Letting your French holiday home for a few weeks a year has long helped owners cover the cost of a place in the sun. But the rules changed sharply in 2026, and the short-term let restrictions in France now reach every commune and every owner. Get the paperwork wrong and the fines are steep.
If you let a second home to holidaymakers, whether through a platform or privately, you are running a meublé de tourisme in French law. Two decrees signed in March 2026, on top of the 2024 Loi Le Meur, brought in national registration, tighter local powers, energy rules and a smaller tax break. Here is what each change means before you list.
Key takeaway: From 2026, every furnished tourist let in France – main home or second home, in any commune – must carry a national registration number from a single government service. Many communes can also cap numbers, require change-of-use permission and demand a minimum energy rating. The tax allowance on rental income has been cut. Penalties for getting it wrong now reach €100,000 (around £85,000).
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What changed for short-term lets in 2026
The reforms come from one law and two decrees. The Loi Le Meur of November 2024 set the direction. Two decrees signed on 19 March 2026 built the machinery that makes it work.
Together they do five things. Registration now applies across the whole country, and communes have far stronger powers to limit lets. There are new energy-rating rules. The tax allowance on rental income has been cut, and the fines have gone up.
The headline for most owners is simple. Letting a French holiday home is no longer something you can just start doing. You now register first, and in many areas you need permission as well.
Who must register and how
The registration duty is universal from 2026. It applies to every meublé de tourisme, classified or not, main home or second home, in every commune. There are no rural exemptions any more.
Registration runs through a single national service run by the Direction générale des entreprises. You declare the property, receive a registration number and show that number on every listing. The official rules for letting a furnished tourist property are on service-public.fr, and you reach the national system through the DGE meublés de tourisme service.
One practical point matters. The owner-facing national portal opens in stages during the second half of 2026. Until it is fully live you keep declaring with your local mairie, and existing numbers stay valid. When the national number becomes available, every owner – including those already declared – has to request a new one. It is an active step, not an automatic switch.
Where local bans and quotas apply
Registration is only half the picture. In areas of housing pressure – known as zones tendues – communes can go a lot further.
Since the Loi Le Meur, any commune can require change-of-use (changement d’usage) permission before you let to holidaymakers. This is separate from registration and much harder to get. It applies automatically in the largest cities and inner Paris, and smaller communes can now opt in by council vote.
Communes can also set quotas on the number of tourist-let permissions, mark out districts where lets are banned, and cut the annual limit on letting a main home from 120 days to 90. A government simulator lets you check whether your commune sits in a zone tendue.
Real examples are already running. Saint-Malo and Grand Annecy operate quota systems. Nice adopted a change-of-use scheme in December 2025, though parts of it face legal challenge – a reminder that local rules move fast and are worth checking with the mairie directly.
Energy rules and the DPE
Energy rating now matters for tourist lets too. Where a commune requires change-of-use permission, a new meublé de tourisme must show a Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique (DPE) of class E or better. The worst-rated F and G homes are shut out.
From 2034 the bar rises across the whole of mainland France. Every tourist let, new or existing, will need a rating of class D or above. That gives owners of older stone homes time to plan any works. You can read the official energy and change-of-use guidance on ecologie.gouv.fr.
One common mix-up is worth clearing up. The 2028 class F deadline you may have read about applies to long-term unfurnished lets, not to holiday lets. For meublés de tourisme the step is class E now, class D in 2034.
Tax on rental income – micro-BIC and LMNP
The tax break on French holiday lets has been trimmed. Under the micro-BIC regime for 2025 income, a classified (classé) tourist let gets a 50% allowance up to €77,700 of receipts. An unclassified let gets a 30% allowance up to €15,000. Both are lower than before.
Getting your property officially classified is now a real lever. It more than doubles the allowance and lifts the threshold sharply, so many owners find classement pays for itself quickly. You can check the current regime on impots.gouv.fr.
Above the micro-BIC threshold, the régime réel applies. You deduct real costs and depreciation, but you keep full accounts. A 2025 change also means depreciation is added back when you sell, which raises the taxable gain – our guide to capital gains tax on French property explains what UK sellers actually pay.
