Renting a home in France as a foreigner: the file, the guarantor and the traps

A foreigner can rent a home in France without a French employment contract: the law closes the list of documents a landlord may demand, and the guarantor can be the state Visale scheme, a paid service or a person living abroad. The deposit is capped at one month’s rent unfurnished and two months furnished, and no money may be demanded before the lease is signed.

The difficulty is the market, not the law. Agencies are used to files with a CDI, French payslips and a French tax notice, and a family that has just arrived on a talent or visitor visa has none of these. In practice the search takes anything from a couple of weeks to several months. Below: what can legally be demanded from you, what replaces a CDI, what moving in costs and how not to lose money.

The rental file: what a landlord may ask for

The list of documents is closed by decree 2015-1437: anything not on it cannot be demanded. From the tenant, one or more documents in each of four groups:

• Identity. Passport, ID card or photo driving licence; a residence permit also works.
• Address. The last three rent receipts, a previous landlord’s statement, an attestation from the person you live with, or the title to your main home.
• Status. An employment contract, a company K bis extract under three months old, an INSEE certificate for the self-employed, a student card or any recent proof of activity.
• Income. A tax notice, three payslips, the last two balance sheets, proof of a pension, rental, annuity or investment income. If the income was taxed outside France, the foreign tax authority’s notice is accepted.

Copies must be in French or translated, with amounts converted to euros. Bank statements, photos and the Vitale card are not on the list, so they cannot be demanded, nor can a landlord insist that your parents or children co-sign (Article 22-2 of Law 89-462). The fine is up to €3,000 for an individual landlord and €15,000 for a company.

For a well-off tenant the strongest card is investment income: dividends, rent and annuities are expressly on the list. You may also show bank statements voluntarily, and many agencies expect them even though they cannot require them. The documents are easy to assemble in DossierFacile, a state service: files are watermarked and you can revoke the link to your file at any time.

Guarantor: Visale, a paid service or a guarantor abroad

The guarantor (caution) pays if you stop paying. Landlords ask for one almost every time, and for a newcomer this is the tightest bottleneck. There are three options.

• Visale. A free Action Logement guarantee covering unpaid rent for up to 36 months during the first three years of the lease. Anyone aged 30 or under qualifies; older applicants qualify as private-sector employees earning up to €1,710 net a month or starting a job: a CDI in its trial period, a CDD under six months, a job offer or a transfer. At any age, Visale is available with a bail mobilité. A founder on a talent passport or a visitor over 30 usually does not qualify for a long lease. The guarantee has rent caps by zone, so check your address on the Action Logement website.
• A paid guarantor. Companies that issue a guarantee certificate for a fee. In practice it costs 3.5–4.5% of a year’s rent, paid every year you live in the flat, and cancelling mid-lease needs the landlord’s consent. Many agencies will only consider a tenant without a CDI who has such a certificate.
• A person. A relative or friend with income. A landlord may not reject a guarantor because they are not French or do not live in France (Article 22-1); their documents must be translated and in euros.

One limit on landlords matters: if they have insured against unpaid rent (assurance loyers impayés), they may not also demand a guarantor, except for housing let to a student or apprentice. And to the offer to «draw up a CDI» for a couple of hundred euros, which turns up regularly in expat chats, there is one answer: that is forgery under Article 441-1 of the Criminal Code, punishable by up to three years and a €45,000 fine, and the lease can be lost as well.

What moving in costs: deposit, agency, rent up front

• Deposit (dépôt de garantie). Unfurnished: at most one month’s rent excluding charges; furnished: two; bail mobilité: no deposit allowed (service-public). It must be returned within one month if the move-in and move-out inventories match and two months if they do not; each month of delay started adds 10% of the monthly rent to the debt.
• Agency. The tenant pays only for the viewing, the file and the lease: from 1 January 2026 at most €12.10 per m² in Paris and nearby communes, €10.09 in tight markets such as Lyon and €8.07 elsewhere, plus up to €3.03 per m² for the inventory (INC).
• Rent up front. Monthly payment is the tenant’s right on request (Article 7 of Law 89-462), and where rent is paid more than two months in advance no deposit may be taken (Article 22). A demand for «six months up front plus a deposit» does not comply with the law.

