Recoverable service charges in France: list and adjustment

What the tenant may have to pay

Article 23 sorts recoverable charges into three categories:

1. services provided in connection with the use of the home and the building;
2. routine maintenance expenses and minor repairs to the parts in common use;
3. taxes corresponding to services from which the tenant benefits directly.

The 1987 decree details these expenses under eight headings (Légifrance):

Caretaker and building employee. The pay and social security contributions of a gardien or concierge (caretaker) are recoverable at 75% if they handle both the cleaning of the common parts and the removal of refuse, and at 40% if they handle only one of these tasks; those of an employé d’immeuble (building employee) are recoverable in full (1987 decree, art. 2).

Electricity and gas used in the home do not go through the charges: the tenant pays them directly to their supplier (service-public.gouv.fr). The same rules apply in a colocation (flatshare) and in a furnished letting paid by advances (service-public.gouv.fr).

Not recoverable, for example, is the lift’s five-yearly technical inspection (service-public.gouv.fr). In social housing, the list is that of decree no. 82-955 of 9 November 1982.

Advances or flat rate

Advances are justified by the results of the previous adjustment and, in a copropriété (building in co-ownership) or where the landlord is a legal entity, by the budget prévisionnel (annual budget) (art. 23). The flat rate for a furnished letting is not adjusted; it must not be disproportionate to the charges applied to the previous tenant and may be revised each year on the same terms as the rent (service-public.gouv.fr). See also location meublée (furnished lease).

The annual adjustment

Once a year, the landlord compares the advances paid with the actual expenses: the landlord refunds any overpayment or claims the shortfall (service-public.gouv.fr). Article 23 requires the landlord:

• to send, 1 month before the adjustment, the statement broken down by type of charge and the method of apportionment between the homes;
• where there is communal heating or hot water, an information note on how they are calculated and on the home’s individual consumption;
• to keep the supporting documents available to the tenant for 6 months after the statement is sent;
• to send, at the tenant’s request, the summary of charges electronically or by post.

Late adjustment and limitation period

The law sets a 3-year period for any action arising from the lease, running from the day on which the facts were known or should have been known (art. 7-1). The landlord can therefore claim charges up to 3 years later; the tenant can claim an overpayment within the same period. Service-public.gouv.fr gives the example of a debt from October 2026 that can be claimed until October 2029.

If the adjustment was not made before the end of the calendar year following the one in which the charges were due, the tenant can insist on paying the arrears in twelfths, i.e. over 12 months (art. 23), by requesting it by registered letter (service-public.gouv.fr). A court may refuse a late adjustment deemed unfair or abrupt (service-public.gouv.fr).

Which professional to consult

An agent immobilier (estate agent) handling property management draws up the annual statement from the co-ownership accounts and keeps the supporting documents available to the tenant. When a let home is sold, the apportionment of the year’s charges between seller and buyer is settled with the notaire (notary).