The tide is turning for investors who are fans of Airbnb and others. A shower of new rules is falling in cities popular with tourists. Objective of the public authorities: to limit the number of furnished tourist accommodation and to increase the supply of rental accommodation for the inhabitants.
Thus, in Marseille, since February 16, 2022, all properties rented on the platforms must have a compulsory registration number to be collected from the town hall. Before it, Bordeaux, in the summer of 2021, made any rental of furnished tourist accommodation in the city subject to compensation if it was a second home. The owner must since transform into accommodation a room, of equivalent size and quality, to the property he rents. In September 2021, Montpellier goes further. Rental of secondary residences is limited to one property per tax household for a period of six years.
But, among the cities to have hardened the tone the most, Saint-Malo wins the prize. Since this summer, the Breton municipality has established a maximum quota of housing authorized for rental. For those located within the city walls, only 12.5% of the properties can be rented as furnished tourist accommodation. A waiting list is drawn up in chronological order of receipt of requests for other accommodation.
An emergency measure for the city, as the situation has deteriorated in recent years. With nearly 636 nights booked for 100 inhabitants, Saint-Malo became, in 2019, the French champion for short-term rentals according to data from four platforms (Airbnb, VRBO, Expedia, Booking).
Declining profitability
In total, nearly a hundred cities in France follow this regulatory slope. A regulation sometimes welcomed by tourism stakeholders. “In Nice, the compensation mechanism is smartbelieves Dominique Debuire, president of the National Union for the Promotion and Development of Holiday Rentals (UNPLV), it aims to rent the property to students during the school year to take advantage of a change of use during the summer months in order to make seasonal rentals. »
This tightening of regulations has consequences for investors: rental returns of more than 10% in these cities that were once attractive to them seem to be a thing of the past. “I recommend the greatest vigilance before investing, especially if the objective is to obtain additional income. Buyers must take into account the regulatory framework, the amount of the purchase, the charges, the maintenance of the property, the local taxation, the promotion of the property on the platforms, the concierge services… all these costs placed end to end penalize the profitability of the investment, especially if the investor must repay a loan at the same time”he adds.
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