Example. A family with two children is looking for three rooms of 75 m². In Paris, an unfurnished flat at €2,900 excluding charges: deposit €2,900, agency up to €907.50, inventory up to €227.25, first month €2,900, a total of up to €6,934.75. If you need a paid guarantor, in practice add €1,218–€1,566 a year, up to €8,500.75 to move in. In Lyon, a furnished flat of the same size at €1,450: a two-month deposit of €2,900, agency up to €756.75, inventory up to €227.25, first month €1,450, up to €5,334. «Six months up front» in Paris means €17,400, which the law does not let a landlord demand.

EU sanctions do not restrict renting a home: the cap concerns deposits above €100,000 in EU banks for Russian nationals without an EU residence permit (Regulation 833/2014). Rent will have to be paid from a French or European account; how to open one is covered in the article on banks in France for Russians.

Unfurnished, furnished or bail mobilité

The law reserves the bail mobilité for people in a temporary situation on the lease date, which has to be proved with a document (service-public). In practice such offers are common on short-let platforms, and newcomers take them for the first months.

Rent caps: Paris, Lyon and other cities

Rent control (encadrement des loyers) applies in Paris, in Est Ensemble and Plaine Commune next to Paris, in Lyon and Villeurbanne, Lille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, part of Grenoble and the Basque Country (service-public). Rent excluding charges may not exceed the loyer de référence majoré, and the landlord must state it in the advert and in the lease.

• Supplement. A complément de loyer is allowed only for exceptional features of the flat and must be written into the lease with a justification; with an energy rating of F or G or with damp it is prohibited. It can be challenged before the conciliation commission (CDC) within three months of signing.
• Fine. Up to €5,000 for a landlord who exceeds the cap and €15,000 for a company.
• Time limit. The experiment ends in late November 2026; the Senate gives 23 November. On 14 October the Senate committee approved a two-year extension in the same cities, with the plenary debate set for 21 October (senat.fr). As of 18 October the law has not been passed, so if you sign a lease in November, check whether the cap still applies.

Rates by Paris arrondissement and how to read the prefecture’s map are in the article on living in Paris, and the coast in the article on Nice and the Côte d’Azur.

Moving in: the inventory and home insurance

When the keys are handed over, an état des lieux is drawn up in writing, on paper or electronically. Within 10 days you may ask for it to be completed, and for heating, during the first month of the heating season (service-public). If there is no inventory, the law presumes you received the home in good condition, and at move-out the burden of proof will be on you.

Home insurance is compulsory for tenants, including under a bail mobilité: the minimum is risques locatifs, meaning fire, explosion and water damage. The certificate goes to the landlord when you get the keys and then every year on request; without it the landlord may terminate the lease or insure the home at your expense (service-public).

Scams: how to spot a fake listing

• Money before a viewing. Any request to pay before a viewing or signing, whether to reserve, «to hold it» or as a «down payment», is a sign of fraud, and the law forbids demanding such money.
• Warning signs. A price below the market, an owner «abroad» who cannot show the flat, a request for your full file by email before any viewing (cybermalveillance.gouv.fr).
• Payment method. Prepaid cards, money transfers, cash and transfers to accounts abroad: refuse. The deposit and first month are paid when you receive the keys.
• Changed bank details. An email saying «the owner has a new account» is a reason to call the owner on a number you already know, not to pay (cybermalveillance.gouv.fr).
• If you have already paid. Contact your bank at once, keep the messages and the listing, and file a complaint online through THESEE or with the police; advice is available from Info Escroqueries on 0 805 805 817 (service-public).

