Holiday lettings: First applications of the ‘Anti-Airbnb’ law
The “Le Meur law” — also known as the “anti-Airbnb law” — has, among other things, simplified the rules of evidence regarding the use of the premises in question and increased civil fines. French lower courts have now had the opportunity to apply these new provisions.
Law No. 2024-1039 of 19 November 2024 — known as the “Le Meur Law” — aims to strengthen the tools available for regulating short-term tourist rentals at the local level and represents a major milestone in the control of such rentals in France.
The law was adopted following housing shortage, particularly in tourist areas and in major urban centers, where the increase of short-term tourist rentals has contributed to a growing scarcity of housing available for long-term, residential rental. The legislation introduces substantial amendments to both the Tourism Code and the Construction and Housing Code, providing local authorities with new mechanisms to regulate this activity.
Two of these key mechanisms include simplificatin of proof of property’s residential status by local authorities — as provided in Article L.631-7, paragraph 3, of the Construction and Housing Code— and increase of the maximum civil fine.
Prior to the Le Meur Law, it was necessary to demonstrate that a property was designated for residential use as of 1st January 1970 — such a requirement often being difficult to establish. It is now possible for local authorities to justify the residential status by proving it existed either between 1st January 1970 and 31st December 1976, or at any point during the last thirty years (Article L.631-7, paragraph 3, of the Construction and Housing Code).
Previously, the civil fine could reach a maximum of euros 50,000. The cap of this fine has now been raised to euros 100,000 per concerned housing unit. However, these provisions — which are more stringent — cannot be applied retroactively (Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, 10 April 2025, No. 25-70.002, published in the official bulletin). This ruling is fundamental to the legal certainty of both property owners and local authorities, as it clarifies the temporal scope of the new provisions. In other words, holiday rentals that took place before 21st November 2024 (when the law came into effect), remain subject to the burden of proof as it stood on 1st January 1970, whereas infringements committed or prosecuted thereafter are governed by the the new law. Consequently, the courts must be diligent regarding the temporal application of these provisions; they are required to distinguish between cases where the rental in question occurred before 21st November 2024, and those where it occurred afterward.
In decisions handed down since the law came into effect, the courts have therefore applied the increase in the civil fine cap — from €50,000 to €100,000 per housing unit — to cases involving unauthorized conversion for tourist use identified after 21st November 2024.
Thus, when a holiday rental spans the date on which the “Le Meur law” came into force, the €50,000 cap applies to the period prior to that date, while the €100,000 cap applies to the subsequent period. This was the approach taken by the Judicial Court of Marseille in a recent case (Judicial Court of Marseille, Summary Proceedings Chamber 2, 23 Sept. 2026, No. 26/01600). The judge imposed civil fines of €40,000 — payable by both the lessor and the operator — for each residential unit rented out as a short-term tourist accommodation without the required authorization for a change of use, for rentals occurring after 21st November 2024 (amounting to a total of €160,000 for each party as 4 housing units were at stake). In another case heard on the same day (Marseille Judicial Court, Summary Proceedings Chamber 2, 23 Sept. 2026, No. 26/01601), the fine was set at €60,000 per party for a single housing unit.
It is clear that it has now become easier to secure civil convictions for holiday rentals carried out without prior authorization for a change of use, effective from 21st November 2024. This new mechanism may well prove to be a deterrent.
V. Augros