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Maître Reda KOHEN, avocat au Barreau de Paris
Maître Reda KOHEN
Avocat au Barreau de Paris

Can a French Landlord Increase a British Tenant’s Rent or End the Lease After Brexit?

Can a French landlord increase the rent or end the lease simply because the tenant is British? No. Brexit changed the immigration framework for British nationals, but it did not create a separate rent scale or a separate termination power for French residential landlords. The decisive questions are the type of lease, the date of the proposed change, the wording of the contract, the energy rating of the dwelling, the reason given for any notice and the evidence preserved by the tenant. A landlord may apply a lawful annual review or propose a lawful revaluation at renewal. A landlord may also terminate at the end of the contractual period for a permitted reason, following the required notice and form. The same rules apply whether the tenant receives a UK pension, works for a British employer or pays from a British bank account.

This article uses the French vocabulary that appears in letters and leases. A bail is a residential lease; the bailleur is the landlord and the locataire is the tenant. A location vide is an unfurnished let, while a location meublée is a furnished let used as the principal home. The analysis concerns a private principal residence, not a holiday booking, a commercial lease or the purchase of property. For the separate question of presenting UK income and a UK guarantor in an application, see our guide to a British rental file after Brexit.

The practical answer is document-led. Read the rent-review clause, identify the relevant French index, calculate the maximum lawful amount, check the DPE, or diagnostic de performance énergétique (energy performance diagnostic), and verify whether the proposal is an annual review or a renewal revaluation. If a congé, meaning a formal notice ending the lease, arrives, calculate the contractual end date and the date on which the notice was received. Then preserve the letter, the envelope or delivery record, the lease, the payment history and every message referring to British nationality or UK income.

I. Can a French landlord increase a British tenant’s rent?

A. What annual rent review is lawful during the lease?

The first distinction is between a rent review during the current lease and a new rent proposed when the lease is renewed. They are not interchangeable. During the lease, a landlord cannot normally replace the agreed rent with the current market price. The starting point is the contract itself. Article 1103 of the French Civil Code states that “Les contrats légalement formés tiennent lieu de loi à ceux qui les ont faits.” In practical terms, a signed lease binds both parties, subject to the mandatory protections in the residential-tenancy legislation. Article 1104 adds that contracts must be negotiated, formed and performed in good faith. Those provisions do not set the rent-review ceiling, but they explain why a unilateral demand should be compared with the written bargain and the special rules governing housing.

For an unfurnished principal residence, the central rule is Article 17-1 of the Law of 6 July 1989 on relations between landlords and tenants. It permits an annual review when the contract contains a review clause. The text says: “Lorsque le contrat prévoit la révision du loyer, celle-ci intervient chaque année à la date convenue entre les parties ou, à défaut, au terme de chaque année du contrat.” The increase cannot exceed the change in the indice de référence des loyers, or IRL, the Rent Reference Index published quarterly by INSEE. The relevant quarter is the one identified in the lease, or, where the lease does not identify a reference date, the last index published when the contract was signed.

The formula is deliberately mechanical: current rent excluding recoverable charges multiplied by the new IRL, divided by the previous IRL. For example, if the rent excluding charges is €1,000, the contractual reference index is 140 and the applicable new index is 144, the maximum indexed rent is €1,028.57. This is an illustration, not a current index quotation. The actual calculation must use the quarter and figures that apply to the lease. A demand for €1,080 cannot be justified by an IRL calculation that produces €1,028.57. A separate lawful charge reconciliation, an agreed improvement supplement or a statutory rent-control rule must not be mixed into the IRL calculation.

The clause matters. If the lease is silent, a landlord cannot create an annual indexation power by pointing to inflation, a new mortgage rate or a neighbour’s rent. The Court of Cassation reached that conclusion in Cass. 3e civ., 4 October 1995, no. 93-20.461. In a case involving a verbal lease, it faulted the lower court for allowing indexation “sans constater, s’agissant d’un bail verbal, l’existence d’un accord d’indexation”. The decision concerned the earlier statutory text, but the evidential lesson remains useful: an indexation claim needs a contractual or otherwise established basis. A British tenant should therefore ask the landlord to identify the exact clause, the date of review, the old index, the new index and the calculation.

The annual review is not automatic. Article 17-1 gives the landlord one year from the review date to manifest the wish to apply it. If the landlord does not do so in that period, the landlord is treated as having waived the clause for the year that has passed. If the landlord acts within the year, the review takes effect from the request, not from an earlier date. A letter sent in March cannot generally turn a January review into a retroactive demand for the January and February difference. Keep the date of receipt, because an email, a rent statement or a letter may raise a question about when the request became effective.

Do not confuse rent with recoverable charges. The rent is the price for occupation; charges may cover items that the landlord is permitted to recover and may be paid as a provision subject to annual reconciliation. The landlord should show which amount is being reviewed and which amount is being reconciled. A tenant who disputes an IRL calculation should not simply subtract the disputed sum from the next payment without advice. Article 7 of the 1989 law requires the tenant “De payer le loyer et les charges récupérables aux termes convenus”. A payment dispute and a calculation dispute should be recorded separately, with the undisputed amount paid on time where possible.

Energy performance can stop an increase altogether. Article 17-1 also states that the review and the improvement-related increase cannot be applied to homes in energy class F or G, subject to the commencement rules in the legislation. The DPE is not a decorative attachment. Check the class, the date of the lease, the date of any renewal or tacit renewal and the type of increase proposed. A landlord who labels a market increase as an IRL review cannot avoid the energy-performance restriction by changing the heading of the letter.

