Regulations governing accommodation providers

A furnished holiday home is a furnished villa, flat or studio, for the exclusive use of the tenant, and offered to a visiting clientele who stay there on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, and who do not take up residence there.

A few tips to get you started

If the property you are letting is your principal residence (i.e. you occupy it for more than 8 months of the year), you must comply with specific rules.
If the property you rent out is your second home, you may not rent it out to the same person for more than 90 days a year.
If you own a property and wish to rent it out as furnished tourist accommodation, you must first check that the co-ownership regulations do not prohibit this.
If you are a tenant and wish to sublet your property, you must obtain written permission from your landlord.

I declare my activity

At the Town Hall: Cerfa n°14004*04 form available from your town hall or from service-public.fr
With Infogreffe, to create your SIRET number (issued by INSEE)
Individuals: the formalities to be completed by non-professional furnished-rental property owners are available on the www.infogreffe.fr/formalites-entreprise/formalitesdgfip.html portal.
SCI: Cerfa M0 no. 13958*02 + an entry in the Trade Register.
This access allows you to enter your declarations yourself online and monitor the processing of your file from your dashboard.

The formalities available are :

Registration
Changes :
- opening a new establishment
- closing an existing establishment
- transferring the business
- changes to surname, first name, customary name, place of residence and nationality
- changes to the date of commencement of activity

Deregistration

For further information, please consult the document : Non-professional furnished tenants.

Smoke detectors

Since 8 March 2015, all residential premises must be fitted with at least one standard smoke detector bearing the CE mark and complying with the harmonised European standard NF EN 14604 - Information on Legifrance and Anil.

Swimming pools/jacuzzis: comply with safety requirements

Swimming pools, jacuzzis and bathing pools for public use must be registered with the local council before they are opened, providing proof that they comply with health and safety standards. These public facilities are subject to health inspections by the Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS), the cost of which is borne by the operator. Whether you have a swimming pool for your own personal use or for guests staying in tourist accommodation, you need to prevent the risk of drowning, especially for children under the age of 5. The law of 3 January 2003 requires owners of private swimming pools to install at least 1 of 4 safety devices (protective barrier, pool cover, detection alarm or pool shelter) and to ensure that they comply with standards (decree no. 2004-499).

Insurance

The owner has an obligation of means and results. The owner must therefore take out insurance cover. To protect yourself and your guests, take out an insurance policy tailored to your activity as a furnished lettings business, as you could be held liable! Some policies also cover loss of rental income.

Secure WiFi

Furnished-rental and bed-and-breakfast establishments are subject to certain obligations when they offer Internet access (free or for a fee) to their tenants. By offering Internet access to your tenants, the law considers you to be an access provider, and as such you are obliged to allow each user to be identified and to keep a record of their consultations for a period of one year (Decree of 24 March 2006), so that you can provide it to the authorities if requested. You could be held liable, for example, in the event of illegal downloading or consultation of terrorist, paedophile or racially offensive websites. The current boxes are not the solution. You need to set up your own private hotspot where you can define your access policy so that your customers can connect to the Internet legally.

Tourist tax

The tourist tax applies to all adults (tourists, spa visitors and other seasonal residents) staying in accommodation in the Avant-Monts area. It applies all year round and is paid by the customer to the accommodation providers. Proceeds from the tourist tax are allocated to expenditure aimed at improving the destination's tourism offering.

The rate must be displayed by accommodation providers, owners and other intermediaries responsible for collecting this tax, and must be noted in the rental contract. It varies according to the type of accommodation and its classification. The various rates are set out in the law. Once the tax has been collected, the accommodation provider will pay the total amount of tourist tax collected from guests by means of a single cheque or bank transfer every four months. Some digital operators (Airbnb, Abritelhomeaway, etc.) collect tourist tax on online bookings.

Tourist Tax Department : Tel. 04.67.36.67.13
Information, declaration and payment platform: lesavantmonts.taxesejour.fr