Unfit or unsafe housing in France: order, rent, rehousing

The situations covered

Article L511-2, in the version in force since 11 April 2024, covers four situations:

1. risks posed by walls, buildings or structures that do not offer the solidity needed for the safety of occupants or third parties;
2. faulty operation or lack of maintenance of the shared equipment of a multi-occupancy residential building, if it creates serious risks;
3. storage of explosive or flammable materials in a multi-occupancy residential building, in breach of safety rules;
4. unfitness for habitation, that is, a danger or risk to people’s health or physical safety, due to the state of the premises or the conditions in which they are occupied (service-public.gouv.fr).

Substandard housing (habitat indigne) is distinct from non-decent housing: a home subject to an order is necessarily non-decent, but “a non-decent home is not necessarily substandard” (our translation) (ANIL). For the decency criteria, see logement décent (decent housing standards).

Who acts, and how

Source: service-public.gouv.fr. Anyone aware of such a situation must report it to the mayor (péril) or the prefect (insalubrité); the online service Signal Logement can also be used to report a let home. Inspections of occupied premises take place between 6am and 9pm; if the occupant refuses, the authorisation of the juge des libertés et de la détention (liberty and custody judge) is required.

In an emergency, faced with imminent danger, the authority orders the essential measures by order, without a prior adversarial procedure. For a péril, the mayor can ask the administrative court to appoint an expert, who gives an opinion within 24 hours (service-public.gouv.fr).

What the order contains

At the end of the adversarial procedure, the order may prescribe repairs, demolition of all or part of the building, an end to making it available for habitation, or a temporary or permanent ban on occupation (interdiction d’habiter). Demolition and a permanent ban require that no technical means can remedy the danger, or that restoring the building would cost more than rebuilding it (service-public.gouv.fr).

• Time to comply: at least 1 month from notification.
• Daily penalty (astreinte) for delay: set by order “within the ceiling of €1,000 per day of delay” (art. L511-15), collected at the end of each quarter.
• Work carried out by the authority at the owner’s expense.
• Release order (arrêté de mainlevée) once the measures have been carried out, published in the land registry (fichier immobilier or livre foncier).

The tenant’s rights

Rent ceases to be due. Under a safety order or an order to remedy unfitness, the rent and any other sum paid for occupation are no longer due from the first day of the month following the sending of notification of the order (or its posting at the town hall and on the façade), until the first day of the month following notification or posting of the release order (art. L521-2; service-public.gouv.fr). Sums paid in error are refunded or deducted from future rent.

The lease continues. When the order is lifted, the remaining term of the lease is the term that remained on the first day of the month following notification of the order: the period during which rent was suspended does not count against the lease (art. L521-2, II). In the event of a permanent ban on occupation, leases automatically continue to have effect, except for the obligation to pay rent, until they expire or until the occupants leave, and at the latest until the deadline set by the order (art. L521-2, III). From notification, vacant premises can no longer be let or occupied (service-public.gouv.fr).

Temporary housing or rehousing.

• Temporary ban or work making the home uninhabitable: the owner provides decent temporary housing until the work is finished.
• Permanent ban: the owner provides rehousing and pays “compensation equal to three months of the occupant’s new rent, intended to cover their resettlement costs” (art. L521-3-1).
• If the owner fails to do so, the public authority takes over; the cost of housing is then charged to the owner. An occupant who refuses 3 offers of rehousing may have their lease terminated by the tribunal judiciaire (civil court); an occupant who has received no suitable offer is an occupant in good faith who cannot be evicted (service-public.gouv.fr).

The owner’s criminal penalties

Source: service-public.gouv.fr (CCH, art. L511-22 and L521-4). Penalties are heavier where the occupant is a vulnerable person; the courts may add confiscation of the property and a ban on buying property to let for up to 10 years.

Which professional to consult

Before any purchase, ask the notaire (notary): at the authority’s request, the order and its release are published in the land registry covering the property (service-public.gouv.fr). An agent immobilier (estate agent) managing a building subject to an order must stop demanding rent from the month following notification. For a more ordinary rental dispute, see also impayés de loyer (unpaid rent procedure).