In the event of the rental of unfurnished accommodation for use as a main residence, the minimum duration of the rental contract provided for by law is three years. This duration is required if the lessor is a natural person or a family real estate civil society (SCI), that is to say formed between relatives up to the 4th degree.

On the other hand, if the lessor is another legal person (a non-family SCI, a company or an association), the contract must be concluded for a minimum period of six years. However, the natural person lessor has the possibility of proposing a lease of less than three years, and of at least one year, when he plans to recover the accommodation rented earlier for a family or professional reason.

For example, he plans to personally occupy the accommodation after his retirement due in one year, or to make it available to a child who has gone abroad and has to return to France in two years. The contract must then specify the event invoked by the lessor, and the latter must confirm its occurrence by sending a notice to the tenant at least two months before the end of the contract. However, if the event does not occur or if the lessor forgets to confirm it to the tenant, the lease is deemed to have been concluded from the outset for three years.

Note: The lessor can offer a lease for a longer period than that required by law (3 years or 6 years). In our opinion, he has no interest in doing so because he can recover his property only at the end of the lease, not during the lease. In addition, at the end of the current lease, the rental is tacitly renewed for the same duration as initially provided if the lessor has not given notice to the tenant in place.

In the event of the rental of furnished accommodation for use as a main residence, the minimum duration of the rental contract provided for by law is one year. This duration requires that the lessor be a natural person, a family SCI or another legal entity. It must be deducted from the effective date of the lease entered in the rental contract. For example, a furnished lease concluded on November 1, 2020 will end on October 31, 2021. On this date, the lease will be tacitly renewed for a new year, unless the lessor has given notice to the tenant at least three months before October 31, 2021 to repossess the accommodation, to sell it free of any occupation or for a legitimate and serious reason (non-compliance with its obligations by the tenant, for example).

By way of exception, in the event of a furnished rental for use as a main residence granted to a student, the lessor may offer a lease for a period reduced to nine months (i.e. the duration of the academic year). In this case, this duration is firm and the lease ends automatically at the scheduled term, without the possibility for the tenant to claim its tacit renewal. He must leave the premises at the end of the contract.

Created by the ÉLAN Law (Evolution of Housing, Development and Digital) of November 2018, the “mobility” lease is designed to meet the needs of people seeking accommodation for a short period. It is exclusively intended for tenants in vocational training, in higher education, on an apprenticeship contract, on an internship, on a voluntary commitment as part of a civic service, on a professional transfer or on a temporary assignment as part of their professional activity. It can only relate to furnished accommodation, the tenant must be able to settle with his personal belongings and without bringing any furniture. Empty rentals are therefore not affected. Its duration is fixed freely between the owner and the tenant for a period of between one and ten months. At the end of the lease, the contract is not renewed. The owner recovers his property without having to give notice to the tenant. For his part, the tenant can leave the accommodation at any time, subject to compliance with a notice period of one month.

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