Long Term Lets

[Thebiga]

Can anyone tell me if you have to have a special lease agreement in french if you are letting for exactly 3 months or is for over three months. As its right on the border of the 3 months I am not sure but I am sure one of you will know.

Thanks

[Jo Taylor]

To avoid complications, make it a day less than three months!

Property letting is subject to the regulations in the Code Civil (Articles 1708 – 1762), which can be found on : www.legifrance.gouv.fr (click on the Union Jack next to ‘Les codes’ to find the English translation). The Code Civil defines three categories of letting:

l Long-term unfurnished letting – normally for a minimum of three years, but under certain circumstances for as little as one year.

l Long-term furnished letting – normally for more than three months. Tenants renting for between three months and a year must have their principal residence elsewhere (you should see proof of this); those whose principal residence is the property rented are entitled to a minimum lease of a year, there are no exceptions. (Until January 2005, this applied only to properties let by landlords who habitually let four or more properties; it now applies in all cases.) The lease is automatically renewable for the same period and under the same conditions, and there are stringent regulations, similar to those for unfurnished letting, restricting the landlord’s right to reclaim the property. If you wish to terminate a lease, you must give the tenant three months’ notice. If the tenant wants to end it, he has to give only one month’s notice. Letting contracts must be in French.

l Short-term (holiday) furnished letting – less than three months. (You can use the normal gîte contract; but again, you must ensure the tenant has a principal residence elsewhere.)

Unfurnished letting is a whole 'nother can of worms.