What is the duration of a rental lease and what must it contain?

Legal durations depending on the type of rental

For unfurnished rentals, Article 10 of the Act of 6 July 1989 requires a minimum duration of three years when the landlord is a natural person (or a family civil company), extended to six years when the landlord is a legal entity. At the term, the lease renews tacitly for the same duration. Article 11 exceptionally allows a shorter lease, of at least one year, when a specific event of a professional or family nature justifies the landlord repossessing the dwelling: this event must be stated in the contract.

For furnished rentals, the lease is concluded for a minimum of one year and renews tacitly for one year (Article 25-7). When the tenant is a student, the duration may be reduced to nine months; in that case, the tacit renewal clause is inapplicable and the lease ends automatically at its term.

The mobility lease (Articles 25-12 to 25-18, arising from the ELAN Act) is a short-term furnished contract, of one to ten months, non-renewable beyond ten months in total (a single modification by amendment is possible within this limit). It is reserved for a mobile population: higher education, professional training, apprenticeship, internship, civic service, relocation or temporary assignment. No security deposit may be required for it.

• Unfurnished rental: 3 years (landlord who is a natural person) or 6 years (legal entity), tacit renewal
• Furnished rental: 1 year, tacit renewal for 1 year
• Furnished student lease: 9 months, no tacit renewal
• Mobility lease: 1 to 10 months, non-renewable, no security deposit

The model contract and the mandatory mentions

The lease must be drawn up in writing and comply with the model contract defined by Decree No. 2015-587 of 29 May 2015, applicable to unfurnished and furnished rentals used as a primary residence (Article 3 of the 1989 Act). It notably states: the identity of the parties, the effective date and the duration, the composition and intended use of the dwelling, the habitable surface area, the amount of the rent and its terms of payment and revision, the amount of the last rent paid by the previous tenant if they left the dwelling less than eighteen months ago, the amount of the security deposit and, where applicable, the agency fees borne by the tenant, which are capped.

The habitable surface area is a sensitive mention: if the actual surface area is more than one twentieth (5%) below the one indicated in the lease, the tenant may obtain a rent reduction proportional to the gap observed (Article 3-1).

The mandatory annexes: diagnostics, notice, inventory

Several documents must be annexed to the lease, on pain of engaging the landlord's liability or depriving them of certain rights:

• The technical diagnostic file (Article 3-3): EPC (DPE), risk statement, lead exposure risk assessment for dwellings built before 1949, statements of the internal electrical and gas installations more than fifteen years old, and the airborne noise nuisance statement where applicable
• The information notice on the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords
• The move-in inventory of fixtures, then the move-out one
• Extracts from the condominium regulations concerning the intended use of the building and the common areas, where applicable
• For furnished rentals: the inventory and detailed statement of the furniture; Decree No. 2015-981 of 31 July 2015 sets the minimum list of furniture (bedding with duvet or blanket, cooking hobs, oven or microwave, refrigerator with a freezer compartment, crockery and utensils, table and seating, storage, light fixtures, cleaning equipment, blackout devices in the bedrooms)

End of the lease: renewal and notices

At the term, if no one gives notice, the lease renews tacitly on the same terms. The tenant may give notice at any time by observing their notice period. The landlord, however, may give notice only for the term of the lease, with a six-month notice for unfurnished rentals or three months for furnished, and only for three grounds: repossession to live in (themselves or a close relative), sale of the dwelling, or a legitimate and serious ground, such as breaches by the tenant.

The law also protects elderly tenants: when the tenant is over sixty-five years old and has modest resources (assessed by reference to the social housing ceilings), the landlord cannot give them notice without offering a suitable rehousing solution, unless the landlord is themselves elderly or has modest resources (Article 15 III). The applicable resource ceilings change each year: check the amounts in force.