France Airbnb & Short-Term Rental Regulations 2026

LawfulStay tracks short-term rental (STR / Airbnb / Vrbo / holiday let / vacation rental) regulations for 19 cities and regions in France. Select a location below for current permit requirements, tax obligations, and compliance details.

1 Active 1 Conditional 17 Restricted

France at a glance

Places tracked
19 places: 1 active, 1 conditional, 17 restricted
Licence or registration
Required in all 18 places
Tax on stays
Applies in all 18 places
National law
1) Restricted because a main home can be let at most 120 nights a year, and communes may lower this to 90. 2) Since 20 May 2026 every host must declare and display a registration number, but the national online service…. National rules ›

France short-term rental questions

Are short-term rentals legal in France?

In all 19 places we track in France, short-term rentals are allowed, 18 of them with permit conditions or limits.

Do I need a licence for a short-term rental in France?

All 18 places we track in France require a licence, permit or registration. Check your city's page for its rules.

Is there a national short-term rental law in France?

1) Restricted because a main home can be let at most 120 nights a year, and communes may lower this to 90. 2) Since 20 May 2026 every host must declare and display a registration number, but the national online service….

Which places in France have the strictest rules?

On our records: Montpellier, Marseille, Nice, Cannes, Lyon, Biarritz.

Regions in France

France Airbnb & Vacation Rental Regulation Overview

The short-term rental regulatory landscape in France encompasses 19 tracked jurisdictions: 1 with active regulations, 1 where rentals are allowed with conditions, 17 with restrictions. Hosts operating on platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com should verify local requirements before listing, as rules vary significantly between cities and regions.

All 19 tracked jurisdictions in France require some form of permit, license, or registration for short-term rental operations. Requirements range from simple online registration to comprehensive permit applications with inspections.

Tax obligations apply in 19 of 19 jurisdictions. Common taxes include occupancy taxes, tourist levies, and sales taxes. Many jurisdictions require hosts to register for tax collection, and some platforms like Airbnb collect and remit taxes automatically in select locations.

Cities with significant restrictions on vacation rentals include France (nationwide), Montpellier, Marseille. These jurisdictions typically impose permit caps, zoning limitations, or primary residence requirements.

LawfulStay monitors France STR regulations daily and updates this page as rules change. Each city page includes detailed permit requirements, fee schedules, tax rates, zoning rules, and penalty information sourced from official government websites.

AnnecyHaute-Savoie
Since 1 June 2025, letting a second home in Annecy needs a change-of-use authorisation inside quotas set for 3 zones, with a waiting list once a quota is full, a limit on authorised units per owner, an energy rating…
Restricted
AvignonProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Avignon cut the main-residence cap to 90 nights and requires registration plus a 3-year change-of-use permit (max two per person) for second homes from 1 January 2026
Restricted
BiarritzPyrénées-Atlantiques
Every meublé de tourisme in Biarritz must be registered, and a main home can be let for at most 120 days a year
Restricted
BordeauxGironde
Every furnished tourist let in Bordeaux needs a registration number shown in all listings
Restricted
CannesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Declaration and registration number required
Restricted
CorsicaCorse
French national meublé de tourisme rules apply, with local rules in Ajaccio, Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio
Restricted
LyonAuvergne-Rhone-Alpes
Lyon's 120-day cap was the highest in Europe; reduced to 90 days from 2026 to combat housing pressure as STRs reached ~one-third of overnight stays in 2023
Restricted
MarseilleProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Among most restrictive French cities for secondary residences
Restricted
MartiniqueMartinique
French meublé de tourisme law applies in Martinique: declaration at the town hall, an optional star rating, taxe de séjour collected by the platforms, and VAT only for para-hotel services
Restricted
MontpellierOccitanie
Temporary change-of-use permits for second homes last at most 4 years with no renewal (2025 rules), one per tax household per commune; a quota zone allows 770 temporary permits without compensation
Restricted
France (nationwide)
1) Restricted because a main home can be let at most 120 nights a year, and communes may lower this to 90. 2) Since 20 May 2026 every host must declare and display a registration number, but the national online service…
Restricted
NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Every let needs a 13-character registration number
Restricted
ParisÎle-de-France
90-night yearly cap on renting out a main home, in force since 1 January 2025; second homes need change-of-use approval with compensation; every listing needs a Paris registration number; tourist tax is 5% of the…
Restricted
Pays Basque (Communauté d'agglomération)Pyrénées-Atlantiques
The Communauté d'agglomération Pays Basque covers 158 communes, but its strict meublé de tourisme rules apply in 24 tense-zone communes on and near the coast, where a second home can be rented to tourists only with a…
Restricted
Saint-MaloIlle-et-Vilaine
12.5% housing cap in the historic center + 3-year temporary permits
Restricted
StrasbourgBas-Rhin
Authorisations last 6 years, or 9 years with an extension
Restricted
ToulouseOccitanie
Toulouse requires registration for all short-term rentals and a temporary 2-year change-of-use permit for second homes, with compensation required from the third unit
Restricted
Aix-en-ProvenceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Aix-en-Provence: all furnished tourist rentals must be registered with the City
Conditional
Saint-BarthelemySaint-Barthelemy
Saint-Barth is arguably one of the world's most permissive and sophisticated STR markets; villa rental is the primary accommodation model
Active

LawfulStay.com: short-term rental rules for 5,118 places, each traced to its official source. Browse all 5,118 places →  ·  How we research  ·  For governments  ·  Press  ·  Trust badge

Translations are for convenience; the official source text governs.