INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM, TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY LAW I. THE REGULATION OF HOLIDAY LETTINGS THROUGH INNOVATIVE SPECIFIC LEGISLATIONS TO REMEDY HOUSING SHORTAGE Under French law, holiday rental accommodations are traditionally defined under Article D.324-1 of the tourism code as houses or apartments offered for rent to persons who are not domiciled there, but are who are rather considered as passing people for a short stay either on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Initially, a person who wished to let a furnished tourist accommodation only had to address a simple declaration to the municipality. Nonetheless, given the flourishing development of Internet platforms such as Airbnb and their unexpected effect on housing shortage for local inhabitants, it was necessary to set strict guidelines for short-term holiday lettings. Various legal instruments were adopted to this end.1 Therefore, the lessor (whether the lessor is the owner or simply a tenant of the accommodation offered under holiday letting – see hereinafter on the interest of this distinction) will have to comply with two main conditions, as follows: 1. The lessor must have made a prior declaration to the municipality, unless the accommodation constitutes his main residence – in which case holiday rentals would generally be permitted only up to 120 days per year pursuant to article L.324-1-1 of the tourism code.2 However, in Paris and other French cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, the prior declaration has been completed by a “letting permit”. This consists in an express authorisation to be obtained from the mayor to offer lawfully a specific accommodation for holiday rentals, which does not constitute the main residence of the lessor and will be rented more than 120 days per year. 2. When the holiday lettings constitute a regular activity, a formal request for a « change of use » of residential premises has to be effected. This is a very formal and strenuous procedure subject to local urbanism rules, whereby the DOI https://doi.org/10.60559/ijtthl2023-012 1 Law n°2016-1321 of 7 Oct. 2016 said « Loi pour une République Numérique »; Decree n°2017-678 of 28 April 2017; law n° 2018-1021 of 23 Nov. 2018 portant évolution du logement, de l’aménagement et du numérique said « Loi ELAN ». 2 However, in a recent case, a French court decided that this limit of 120 days per year could be extended; in that case it appeared that the lessor was travelling more than 8 months per year for professional reasons, and the court decided to disapply the 120 days period. It referred to the exception set out in article 2 of the of the Law n°89-462 of 6 July 1989 which defined the “main residence” by reference to the duration of the stay. Paris, 29 Sept. 2022, n°21/20664.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==