Deputy Mayor of Paris, Ian Brossat and the Mayor Anne Hidalgo, waged war on vacation short term rental platforms such as Airbnb last year, suggesting that they’re turning the city of Paris into an ‘open-air museum’, reserved purely for tourists. But jus not last year, the key gripe was the amount of Airbnb hosts advertising on the short term rental apartment platforms that weren’t registered with the city, and therefore breaking the french law made by french government.
Every property offering a short-term rental apartment in the city of Paris on a complete house or fully equipped apartment must register with Paris City Hall. Only then are they able to display a unique registration number on any of their site listings to show they’re operating within the legal structure.
Thousands of Paris homes are unregistered despite City regulations
It appears that there are over a thousand homes, which includes family home, on Airbnb alone that aren’t registered with the City. The registration allows the authorities to monitor property usage, and when owners and investors break the short-term parisian apartments regulations. The regulations and registration allow the authorities to see which Airbnb hosts are merely making a few extra Euros each year by letting a property that’s temporarily not in use or unoccupied, and those who are operating as a business. Airbnb replied saying that they have implemented systems to respect the rules of the City. The hotels and industry accommodation suppliers are feeling the pinch of what the short-term rental sites have brought to the table.
Paris’s short-term rental registration
As one of the most visited and popular tourist destinations in the world, you can understand the City’s efforts to achieve a fair market place. So far, they’ve endeavoured to provide healthy and responsible options for residents, renters, and tourism professionals alike.
It’s also Airbnb’s biggest market city centre. It leapt from a few thousand listings to over 40,000. Then in 2019, the figures jumped to 60,000 in a single year. You can understand why the city of Paris authorities have chosen to make a beeline straight to this home sharing platform and the others just like them. To keep track of all operations, the City requests that all rental facilities, whatever their operational size, are transparent to the authorities.
It’s a simple process, designed to keep things nice and easy for those who are playing by the rules.
1. Visit the Paris City Hall website to register your property
2. Create an account (or sign in to an existing account), and complete the online declaration
3. You will be sent an email receipt that includes your 13-digit registration number
4. Enter your 13-digit registration number in the relevant section of your account on any of the short-term rental sites where your property is advertised for lettings
It really couldn’t be much simpler for short term rentals in the rental market.
What are the short-term rental regulations for Paris?
In October 2017, the authorities put this registration system in place on short-term rentals in Paris of entire houses and furnished apartments in Paris. It was intended to keep a track on tourism accommodation that was outside of the typical hotel and bed and breakfast business models. For those simply renting out a single room with, maybe, just 1 bedroom of their home, the registration wasn’t necessary. The underlying purpose was to keep a check on what they considered business operations disguising themselves as private property owners. The authorities were happy to allow residents to make a little extra income from their existing property, but not from letting a short term rental furnished apartment each and every month, year-after-year. The registration is simple and you are not required to provide proof or documentation. It is, merely, a declaration of intent that offers operational transparency. Owners will have to register each property individually. So those with more than one property will need to make the appropriate registration number of registrations.
Categorisation
There are a selection of categories that your Paris property can fall into.
· Primary residence A property that owners live in for at least 8 months each year.
· Secondary residences A property that the owner lives in for less than 4 months of each year. For example, a holiday second home or a pied-à-terre
· Non- residential space A property dedicated to providing shared accommodation to tourists and business travellers during their trips. For example, hotels, bed and breakfasts and serviced and furnished apartments
The 120-nights per year limit for a primary residences
Is Paris Short-Term Rentals Illegal in a primary residence on a home sharing platform? Well, there is a limit of 120 days per year that hosts are permitted to let their primary residence under short-term rental agreements.
For hosts planning to let a property for more nights each year than this, the authorities consider it as business use and will require a change of use or destination.
Change of use and compensation
For owners opting for a change of use, from residential to commercial, then a compensation rule has now come into effect. There are a range of other rules and regulations to follow regarding short term rentals in Paris. Where the use of the property is changed, an area of commercial and residential space of the same surface area must be purchased and converted into a residential property. For more information and legislation about compensation properties, you should contact the charge of Housing Department at Paris City Hall.
Change of destination
A change of destination is the act of converting short term rental or non-rental premises (e.g., shops, offices, etc.) to tourist accommodation. Again, full information is available from Paris City Hall. Contact the Housing Department for further details.
Exceptions to the Paris 120 days limit
There are exceptions to every rule, and the 120 days limit per year in Paris is no exception.
The rules for those who own secondar homes are more restrictive. In order to rent a furnished property for less than a year to travellers, owners must apply to local authorities for permission to change the registered use of the space.
Professional hosts
Many professional hosts, operating clearly as a commercial manager of multiple fully equipped apartments or furnished studios, will sidestep the limit on all of their properties. This is an area where using a professional company to let your property, such as UpperKey, offers a way of avoiding all the legal confusion and cutting out the paperwork—more so than ever when letting your properties in Paris.
Absence due to health or business—or matters beyond your control
You could be entitled to rent out your primary residence for the average rent if you’ve been away from the accommodation for over 4 months of the year, due to health or professional reasons, or a force majeure.
Letting for periods of over 90 days
If you only rent out your property for a short term of over 90 days so just few months, then the limit may be lifted.
The “bail mobilité” scheme
This flexible agreement is provided for a short-term rental in Paris of 1 to 10 months, for professionals, students, apprentices and more, looking for somewhere to stay during their placement.
Suggested areas of tenancy applicable for the scheme include those in:
· Vocation training
· Higher education
· Apprenticeships
· Internships
· Volunteers in civic services
· Job transfers
· Temporary work assignments
The programme provides a non-renewable mobility lease and is rent in Paris capped. Renters can leave the property at any point of their stay as long as they give one full month’s notice.
Why not leave all the hard work to the professionals?
Reaping the profits of a Paris property isn’t as cut and dry as most investor owners would like it to be. If you aren’t local, then short-term lets are problematic. There’s the upkeep of the property, regular servicing, meeting and greeting guests, handovers, laundry and more to manage. There’s also all of the work you’ll need to continually monitor and manage to maintain a steady flow of guests and visitors. That means organising the marketing, understanding the legal aspects and making sure you’ve got all of your taxes covered.
Wouldn't it be so much simpler to hand over all that responsibility to somebody else? Someone with incredibly high standards, a great reputation, and who offer the best guaranteed-rent rates you’re likely to find?
Let UpperKey take care of every last, little detail
We’ll manage the legislation. We’ll keep a steady flow of guests and tenants. We’ll also keep your apartment in Paris looking stunning, and all without you having to lift a finger. It’s the simplest way you’ll find to make a solid and steady income from your Paris property investment. When renting with Upperkey, no Airbnb registration number is required in Paris. You will have many advantages!
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