The mayor of Nice wants to take advantage of the “anti-Airbnb” law passed on November 7 to tighten the screws a little more on seasonal rentals. This is not the first time that Christian Estrosi has sought “to put in place rigorous regulations” in order to “maintain residents’ access to long-term housing”.
This time, the elected official is talking about reducing the number of Airbnb accommodations “at least 50%” thanks to “this new law [qui] allows us to go further”. An announcement that he supports on an impact study, carried out by the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis, with district-by-district mapping.“I don’t want to ban furnished tourist accommodation but to prevent them from swallowing up the city. I am obviously not targeting the owners who rent out their rooms to make ends meet, but the companies which monopolize the common property of all the people of Nice.”
Seven measures envisaged
In total, seven measures are being considered by the City of Nice. “We want to establish quotas per neighborhood beyond which owners will have to compensate by transforming premises of equivalent surface area into housing. And limit the duration of temporary authorizations granted which would go from 6 to 5 years, unfolds Christian Estrosi. We wish to reduce the number of authorized days of tourist rental for main residences from 120 to 90 days per year which is the low ceiling of the law..
Concerning the mixed rental exemption system, which allows furnished tourist accommodation in the summer with accommodation used for students the rest of the year, no change, it is maintained.
Another novelty: the mayor wants “ask the owner to provide a DPE [1] respecting the standards and a sworn declaration of the co-ownership regulations when submitting the change of use file.
Finally, the City would like “have the possibility of imposing administrative fines of up to 20,000 euros and of being able to increase them in the event of an infraction”but also be able to “establish zones authorizing only main residences in the local urban plan”.
32 neighborhoods were identified as “tense”
Through these measures, the municipality wants to allow the people of Nice “to find suitable accommodation” and reduce “significant nuisances in many areas of the city”. The impact study notably made it possible to highlight a constantly growing supply of furnished tourist rentals (LMT). In 2023, these concerned nearly 13,700 announcements, representing an increase of 36% since the post-Covid period.
On the other hand, LMT offers are 7 to 10 times higher than long-term housing advertisements. And a third of renters are investors who rent out their accommodation for an average of 208 days per year (while the law allows a maximum of 120 days).
In Nice, 32 neighborhoods have been identified as “tense” since they total nearly 70% of seasonal rental advertisements. They are mainly concentrated on the coastal strip and the heart of the city.
1. Energy performance diagnosis.
Airbnb “at the disposal of the City to support it in developing the right thresholds”
“When they are based on reliable data and are well targeted and proportionate, quotas can be relevant to limit the concentration of accommodation dedicated exclusively to short-term rentals in certain neighborhoods, we specify at Airbnb. We are therefore available to the City to support it in developing the right thresholds, adapted to each district of the city. “
The online accommodation reservation platform “however, regrets the plan to reduce the number of days during which Nice families can rent their main residence “. She considers that it is “a measure which misses the target, by penalizing families who rely on this additional income to pay their expenses, without having an impact on the supply of housing available locally”.
Rental companies “ready to go to court”
Frédéric Sédita is a member of the Local Union of Tourist Rental Professionals (UPLT) and even vice-president of the National Union of Furnished Rental Professionals (SPLM). He obviously followed carefully the announcements from the mayor of Nice to regulate the market. With, he believes, a littleprecipitation” since the law on which they are based “has not yet been promulgated” and there is a strong risk of being the subject of appeal, particularly from the SPLM. The same will go for some of the measures put on the table by Christian Estrosi which Frédéric Sédita judges “liberticides”.
“A constitutional subject”
Like that of establishing zones in the local town planning plan authorizing only main residences. “It is a constitutional subject. This goes against property rights. And if necessary we will go to court“, he promises. Another sticking point is the reduction in the number of authorized nights from 120 to 90 days for main residences. “A stupid thing without a name”adopted “to please hoteliers” even if this measure “will not put any housing back on the market“.
On the other hand, the SPLM representative is not against the establishment of quotas if this is done with “methodology” and with “clearly quantified objectives”. Just as he is totally in favor of respecting energy diagnostics or even encouraging diversity for the benefit of students on condition of reversing rent controls which he considers too restrictive.
EG
