ELAN LAW - THE HOUSING LAW : DON'T MISS IT !
A 5 minute read
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We talked about this law as the main housing law of the previous presidency term. It aims to reform a variety of areas such as housing, planning and digital technology but with 234 articles, it makes it tricky to understand the main implications on your daily life.
Thanks to our in-house expertise, in 5 minutes of reading, we will summarise the main provisions of this law which might already apply to you.
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The new "mobility lease" - what is its purpose?
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The mobility is now part of the statutory framework of the residential lease. Such a lease allows the beneficiary to get temporary housing in order to live close to a training facility or to temporary work.
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To be eligible, the tenant will have to undertake one of the following:
Professional training,
Postgraduate studies,
An apprenticeship,
An internship,
A volunteering service,
A temporary assignment in relation to a professional activity.
​The vague notion of a “temporary assignment in relation to a professional activity ” might be difficult for the Courts to pinpoint...
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Be aware that the lease will have to expressly state the terms of the temporary tenancy. Otherwise, the lease may be reclassified as a standard furnished property lease in in line with French civil law (Title 1 bis, 6 July 1989 Law n °89-462).
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The major innovation is the length of the lease which can be from 1 month to 10 months. However, it is not possible to renew or extend it.
The 10 months’ maximum term of the mobility lease that can be granted will allow to avoid potential abusive use on one hand and will offer flexibility to the landlord on the other hand.
However, such lease doesn’t offer the guarantees of a standard lease such as the financial solidarity between flatmates or guarantors and the payment of a deposit at the beginning of the lease.
Yet, the Elan Law created the VISALE guarantee for landlords and a free rental guarantee for all students. In the event of unpaid rents and/or charges, Action logement will pay the outstanding amount to the landlord and will tackle the task of extricating the refund from the tenant.
The tenant will be able to terminate the lease at any time with a one-month prior notice without cause. However, the landlord will have to prove the early termination of the lease for just cause (i.e: breach of the contract by the tenant).
The sum of charges will have to be consistent each month and the regularisation of the charges won’t be possible at the end of the lease.
Lastly, the tenant of such lease will not be entitled to housing benefits.
Alternative options for rent control…
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The ALUR Law (n°2014-366, 24 March 2014) previously implemented a rent control but it was not really effective. In fact, this scheme was only implemented in Paris and Lille and subjected to an implementing decree taken by the prefect.
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In these cities, the decrees were declared void by the Administrative Courts of Paris and Lille due to the fact that they were inconsistent with the scope of the measure (Administrative Court of Lille, chb. 5th, 17 October 2017, no 1610304 ; Administrative Court of Paris, sect 6th, chb. 2nd, 28 November 2017). This last decision has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Paris (CAA Paris, 26 June 2018, n° 17PA03805, 17PA03808, 18PA00339, 18PA00340).
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Elan Law formulated alternate option to rent control on an optional and experimental basis for 5 years. It also created sanctions for individual on non-individual owners who fail to comply with the requirements set in the Elan law / implementing decree. The fine can be up to 5 000 euros for an individual owner and 15.000 euros for non-individual entity in addition to a potential judicial review of the rent if the tenant decides to take legal action against his/her landlord.
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The digital lease finally under way!
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The digital lease contract is a key component of the Elan Law. It's a time and money saver for both parties.
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From now on, the handwritten statement of the guarantor will no longer be needed. A simple signature on a form will suffice.
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The landlord will be able to send by email the co-ownership rules and the mandatory diagnostics.
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The tourist rental ​in the sights of the legislators!
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A landlord of a furnished tourist property may be fined up to 5 000 euros if he does not submit a prior declaration to register the property.
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Similarly, if a landlord fails to respond to a request of the Council to provide the number of booked nights, he may be fined up to 10 000 euros.
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In addition, a landlord is not able to rent out his primary residence for more than 120 days within the same year, except for professional reasons, health reasons, or another serious reason where this becomes unavoidable.
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A platform for tourist rental that fails to respond to a request made by the Council to provide the number of booked nights may be fined up to 50 000 euros per non compliant property.