with sufficient flow for the normal use of tenants) and wastewater evacuation with a siphon preventing the rise of odors.
An indoor sanitary installation with WC separate from the kitchen and the dining room is also necessary. As well as an installation aimed at personal hygiene (bath or shower) allowing personal privacy with hot and cold water and waste water evacuation.
Good to know : in the case of a single-room dwelling, the WC can be located outside the dwelling provided it is located in the same building and remains accessible.
Kitchen
The property must contain a kitchen or kitchen area with the possibility of installing a cooking appliance, a sink connected to a hot and cold water installation and a waste water installation (in other words, a functional sink with drainage).
Functional electrical network and heating
A functional electrical network allowing lighting in all rooms, including access to housing and allowing the operation of usual household appliances in the context of daily life, is mandatory.
Finally, the accommodation must be equipped with an installation allowing functional heating adapted to the accommodation with energy supply and evacuation of combustion products.
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What to do in the event of indecent housing?
Inform the landlord by registered letter
The tenant who notices that his accommodation is not decent must notify his landlord. The best way to do this is to write to him, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, in order to report the shortcomings noted and the nature of the work to be undertaken.
Take legal action before the court
Upon receipt of the mail, the owner must undertake the necessary work. If he refuses, the tenant must contact the judicial court where the accommodation is located in order to compel him.
The judge will be able to force the lessor to carry out the work and decide to reduce the amount of the rent (or even to suspend it) until what is necessary has been done to make the accommodation decent.
Good to know : a conciliation procedure remains a possible option via referral to the departmental conciliation commission.
Submit a report on Histologe.gouv.fr
The tenant can report substandard housing via Histologe, the government’s dedicated platform. The report will then be transmitted to the appropriate administration (ADIL, the town hall, the CAF, etc.). Then, the tenant will be supported in his procedures.
Is subletting a home legal?
How to prove the non-decency of housing?
In this matter, proof is free. However, to be certain of winning the case in court, the tenant has an interest in securing the services of a court commissioner (former bailiff) who will draw up a report of findings concerning the breaches. to decency. This document, produced in court, is difficult to challenge. In all cases, it will be necessary to be able to demonstrate that the accommodation does not meet all of the conditions mentioned above (surface area, installations, equipment, etc.).
How to declare unsanitary housing?
If the danger to the safety and health of tenants is worrying, we must take action. It is possible to report housing as unsanitary to public authorities. Unsanitary conditions are a procedure that falls within the jurisdiction of the administrative authority. It is undertaken either through the ARS (regional health agencies) or via the municipal hygiene and health service.
These two authorities can issue a report on which the prefect can issue an unsanitary order. Also, you must contact these various authorities in order to request their inspection visit to the places concerned.
Tenant: how to give notice to your landlord?
What are the penalties for non-compliant housing?
Suspension of rent
In the event of accommodation not complying with standards of decency, the lessor may be required to carry out the work necessary to bring it into compliance. He can be sentenced to penalty (obligation to pay a given sum per day until he has started the work). Rent payment may also be partially or completely suspended.
Compensation for the benefit of the tenant
These sanctions are not exclusive of other compensation for the damage suffered by the tenant(s) of the accommodation. In other words, it is better for the lessor to bring the accommodation into compliance without delay in order to limit the damage to the occupants.
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