The city of Saint-Malo has been fighting for years against the phenomenon of short-term rentals such as Airbnb to curb real estate speculation in a city already under tension.
The various right-wing mayor Gilles Lurton issued, on May 17, 2021, a municipal decree limiting temporary authorizations for change of use [de locaux d’habitation en meublé touristique, N.D.L.R.] “to natural persons only” thus excluding legal entities such as SCI (real estate companies) or SAS (simplified joint stock companies).
Also read: In Brittany, the quotas of Saint-Malo, pioneer in the fight against Airbnb, examined by judges
A unique decree in France
This is the strictest regulation in existence and the elected official from Saint-Malo is the first in France to take such a measure. Fourteen applicants, owners of this type of housing, had applied to the administrative court for an action in excess of their powers and requested the annulment of this decree.
During the hearing on October 3, 2024, the public rapporteur ordered the court to reject all of the applicants’ requests. For him, the municipality has every possibility of controlling short-term rentals when it is a “compelling reason of general interest”. The public rapporteur had judged that the fight against the shortage of housing in the corsair city constitutes a reason of general interest: “Students, seasonal workers and young workers are particularly affected by this shortage. »
The decree responds to the general interest
In a highly anticipated order issued this Thursday, October 17, 2024, the court ruled in favor of the city of Saint-Malo. The judges consider that European law, as well as the law, allow it to set up a change of use authorization regime, “limited to one authorization per natural person owner of premises” and comprising “differentiated quotas” according to the different particularities of the geographical sectors of the municipality.
The City’s regulations are, in fact, “in the municipal policy of combating the structural shortage of housing” and therefore responds to “an objective of general interest”. The applicants have the possibility to appeal this decision.
