Faced with the housing crisis, the proposed law on the rental of furnished tourist accommodation examined by the Senate

Adopted by deputies last January, the bill aims to strengthen the rules and controls.

Will the rules for offering tourist rental accommodation be further strengthened? The Senate is examining a bill on Tuesday, May 21, to try to alleviate the housing crisis. Mayors of very touristy areas, such as Brittany or the South-West, deplore the growing difficulties of their inhabitants in finding accommodation, because more and more apartments and houses are being put up for short-term rental on sites like Airbnb . The transpartisan text arriving in the Senate has already been adopted at first reading in the National Assembly. It aims in particular to provide a toolbox to these elected officials to strengthen the rules and controls.

This text first provides for a better census of tourist rentals. If it is adopted, all owners will have to register their furnished accommodation on a dedicated national platform. So far, this statement only concerns a few cities. With this expansion, local elected officials will have access to rental data on their territory. This should allow better control of these tourist rentals, as is already done for hotels or campsites.

“Let’s find the right measures, let’s target them, and in particular let’s target them at potential speculators.”

Clément Eulry, director of Airbnb in France and Europe

on franceinfo

Mayors will also be able to limit the number of days during which an owner is authorized to rent their main residence. The national limit is set at 120 days per year maximum. With this law, elected officials could cap this limit at 90 days. But this provision is contested by the director of Airbnb in France and Belgium, Clément Eulry, guest of franceinfo on Tuesday: “When we limit the number of days during which a main residence can be rented, we can see that this will have no impact on housing. No housing will be released. On the other hand, this will attack purchasing power of the French and the tourist reception Today, there are a million furnished tourist rentals in France, more than 9 out of 10 of these accommodations are rented occasionally. They are main residences or family homes. The parliamentarians who support the text respond that on the contrary, the cap will be relevant to limit fraud on primary residences.

The other flagship measure of the bill targets advantageous taxation on these tourist rentals, what is called the “AirBnb tax niche”. Owners who rent short-term benefit from a 50% reduction, if rental income does not exceed a certain threshold. In rare cases, this reduction can rise to 71%. This is a much more advantageous tax than that on unfurnished housing.

The parliamentarians behind the text denounce an injustice. Among them, Iñaki Echaniz, socialist deputy for Pyrénées-Atlantiques, guest of franceinfo on Tuesday: “Someone who rents year-round to residents who support the areas, schools, local businesses, only has a 30% reduction. Whereas someone who rents for much more and participate in a form of speculation, he will have 71% reduction He will not participate in the collective effort So today, it is a measure of tax justice and I hope that it will encourage the owners. to do long-term rental because today our territories are empty.”

“This is a measure that will rebalance taxation.”

Iñaki Echaniz, socialist deputy for Pyrénées-Atlantiques

on franceinfo

But, on this issue, there is a legislative imbroglio: the niche has already been removed, in the finance law for 2024, against the advice of the government. And Bercy would like to deal with taxation during the debates on the next budget, for 2025, and not before the Senate during the examination of the bill.