Holiday letting: what local rules change

The national framework for furnished holiday lets has tightened considerably in recent years, and above all it has given communes far wider powers than before. Two comparable properties ten miles apart can now fall under very different regimes.

Does a holiday let have to be registered with the mairie?

Yes. Any furnished tourist let must be declared to the commune. Depending on the commune, that declaration produces a registration number which must then appear on every listing, including on the booking platforms.

This is the first thing to check and the simplest: a call to the planning department of the commune concerned is enough to establish which regime applies. Do not rely on what was the case two years ago, nor on what the neighbour is doing.

What is change of use, and does it affect me?

Separate from registration, change of use covers converting residential premises into tourist accommodation. It applies in communes that have introduced it, chiefly those where pressure on permanent housing is high — in our area, the most touristic coastal communes are the most likely to enforce it.

Where it applies, the authorisation may be time-limited, capped in number, and sometimes conditional on providing compensating housing. This is the point that makes an investment viable or not, and it is checked before the offer, not after.

Can the co-ownership rules prohibit it?

Yes, and this is regularly overlooked. A strict residential-use clause, or one expressly prohibiting operation as a tourist let, overrides your plans whatever the mairie's position. Reading the co-ownership rules and the recent general meeting minutes is essential before committing.

On the coast, where many developments have seen short-term letting multiply, such clauses have been the subject of recent votes in a number of co-ownerships.

And on tax?

Furnished letting is taxed as business income, with two main options: a simplified regime applying a flat allowance to receipts, and the actual regime, which allows costs to be deducted and the property to be depreciated. Whether the let is officially classified changes the treatment that applies.

The allowance rates and thresholds of the simplified regime have been revised downwards for furnished tourist lets, as part of a general rebalancing in favour of long-term letting. Because these parameters change from one finance act to the next, I do not quote them here: have them confirmed by your accountant or the tax office for the year in question.

To that must be added the tourist tax collected on the commune's behalf and, depending on the situation, local business rates.

The right method before buying to let

• Call the planning department of the commune concerned and ask which regime applies at the property's exact address.
• Read the co-ownership rules, if there are any, before making an offer.
• Build your projection on a conservative occupancy rate, including charges, property tax, maintenance and management.
• Check the project still works if the commune tightens its rules during your ownership — that is the main risk attached to this type of investment today.