Proof of address for the prefecture and the bank

A residence permit application needs proof of address no older than six months (service-public):

• You rent yourself: one document, such as an electricity, gas, water, phone or internet bill, the lease or a rent receipt.
• You live in a hotel: two, the hotel’s certificate and the latest monthly bill.
• You stay with someone: three, a dated and signed attestation d’hébergement (not to be confused with the invitation for a guest, the attestation d’accueil), a copy of the host’s ID and, if the address on it is out of date, the host’s proof of address.

In practice people validate the VLS-TS visa with an attestation from a short-let host, but when applying for the card some prefectures ask for proof of address in your own name, such as a phone bill or a lease. So it is better to sign a long lease before applying for the first card. If you move, report the new address in ANEF within three months if your card was issued for more than a year (service-public). What else to do in the first months is in the article on life after arriving on a type D visa; the address also decides which school your child is enrolled in, covered in the article on schools in France.

The overall relocation plan, fees and funds by route are in the article on how to move to France, housing for visitors in the article on the visitor visa, and buying instead of renting in buying property in France.

If you are planning a move to France, describe your situation and we will review free of charge which route to start with and how to plan the first months.

Frequently asked questions

Can you rent a flat in France without a CDI?

Yes. The law does not require a CDI: a landlord may ask only for documents on identity, address, status and income, and investment, rental and annuity income is on that list. In practice, agencies are more willing without a CDI when there is a paid guarantor or a guarantor with income, and the search takes from a couple of weeks to several months.

What documents can a landlord in France ask for?

Only those on the closed list of decree 2015-1437: proof of identity, address, status and income, with equivalent documents for the guarantor. Copies must be in French or translated, with amounts in euros. Bank statements, photos and the Vitale card cannot be demanded, with a fine of up to €3,000 for the landlord and €15,000 for a company.

What is Visale and who is eligible?

It is a free Action Logement guarantee that replaces a personal guarantor. Anyone aged 30 or under qualifies, and older applicants qualify as private-sector employees earning up to €1,710 net a month or starting a job. At any age, Visale is available with a bail mobilité. It covers unpaid rent for up to 36 months during the first three years of the lease.

Is it legal to demand several months’ rent in advance in France?

It cannot be imposed: monthly payment is the tenant’s right on request. Where rent is paid more than two months in advance, no deposit may be taken. No money at all may be demanded before the lease is signed, including a reservation fee, and such a request is a common sign of fraud.

How much does it cost to move into a rented flat in France?

A deposit of up to one month’s rent unfurnished and two months furnished, the first month and agency fees: from 2026 up to €12.10 per m² in Paris, €10.09 in tight markets and €8.07 elsewhere, plus up to €3.03 per m² for the inventory. For an unfurnished 75 m² flat in Paris at €2,900, that comes to up to €6,934.75, without a paid guarantor.

Can you apply for a French residence permit with a short-let address?

The application needs proof of address no older than six months: for a rental, a bill, the lease or a receipt; when staying with someone, an attestation, a copy of the host’s ID and the host’s proof of address. In practice people validate the visa with an attestation from a short-let host, but when applying for the card some prefectures ask for a document in your own name.

How do you avoid rental scams in France?

Pay nothing before a viewing and signing, refuse transfers abroad, prepaid cards and cash, and check any change of bank details by calling the owner. Send your file with watermarks, for example through DossierFacile. If money has gone, contact your bank at once and file a complaint through THESEE or with the police.

Official sources

• Law 89-462 of 6 July 1989 on residential leases; Article 22: the deposit; service-public: documents a landlord may ask for (decree 2015-1437)
• service-public: the deposit; unfurnished and furnished lets; tenant’s notice; bail mobilité
• Action Logement: the Visale guarantee; DossierFacile; INC: agency fee caps from 2026
• service-public: rent control; Senate: bill extending rent control
• service-public: the état des lieux; tenant’s insurance; proof of address for a residence permit; change of address
• cybermalveillance.gouv.fr: rental scams; changed bank details; service-public: online rental scams; EU Regulation 833/2014, as at 16 January 2026