Paris 120-Day Cap and Arrondissements: Rules for Non-Resident STR Owners 2026

Paris 120-Day Cap and Arrondissements: Rules for Non-Resident STR Owners 2026

Paris is the most regulated short-term rental market in continental Europe. The 120-day annual cap on residence principale rentals, the 1-for-1 commercial compensation regime in central arrondissements and the EUR 50,000 fine ceiling under art. L651-2 CCH have shaped a market where compliance is non-negotiable. For a UK or US owner of a Marais flat or a Saint-Germain pied-à-terre, the rules depend almost entirely on whether the property is your residence principale (your main home) or residence secondaire (most foreign owners). This guide explains both regimes, how the 2024 Conseil de Paris délibération tightened the cap and how Annecy, Bordeaux and Lyon now mirror the Paris model.

The Paris STR framework is built on Loi ALUR (Loi 2014-366 du 24 mars 2014), Loi ELAN (Loi 2018-1021), the Loi Le Meur (Loi 2024-1039 du 19 nov 2024), the Conseil de Paris délibérations (most recently 12 December 2024 and 6 March 2025) and the underlying art. L631-7 to L631-10 CCH which govern the change of use of residential premises (changement d'usage). The Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris has handled hundreds of cases since 2017, with a robust caselaw confirming the EUR 50,000 ceiling per non-compliant unit.

The Two Worlds: Residence Principale vs Residence Secondaire

The single most important question for a Paris STR owner is whether the property is your residence principale (you sleep there more than 8 months per year) or residence secondaire (you sleep elsewhere most of the year). The two regimes differ by 90% in administrative weight.

For a UK or US non-resident owner the answer is almost always residence secondaire because you live in London, New York or Dublin. Even if you spend 4 months in Paris, you do not pass the 8-month threshold. A residence principale claim on a Paris flat by a foreign owner is rare and usually challenged by the mairie at first contact.

Item	Residence principale (resident owner)	Residence secondaire (typical foreign owner)
Numéro d'enregistrement required	Yes	Yes
Annual cap	120 days (90 days from 2026 in Paris)	No cap, year-round if compliant
Changement d'usage required	No	Yes in Paris and central tension zones
Compensation in central Paris	Not applicable	1.5 m2 commercial conversion per 1 m2 (some areas 2:1)
Fine ceiling	EUR 5,000 if cap exceeded	EUR 50,000 per unit if no changement

The 120-Day Cap Becomes 90 in Paris from 2026

Pre-2024 the cap was 120 days nationwide for residence principale, with no scope for mairies to lower it. Loi Le Meur (art. L324-2-1 Code du Tourisme) gave mairies the power to lower the cap to 90 days in tension zones by deliberation. Paris voted on 12 December 2024 to set the cap at 90 days from 1 January 2026.

The cap counts every night the property is rented to a transient clientele. It is enforced through a combination of mairie audits, neighbour denunciations and the daily Airbnb-Booking-Vrbo platform sync (the API exposes nights rented per numéro d'enregistrement to the mairie). Exceeding the cap as a residence principale owner triggers a EUR 5,000 fine under art. L324-1-1 IV Code du Tourisme.

The Changement d'Usage and the Compensation Regime

Art. L631-7 CCH requires authorisation for any change of use of residential premises in communes with more than 200,000 inhabitants and in tension zones. STR is treated as a change of use because the property serves a transient commercial clientele, not a long-term residential tenant. The authorisation is granted by the mairie, and in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and similar municipalities it requires compensation: the owner must convert the same surface (or more) of commercial space back to residential use.

The Paris compensation matrix:

• 1er, 2e, 3e, 4e, 5e, 6e, 7e, 8e, 9e arrondissements (central): 2:1 compensation, you must add 2 m2 of commercial-to-residential conversion per 1 m2 of STR.
• 10e to 18e (intermediate): 1.5:1 compensation.
• 19e and 20e (peripheral): 1:1 compensation.

Compensation is acquired on the secondary market. Specialist brokers package commercial-to-residential conversion certificates (titres de compensation), prices in 2026 range from EUR 2,500 to 4,500 per m2 in central arrondissements. A 50 m2 STR in the 4e requires 100 m2 of compensation at EUR 3,500/m2, equals EUR 350,000 in compensation cost on top of the property purchase.

Numéro d'Enregistrement Display Rule

Every Paris STR listing must show the numéro d'enregistrement in the listing description. The Paris portal at meubles-tourisme.paris.fr issues the 13-character code instantly. The platforms cross-check daily and delist listings without a valid number within 14 days. Repeat removals trigger a permanent ban.

For residence secondaire owners the numéro is conditional on the changement d'usage being granted first. Filing the numéro without the prior changement gets the application rejected, and the platform listing cannot proceed.