As a UK resident you declare French rental income in France first and again in the UK, with double-tax relief under the treaty. The UK government sets out the basics on gov.uk Living in France.
Penalties
The fines are the reason to take this seriously. Failing to register can cost up to €10,000 per property. A false registration number can cost up to €20,000.
Letting without required change-of-use permission is the big one, at up to €100,000 per home, with daily penalties on top. Going over the day limit on a main home can cost up to €15,000. Breaking the energy rules can bring a fine of up to €5,000, plus a daily charge if you do not produce a valid DPE in time.
Platforms must also take down listings that break the rules, so an unregistered let can simply disappear.
What owners should do now
The truth about buying a gîte and French residency
12 August at 5pm BST – 30 minutesNone of this makes letting impossible. It just means doing the groundwork first. A sensible order looks like this.
- Check your commune. Ask the mairie whether registration, change-of-use permission or a quota applies, and whether the day limit is 120 or 90.
- Register and display your number on every listing. Watch for the national portal opening and re-register when it does.
- Sort the energy rating. Commission a DPE now if you do not have a current one.
- Get the tax right. Consider classement, choose micro-BIC or réel, and file in both countries.
- Plan the money. Rental income arrives in euros while your costs and UK tax sit in sterling.
That last point is easy to overlook. The pound moved a long way against the euro through 2026, so the rate on each transfer matters. Many owners we help fix a rate in advance or set up regular euro-to-sterling transfers with a specialist such as Smart Currency Exchange, rather than leave repatriation to chance. Our guide to managing your money in France covers the practical side.
What should I do next?
If you already own and let a French home, start with your mairie and your registration number – those two steps cover most owners. If you are still buying, read our guide on how to buy property in France so letting rules feed into your choice of area from the start. And when rental income starts flowing back to the UK, it is worth speaking to a currency specialist about fixing your transfer rate.
Summary
Short-term let restrictions in France tightened sharply in 2026. Every furnished tourist let must now hold a national registration number, whatever the commune. In zones tendues, communes can also demand change-of-use permission, set quotas and cut the letting limit to 90 days. New lets in those areas need a DPE of class E or better, rising to class D nationwide by 2034. The tax allowance on rental income has been cut, and classement now brings a clear advantage. Penalties run to €100,000, so register and check your local rules before you list.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. From 2026 every furnished tourist let must carry a national registration number, whether you let through a platform or privately, and whether it is a main or second home. You get the number from the government service, then display it on each listing. Platforms are required to remove listings that break the rules, so an unregistered let can be taken down.
Registration is a declaration that gives you a number, and it now applies everywhere. Change-of-use (changement d’usage) is a separate, tougher permission from the mairie that treats your home as tourist accommodation. It applies automatically in large cities and inner Paris, and other communes can opt in. You may need both, and permission can be capped by quota.
The national limit for letting a main home to holidaymakers is 120 days a year. Since 2025, communes in zones tendues can cut that to 90 days by council vote. Second homes are treated differently and often need change-of-use permission instead. Check your commune’s current rule with the mairie, as the limit varies by area.
In communes that require change-of-use permission, a new tourist let needs a DPE of class E or better, so F and G homes are excluded. From 2034 every tourist let in mainland France will need class D or above. A genuine main home let within the day limit is exempt. Commission a DPE early so you know where you stand.
You declare it in France first, then again in the UK, with relief under the double-tax treaty. In France the micro-BIC regime gives a 50% allowance for a classified let or 30% for an unclassified one, within the thresholds. Above those you use the régime réel. Classement raises your allowance, so it is worth considering. Take advice given the 2025 rule changes.
Sources
- Loi n° 2024-1039 (Loi Le Meur), 19 November 2024 – Légifrance
- Décrets n° 2026-196 and n° 2026-197, 19 March 2026 – Légifrance (Journal officiel, 20 March 2026)
- Meublé de tourisme: declaration rules – service-public.fr
- National registration service for furnished tourist lets – Direction générale des entreprises (entreprises.gouv.fr)
- New micro-BIC regime for meublés de tourisme – impots.gouv.fr
- Energy rating and change-of-use rules for tourist lets – ecologie.gouv.fr
- Living in France: tax and residency – gov.uk
