90-day cap, registration number, change of use with compensation, Le Meur law and taxation: what every Paris owner must know before letting or selling a furnished tourist rental.
Illustration : Airbnb in Paris in 2026: rules, taxation and compensation.
Letting a property on Airbnb in Paris is subject, in 2026, to the strictest framework in France. The capital combines three levers : a lowered letting cap for main homes, a long-standing compulsory registration number, and above all a compensation rule to turn a dwelling into a furnished tourist rental (meublé de tourisme), where other cities limit themselves to quotas. Added to this is the law of 19 November 2024, known as the loi Le Meur (the Le Meur law), which has reduced the national tax advantage of the furnished tourist rental. We take stock, source by source, of what every Paris owner must check before publishing a listing or deciding on the sale of their property.
Three changes stack up in 2026: the loi Le Meur, which reduces the national tax advantage of the furnished tourist rental, the local lowering of the main-home cap to 90 days a year in Paris, and a change-of-use scheme with compensation, the most restrictive in France, which governs second homes.
Paris has long been the most heavily regulated French city for short-term letting. The registration number has been required there since 2017, the main-home cap is strictly monitored, and turning a dwelling into a furnished tourist rental requires an authorisation that is hard to obtain. The pressure on the housing stock, documented by the Atelier parisien d'urbanisme (APUR, the Paris urban planning agency), explains this severity : in the central districts, the share of dwellings shifted to furnished tourist rentals weighs on the residential supply.
Law no. 2024-1039 of 19 November 2024, known as the loi Le Meur, strengthened this framework at national level and gave municipalities new tools. Paris has seized on it to toughen its own rules further. For an owner, the consequence is concrete : the status of the dwelling, main or second home, and its location determine not only the applicable taxation but the very possibility of letting.
Every furnished tourist rental in Paris must be declared and carry a registration number, displayed on every listing. A main home is limited to 90 days of letting a year (a cap lowered by the City from the national threshold of 120 days). Exceeding the cap or failing to register exposes you to fines of up to 10 000 €.
The first step is the declaration. Paris has required a 13-digit registration number since 2017 ; the loi Le Meur extends this obligation to the whole country and channels it through a single national online service, Déclaloc, operational by 20 May 2026 at the latest. The number must appear on all listings, failing which the platforms will remove them.
Then comes the duration. A main home, the dwelling occupied at least eight months a year, may be let up to 120 days a year at national level. The loi Le Meur allows municipalities to lower this cap to 90 days. Paris has exercised this option : the cap applicable in the capital is 90 days a year. Beyond that, the dwelling is no longer treated as a main home and shifts into the far more restrictive second-home regime.
| Obligation | Main home | Second home |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration and registration number | Yes (nationwide by 20 May 2026) | Yes (nationwide by 20 May 2026) |
| Cap on nights let | 90 days/year in Paris | No specific cap on nights |
| Change of use | No | Yes, with compensation |
| Temporary authorisation | Not applicable | Yes (limited duration, loi Le Meur) |
In Paris, turning a dwelling into a dedicated furnished tourist rental (second home) requires a change-of-use authorisation with compensation: recreating elsewhere, in the same district, an equivalent area of housing. In the enhanced compensation zone of the central districts, you must offset double the area converted.
This is the Paris specificity. Where most cities regulate short-term letting through quotas or simple authorisations, Paris has for years applied a compensation mechanism. For a dwelling to leave the residential market for good and become a furnished tourist rental, the owner must "give back" to the stock an equivalent area of housing, by converting for example a commercial premises into a dwelling, in the same district or neighbourhood.
The rule is tougher still in the enhanced compensation zone, which covers the central and most strained districts : there the compensation is raised to two square metres of housing recreated for one square metre converted. In practice, this obligation makes the change of use very costly, often reserved for operators holding a stock of areas to offset. The cost of acquiring a "commercial-to-residential right" runs into thousands of euros per square metre.
The loi Le Meur has added a time limit : the change-of-use authorisation is no longer granted without term, but for a limited period, with a renewal that is not automatic. For a private individual who owns a single flat, this combination makes operating a second home as a furnished tourist rental in Paris hard to reach.
The distinction governs everything in Paris. A main home may be let up to 90 days a year without a change of use, simply declared. A second home requires a change-of-use authorisation with compensation, a scheme so demanding that it discourages most projects of dedicated short-term letting.
A main home is the dwelling where you live at least eight months a year. Its short-term letting is possible up to the Paris cap of 90 days, subject to declaration and display of the registration number. This is the simplest case and, in Paris, by far the most common : letting your own home while you are away.
A second home, or a property dedicated to tourist buy-to-let investment, falls under an entirely different regime. It requires the change-of-use authorisation with compensation described above. For a private individual, the equation is rarely favourable : the cost of the compensation, its complexity and the now temporary nature of the authorisation weigh heavily against the expected yield. Many Paris owners turn to long-term furnished letting, or decide to sell.
The loi Le Meur lowers the micro-BIC allowance (a French flat-rate tax regime) to 50 % for classified furnished rentals (cap of 77 700 €) and to 30 % for unclassified ones (cap of 15 000 €). It requires an energy performance certificate (EPC) rated A to E in order to let and reintegrates LMNP depreciation (furnished non-professional lettings) into the capital gains (plus-value) calculation on resale.