Annecy, Bordeaux and Lyon EPCI Adopt the Paris Model

Beyond Paris, several EPCI (Établissements Publics de Coopération Intercommunale, intercommunal cooperation bodies) and central communes have adopted similar regimes:

• Annecy and the Annecy lake basin: 90-day cap from 2026, changement d'usage with 1:1 compensation in centre-ville, full numéro enforcement, fine ceiling EUR 50,000.
• Bordeaux Métropole: 120-day cap for residence principale, changement d'usage required for residence secondaire in centre-ville and Chartrons, compensation 1.5:1 in 4 quartiers.
• Lyon Métropole: 120-day cap, changement d'usage in 1er, 2e, 4e, 5e and 6e arrondissements, compensation 1:1 with optional pooling within the métropole.
• Saint-Malo, La Rochelle, Biarritz, Cannes: changement d'usage required for residence secondaire in tension zones, compensation 1:1 with active enforcement.
• Côte d'Azur tension communes (Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat): Loi Le Meur powers exercised broadly, expect a 90-day cap in 2026 and a tightened compensation regime.

How the Mairie Detects Non-Compliance

Paris and the other tension communes run a multi-channel detection stack:

1. Daily platform sync: Airbnb, Booking and Vrbo expose listings with numéros d'enregistrement to the mairie via API. Listings without a number or with a revoked number are flagged.
2. Neighbour denunciations: the syndic de copropriété, the gardien, individual neighbours can file a complaint via the mairie portal. Paris received 18,000+ complaints in 2024.
3. Field inspections: teams of agents assermentés visit suspect addresses, ring the bell, ask occupants about their length of stay, photograph key boxes on the building exterior.
4. DAC7 cross-reference: the platform-reported gross rental per property feeds DGFiP, which can reconcile against numéro d'enregistrement and trigger a mairie referral when a property declares zero days but reports rent.
5. Cadastral cross-reference: the mairie compares the declared status (residence principale or secondaire) to the IFI and taxe d'habitation databases.

The EUR 50,000 Fine in Practice

Art. L651-2 CCH sets the maximum fine at EUR 50,000 per non-compliant unit. The Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris hands down this maximum routinely for residence secondaire STR without changement d'usage. Aggravating factors that push the fine to the ceiling: high turnover (denoting commercial scale), repeat offences after warning, blatant disregard (no numéro at all), and the property being in the central arrondissements.

For a UK or US owner discovered renting their 4e arrondissement flat without changement d'usage: typical first-instance ruling EUR 35,000 to 50,000 plus the obligation to "rétablir le local en habitation" (restore the property to residential use, meaning stop STR), plus a EUR 1,000 daily astreinte if non-compliance continues. Appeals usually fail because the rules are clear.

What to Do Before You Buy or Before You List

• Check the arrondissement, central arrondissements imply a heavy compensation cost stack.
• Read the copropriété règlement and the last 3 procès-verbaux for STR-banning resolutions, the syndicat now needs only a 2/3 majority post-Loi Le Meur.
• Run the math on compensation, EUR 350,000 on a 50 m2 4e flat may make the STR economics unworkable vs traditional bail meublé long-term let.
• If you cannot do compensation, consider bail mobilité (1 to 10 months, no STR cap) or bail meublé classique (12 months minimum, regulated by the Loi du 6 juillet 1989).
• Plan for the 2026 90-day cap if you ever convert the property to residence principale (rare for foreign owners).

Frequently Asked Questions

I am a UK owner with a 30 m2 studio in the 11e arrondissement, do I need changement d'usage?

Yes. The 11e is in the intermediate compensation zone (1.5:1). Your 30 m2 STR requires 45 m2 of compensation, around EUR 90,000 to 135,000 depending on the broker. Without changement d'usage, the EUR 50,000 fine ceiling applies on detection.

Does the changement d'usage transfer with the property if I sell?

The changement d'usage is attached to the property, not the owner, in Paris and most central communes. So a buyer inherits both the authorisation and the compensation, no fresh procedure needed. Annecy and some EPCI require a new application on transfer, check the local règlement.

Can I claim residence principale if I spend 6 months in Paris and 6 months in London?

The 8-month rule is the default test under art. 2 Loi du 6 juillet 1989. Spending exactly 6 months does not qualify. The mairie also cross-checks taxe d'habitation status, electricity consumption and bank/postal records. Foreign owners with a UK or US tax residence rarely succeed in claiming residence principale.

What is the fine if I exceed the 90-day cap on a residence principale?

EUR 5,000 under art. L324-1-1 IV Code du Tourisme. The mairie can also revoke the numéro d'enregistrement and ban the property from STR for the following calendar year.

Can I rent my pied-à-terre via Booking with mid-term stays of 30+ days to avoid the rules?

The numéro d'enregistrement and changement d'usage rules apply to "courte durée" rentals. Stays of 1 month or more to a clientele non-touristique fall outside the meublé de tourisme regime and outside the change of use rules in most communes. The bail mobilité (1 to 10 months) is a clean alternative for digital nomads, students and trainees.

How does the Paris compensation market work practically?

Specialist brokers (Hosman, Mon Mandataire, dedicated changement d'usage agencies) source commercial offices or bureaux that can be converted back to housing. They package the conversion certificate as a titre de compensation and sell it to STR owners. The transaction goes through the notaire and the mairie validates within 60 to 90 days.

For a feasibility memo on Paris STR economics including compensation cost modelling, see the Standard Package HostReady (France) which produces a per-arrondissement breakdown plus the changement d'usage application drafting.