Location: Paris City Hall wants to remove your rent supplement

In Paris since 2015, the market of rental is governed by a rent control system ; since then, 8 cities and communities of communes have followed suit. In these cities, owners must respect rent ceilings which depend on the characteristics of the accommodation (address, year of construction, empty/furnished, number of rooms).

However, under certain conditions, the law allows landlords to request additional rent, a poorly defined legal exception which raises many questions and controversies. So much so that the Paris City Hall would like to remove the possibility for owners to set up a rent supplement. Not so simple.

Rent supplement: outlines too vague for Paris city hall

After 10 years of applying rent ceilings in Paris, the practice of Rent supplement is still a source of controversy. Let us take up the terms of article 140 of the Elan law: a rent supplement can be applied for « accommodation with location or comfort characteristics justifying this, by comparison with accommodation of the same category located in the same geographical area”.

The conditions of the rent supplement are ambiguous. And the law does not help much: it does not give a list of characteristicsit does not specify the amount of the supplement. And this imprecision leads to interpretation, with some owners interpreting it extensively to justify their rent supplement.

Faced with this, the Paris City Hall has expressed its intention to better regulate, or even eliminate, the rent supplementJacques Baudrier, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Housing: « If the left passes, this is in any case what we will propose. The idea of ​​rent control is to create a ceiling that must not be exceeded. And this supplement proposes precisely to circumvent the rent ceilings.¹ ».

If you are an owner, don’t panic

This decision is not not the responsibility of the Paris City Hall, but the responsibility of the lawtherefore of Parliament. It is unlikely, given the results of the last legislative elections, that the measure will obtain a majority of deputies in favour (in the event that it is put to the vote).

Rent supplement: legal, but contestable by the tenant

In the absence of a change in the law, the practice of rent supplement is therefore legal. For a landlord to be able to legitimately claim rent supplement, he must list in the rental contract the location or comfort features which distinguish his accommodation from other accommodation in the area. He must also indicate the amount of the additional rent.

Cases where the rent supplement is accepted

Certain characteristics definitely allow the application of a rent supplement. These are rare characteristics that only concern a minority of dwellings. This is the case from a terrace or a beautiful view cleared.

Beyond these two obvious examples, it is difficult to make a definitive statement. Indeed, even though rent control has been in force for 10 years in Paris, case law has made little pronouncement. Indeed, tenants rarely take the matter to court. No judge, no case law… and uncertainty remains.

Another uncertainty: the amount of the supplement. If the terrace is allowed to make a supplement, we do not know what the amount of this supplement can be. €10 per month? €50? €200? 10% of the basic rent? On this question too, the law says nothing!

Cases where the rent supplement is called into question

For a rent supplement, the owner must indicate in the rental contract the characteristics which justify the rent supplement, as well as the amount of the supplement.

The tenant has the right to contest the rent supplement within 3 months following the signing of the lease by contacting the departmental conciliation commission. He may contest the reason for the supplement and/or the amount of the supplement. The conciliation commission will attempt to find an amicable solution between the parties. If no conciliation is found, the tenant may refer the matter to the judicial court in order to have the dispute settled.

Cases where rent supplement is prohibited

The law does not list the characteristics that allow for a rent supplement. However, since August 2022, the law specifies the cases in which any rent supplement is prohibited :

• toilets on the landing;
• signs of humidity on some walls;
• an energy performance level of class F or class G;
• windows that abnormally let air pass through outside the ventilation grille;
• a face-to-face less than ten meters away;
• infiltrations or flooding coming from outside the accommodation;
• water drainage problems in the last three months;
• a degraded electrical installation;
• or poor exposure of the main room.

If the accommodation has one of these characteristics, no additional rent is possibleeven if it also offers an exceptional view or a terrace.

To complete this article, watch our video

“In Paris, will it soon be forbidden to pay rent supplements?”