The income from a furnished tourist rental falls under industrial and commercial profits (BIC), with a choice between the micro-BIC regime and the actual-expenses regime (régime réel). The loi Le Meur, applicable to income received from 2025, has reduced the flat-rate allowances of the micro-BIC and their caps.
| Type of letting | Previous allowance | Le Meur law allowance | Revenue cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classified furnished rental / bed and breakfast | 71 % | 50 % | 77 700 € |
| Unclassified furnished tourist rental | 50 % | 30 % | 15 000 € |
| Unfurnished long-term letting | 30 % | 30 % | 15 000 € |
For an unclassified furnished rental, the micro-BIC allowance thus falls to the same level as that of unfurnished letting. The tax advantage that often justified the choice of short-term letting is markedly reduced. The actual-expenses regime, which allows charges and depreciation to be deducted, becomes worth considering again on a case-by-case basis.
Two other measures weigh on the equation. First, the energy performance certificate : to let as a furnished tourist rental, the dwelling must be rated A to E until 31 December 2033, then A to D from 1 January 2034, which directly affects the old Paris building stock, often energy-hungry. Second, from 1 January 2025, the depreciation deducted under the LMNP regime is reintegrated into the capital gains calculation on resale, which increases the tax on exit.
In Paris, the profitability of short-term letting has narrowed. For a main home let up to 90 days, it remains a worthwhile source of extra income. For a second home, the cost and scarcity of the change of use, the fall in allowances and the EPC requirement often bring the net yield close to that of conventional furnished letting, which is simpler.
The comparison turns on several factors : the occupancy rate, the income per night, the applicable taxation and the management burden. In Paris, tourist demand is among the strongest in the world, which supports the gross income from short-term letting. But the net income depends on the tax regime, the cap on nights let and, for a second home, on access to the change of use itself.
For a main home let up to 90 days a year, the operation often remains worthwhile as extra income, with controlled management. For an unclassified second home, adding the compensation cost, the fall of the allowance to 30 % and the EPC constraints sharply reduces the appeal compared with long-term furnished letting. Classifying the rental, which maintains the allowance at 50 %, becomes a profitability lever in its own right for those who can let legally.
Faced with a framework that has become very restrictive, many Paris owners weigh up holding, switching back to long-term letting or selling. The point of attention on sale is fiscal: since 2025, the deducted LMNP depreciation is reintegrated into the capital gain. An up-to-date estimate helps decide on the right moment.
For an owner who notes the fall in the tax advantage and the growing difficulty of operating a furnished tourist rental in Paris, three paths present themselves : keep the property as a main home let up to 90 days, switch it to long-term furnished letting, or sell it. The reintegration of LMNP depreciation into the capital gain, in force since 1 January 2025, increases the taxable base for the properties that benefited from it ; this factor must be anticipated with a tax adviser.
On the valuation side, a well-located Paris flat keeps solid demand on sale, regardless of the short-term letting constraints. The average price of a flat in Paris stands at around 10 345 €/m² in 2026, with strong variation by district. Knowing the current market value of your property is the prerequisite for any decision to sell or hold. Our estimator below draws on the real transactions in your neighbourhood.
The national cap is 120 days a year for a main home. Paris has exercised the option opened by the loi Le Meur (the Le Meur law) to lower this threshold and applies a cap of 90 days a year. Beyond that, the dwelling is treated as a second home and subject to change of use (changement d'usage) with compensation.
To turn a dwelling into a dedicated furnished tourist rental (meublé de tourisme, a second home) for the long term, Paris requires a change-of-use authorisation with compensation: recreating an equivalent area of housing elsewhere in the district, for example by converting a commercial premises into a home. In the enhanced compensation zone of the central districts, you must offset double the area converted. It is the strictest scheme in France.
Yes. Paris has required a registration number (numéro d'enregistrement) since 2017 for any furnished tourist rental. The loi Le Meur extends this obligation to the whole of France through the national online service Déclaloc, by 20 May 2026 at the latest. The number must appear on all your listings, failing which the platforms will remove them and a fine of up to 10 000 € may apply.
The income falls under the BIC (industrial and commercial profits). Under the micro-BIC regime (a French flat-rate tax regime), the allowance drops to 50 % for classified furnished rentals (cap of 77 700 €) and to 30 % for unclassified ones (cap of 15 000 €), applicable to income received from 2025. The actual-expenses regime (régime réel), which allows charges and depreciation to be deducted, remains an option to study case by case.
Yes, and it is the major obstacle in Paris. A second home or a buy-to-let investment dedicated to short-term letting requires a change-of-use authorisation with compensation, now limited in time by the loi Le Meur. Its cost and scarcity make operation hard to reach for a private individual who owns a single flat.
The loi Le Meur requires an energy performance certificate (EPC, the French DPE) rated A to E to let as a furnished tourist rental until 31 December 2033, then A to D from 1 January 2034. A dwelling rated F or G cannot be let as a furnished tourist rental, which directly affects the old Paris building stock.
Since 1 January 2025, the depreciation deducted under the LMNP regime (furnished non-professional lettings) is reintegrated into the capital gains (plus-value) calculation on resale, which increases the taxable base. This factor must be anticipated with a tax adviser before deciding to sell. An up-to-date estimate of the property's value, in a Paris market around 10 345 €/m² on average, helps choose the right moment.
Estimation gratuite et précise en quelques minutes, quartier par quartier.
Estimer mon bien