06/06/2026
NEW LAWS AND REGULATIONS TO CURBE SHORT-TERM RENTALS (Booking.com / AirBnb / etc)
1. Mairie rules are very strict in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin already operates a municipal declaration system for meublés de tourisme. The mairie’s own portal says it offers online declaration so the host can obtain a declaration number, and it also states that, where applicable, a changement d’usage request must be made for a meublé de tourisme outside a principal residence.
This matters because French law now requires prior declaration/registration for meublés de tourisme, and non-compliance can trigger substantial penalties. Article L.324-1-1 of the French Tourism Code provides fines up to €10,000 for failure to comply with registration/declaration obligations, up to €20,000 for false declarations or use of a false declaration number, and up to €15,000 for breach of the principal-residence day cap.
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin also voted to reduce the annual short-term rental cap for principal residences from 120 days to 90 days per year, specifically to reduce the multiplication of Airbnb-type rentals and their housing-market impact.
For secondary residences, the pressure point is even stronger. Under Article L.631-7 of the Construction and Housing Code, renting a furnished residential unit as a meublé de tourisme constitutes a change of use. If a change-of-use authorisation is required and not obtained, Article L.651-2 allows a civil fine up to €100,000 per illegally transformed unit, an order to restore residential use, and a possible daily penalty of up to €1,000 per day per useful square metre.
2. New Copropriété Rules
French copropriété law was strengthened by the 19-11-2024 law. Article 9-2 of the 1965 copropriété law now provides that when a lot is declared as a meublé de tourisme, the co-owner, or the authorised tenant via the co-owner, must inform the syndic, and the syndic must place an information item about tourist-rental activity on the agenda of the next general meeting.
More importantly, Article 26 of the 1965 law now allows a copropriété, by the qualified Article 26 majority, to modify the règlement de copropriété to prohibit tourist furnished rentals of residential lots other than principal residences, but only in copropriétés whose règlement already prohibits commercial activity in lots not specifically designated for commercial use.
The Conseil constitutionnel confirmed on 19-03-2026 that this new Article 26 mechanism is constitutionally valid, while emphasizing the limits: it concerns buildings whose rules already prohibit commercial activity in non-commercial lots, it targets residential lots that are not principal residences, and it applies equally to all co-owners.
3. Change-of-use authorisation are decisive for secondary residences
Under Article L.631-7 of the French Construction and Housing Code, renting a residential unit as a furnished tourist rental constitutes a change of use. If required authorisation is missing, Article L.651-2 allows a civil fine of up to €100,000 per irregularly transformed unit.
4. New copropriété power after the 2024 law
The 2024 French law gives copropriétés a new tool.
Article 9-2 of the 1965 copropriété law now requires a co-owner, or an authorised tenant through the co-owner, to inform the syndic when a lot is declared as a meublé de tourisme. The syndic must then put an information item about tourist-rental activity on the agenda of the next General Meeting.
Article 26 of the same law now allows a copropriété to modify the règlement de copropriété, by the Article 26 majority, to prohibit the rental of residential lots as meublés de tourisme when the lot is not the owner’s principal residence — but only in copropriétés whose règlement already prohibits commercial activity in lots not specifically designated for commercial use.
The French Conseil constitutionnel confirmed in March 2026 that this new mechanism is constitutionally valid.
[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000053704054]
