The pressure around Airbnb is increasing. Tuesday May 22, the Senate voted overwhelmingly for the “Le Meur law”aimed at more strongly regulating rentals via platforms such as Airbnb. Good news for the Minister for Housing, Guillaume Kasbarian, who welcomed the possibility given to cities to “set quotas” for new authorizations for furnished tourist accommodation.
Still nothing to rejoice in the city of Paris, which does not intend to use this lever. Without waiting for the promulgation of this law, the capital is already preparing its future arsenal to respond to the proliferation of Airbnbs.
Currently, more than 60,000 short-term rentals are registered with the town hall (read the box at the end of the article). To try to reduce this figure, drastic measures are on the agenda.
Slowdown for professional rental companies
Thanks to its next Local Urban Plan (PLU), the city intends to prohibit the creation of new furnished tourist accommodation in a large part of its territory. Thus, from IEast I.XIe district, as well as in the Montmartre sector (18the district), the transformation of residential, commercial or even warehouse premises into “furnished tourist accommodation” will be completely prohibited.
A real thorn in the side of investors. As for the rest of Paris, it will not be spared from tightening the screws: it will soon no longer be possible to transform offices into “tourist accommodation”, and therefore into Airbnb.
“Parisian regulations are by far the most restrictive in France, perhaps even in Europe,” says Ombeline Soulier Dugénie, associate lawyer at the Redlink firm. It’s going to be a real drag on Airbnb. » The ban should come into force at the end of 2024, after the vote on the new PLU at the Paris Council.
This measure mainly targets professional rental companies, accused by the municipality of depleting the stock of long-term rentals in favor of furnished tourist accommodation. According to a SeLoger study, the stock of Parisian apartments for rent has fallen by 74% in three years.
Individual owners will still be able to rent their main residence on the platforms, up to 120 days a year. “In principle, we are not against the idea of renting out our property when we go on vacation,” explains Barbara Gomes, Paris delegate advisor in charge of rental platforms. This has no impact on the availability of properties in the rental stock. »
A mixed reception for the new law
To hope to improve the supply of properties for rent, other tools will also soon be available to the City of Paris thanks to the “Le Meur law”. The elected communist of the 18th centuryewho “was impatiently awaiting this text”, however, did not hide his disappointment with the text coming from the Senate.
While the City of Paris was pushing to lower the maximum number of days for renting a main residence on a platform from 120 to 60 days, the National Assembly opted for a reduction to 90 days… before the senators removed totally this provision.
Barbara Gomes, on the other hand, applauds the doubling of the amount of fines for owners who illegally rent their second home for tourist purposes. The sanction should increase from 50,000 euros to 100,000 euros maximum. Before being promulgated, the law must still pass the stage of the Joint Joint Commission, the date of which is not yet known.
Current rules for furnished tourist accommodation in Paris
For a main residence, which must be registered with the City of Paris, the duration is a maximum of 120 days of rental.
For a second home, the owner must obtain a change of use and destination from the City. A very complex process.