The primary residence refers to the housing occupied for at least eight months a year by its occupant, except for professional obligations, health reasons, or force majeure. This definition conditions everything else: day limits, tax regime, formalities. Before publishing any advertisement, each owner or tenant must verify that their housing meets this effective occupancy criterion.
Co-ownership clause and landlord agreement: two often overlooked locks
The co-ownership regulations can block a short-term rental project long before the question of the schedule arises. A exclusive bourgeois housing clause prohibits any commercial activity in the building, and tourist rentals fall into this category. The property manager or a co-owner can then contest the rental.
Regulations drafted several decades ago do not mention furnished tourist accommodations, leaving room for interpretation. Obtaining a written opinion from the property manager before any advertisement publication avoids costly litigation.
Tenants planning to rent their primary residence in subletting must obtain written permission from the landlord. Without this agreement, the subletting is irregular and may lead to lease termination.
Day limit: 120 nights per year, sometimes less depending on the municipality
The law sets a limit of 120 days per calendar year for renting out the entire primary residence as furnished tourist accommodation. The same traveler cannot stay for more than 90 consecutive days.
This 120-day limit is not a guaranteed minimum. Some municipalities have the option to lower it. Consulting the town hall before setting a rental schedule remains the only way to know the actually applicable limit.
Renting a room in your home: a special case
Renting a room in your home while residing there falls under a distinct regime, that of the room in a private home. The applicable conditions differ from renting the entire property, and owners who wish to generate additional income without leaving their home should check the specific rules for this arrangement with their town hall.
Registration number and declaration at the town hall
Any rental of a furnished tourist accommodation now requires obtaining a registration number. This number must appear on every advertisement, regardless of the platform.
The process involves a prior declaration to the town hall of the relevant municipality. This formality should not be confused with the tax declaration: these are two distinct obligations. Failure to declare at the town hall exposes one to a fine of up to 10,000 euros.
Rental platforms are required to remove non-compliant listings, making enforcement more effective than it was before.
Taxation of rental income: micro-BIC or real regime
Rents from the furnished rental of the primary residence are taxed in the category of industrial and commercial profits, not property income. The method of calculating the tax is thus modified.
Two options are available:
- The micro-BIC regime applies a flat-rate deduction on gross receipts. The law of November 19, 2024, has tightened the conditions for unclassified tourist accommodations, with a less favorable deduction than before.
- The real regime allows for the deduction of actual expenses (maintenance, insurance, depreciation of furniture). It becomes interesting when expenses exceed the amount of the flat-rate deduction.
- A total exemption exists under certain conditions, particularly when rental income remains below a certain annual threshold and the housing is indeed the landlord’s primary residence.
Social contributions are added in all cases to the income tax. Forgetting the tax declaration does not eliminate the obligation: platforms now transmit income data to the administration.
Risk of requalification: when the primary residence loses its status
Renting too often or too long weakens the qualification of primary residence. If the administration finds that the owner does not actually occupy the housing for eight months a year, the property may be requalified as a secondary residence.
The consequences are severe:
- The tax regime changes, with the loss of deductions and exemptions related to the primary residence.
- An authorization for change of use becomes mandatory in certain municipalities, a lengthy procedure sometimes accompanied by a compensation obligation.
- The housing tax on secondary residences applies, whereas it has been abolished for primary residences.
This risk also targets owners who declare a tax address without actually living there. The criterion retained by the administration remains effective occupancy, not mere postal domiciliation.
The boundary between occasional rental and regular commercial activity hinges on the number of rented days, the frequency of advertisements, and the consistency between tax declaration and actual use of the property. An isolated exceedance of the limit may go unnoticed, but a repeated pattern attracts the attention of municipal services, which now have access to data transmitted by the platforms.