The same annual-review logic applies to a furnished principal residence through Article 25-9 of the 1989 law. The text expressly provides: “Pour la révision du loyer, les I et III de l’article 17-1 sont applicables aux logements meublés.” The furnished lease has its own duration and termination rules, but the nationality of the tenant does not alter the IRL ceiling. A British tenant in a furnished flat should therefore read the rent clause in the same disciplined way: identify the clause, the date, the index and the effective month before accepting a changed standing order.

There may be a lawful increase connected with improvement works or, in limited circumstances, a specific agreement concerning energy-saving works. That is not a free-standing power to increase the rent. The written agreement, the nature of the works, the contractual provision and the statutory limit must be checked. Ordinary repairs that the landlord already had to perform are not automatically an improvement allowing an unlimited rent change. Ask for an itemised explanation and keep the invoices or work description if the landlord relies on works.

Finally, a British tenant should separate immigration status from contract performance. A Withdrawal Agreement residence card, a post-Brexit long-stay visa or a pending administrative application may matter to the right to reside, but none of these documents gives the landlord a power to apply a special rent increase. Conversely, the absence of a French bank account does not excuse late payment if the tenant has agreed a payment method. The legal analysis must stay tied to the lease and to the source of the requested amount.

B. What can change at renewal, and how should a British tenant test the calculation?

Renewal is the point at which the landlord may seek a revaluation, but only under a narrower test than “the market has gone up”. Article 17-2 of the 1989 law says that, at renewal, the rent may be revalued only if it is manifestly below comparable local rents. The official wording is: “Lors du renouvellement du contrat, le loyer ne donne lieu à réévaluation que s’il est manifestement sous-évalué.” This is a different mechanism from the annual IRL review. A landlord should not combine a full market reset with an ordinary indexation letter and present the total as a routine annual adjustment.

The proposed revaluation must arrive at least six months before the end of an unfurnished lease and must follow the form required for a landlord’s notice. The references must relate to comparable homes in the same area. Article 17-2 requires at least three rent references, and six in listed municipalities forming part of an agglomeration of more than one million inhabitants. The references should not be a random list of premium properties. They should identify enough comparable features to allow the tenant to test surface area, location, floor, lift, condition, furnishing, outdoor space, heating and other material differences.

The timing protects the tenant. If there is disagreement, or no response four months before the end of the lease, either party may refer the matter to the departmental conciliation commission. If the statutory route is not followed and the judge is not seized before the end of the lease, the contract is renewed on the former rent conditions, subject to any lawful annual review. The agreed or judicially fixed increase is staged: by thirds or sixths according to the duration of the contract, with a special rule where the increase exceeds 10 percent after a first shorter renewal. Read the current version of Article 17-2 rather than relying on an agency template.

Article 17-2 also prevents a landlord from using both routes at the same expiry. When the landlord applies the under-valued-rent procedure, the landlord cannot give notice to the tenant for that same contractual end date. The notification must reproduce the statutory provisions, state the proposed rent and list the references used. An email saying “the rent will be doubled or you must leave” is not a substitute for that process. A British tenant who receives both a market-rent proposal and a notice should preserve both documents and compare the dates, the stated reason and the formal method of delivery.

For an unfurnished lease, Article 10 provides the ordinary duration: at least three years where the individual is the landlord, or six years where the landlord is a legal person, followed by tacit renewal or renewal if no valid notice is given. The official Article 10 links the duration and renewal rules to the form and timing of Article 15. A British tenant should identify whether the landlord is an individual, a société, meaning a legal entity, or an agent acting for another owner, because the contractual end date and notice timetable may depend on that status.

Furnished accommodation has a shorter ordinary period. Article 25-7 provides for a written lease of at least one year, with tacit renewal for one year if neither party gives the required notice. The current Article 25-7 contains that one-year rule and the student exception. Article 25-9 applies Article 17-2 to furnished homes, with a different staging rule where the increase is above 10 percent. The practical question is therefore not whether a landlord may ever propose a new furnished rent, but whether the legal trigger, notice, comparison and staging requirements have been met.

Local rent controls may add another ceiling. A zone tendue is a tense rental area, where access to housing is considered difficult because demand is high. Paris and some municipalities in Île-de-France may also have a system controlling the level of rent, not only the annual change. The official Service-Public explanation of rent control in a tense area distinguishes the rules that limit the rent on a new letting from the IRL mechanism during an existing lease. If the home is in Paris or another controlled area, check the reference rent, any permitted supplement and the information stated in the lease. Do not treat a foreign tenant’s arrival, a change of visa or a British employer as a lawful rent-control exception.

A useful audit has six lines. First, write down the current rent excluding charges. Second, copy the review clause exactly. Third, record the date and quarter in the clause. Fourth, retrieve the two relevant official IRL values. Fifth, perform the calculation without rounding until the final figure. Sixth, compare the landlord’s demanded amount and effective date with the result. If the landlord claims a renewal revaluation, create a second file containing every comparable reference, the notice date, the proposed rent and the staging schedule. This prevents a renewal proposal from being mistaken for an annual review.

Ask the landlord for a correction in writing when the numbers are wrong. A short letter can state that the tenant does not accept the calculation, identifies the contractual index and requests the source of the proposed amount, while reserving the tenant’s rights. Do not sign an amendment merely to stop a disagreement unless the long-term effect is understood. If the tenant accepts a new rent under pressure, the later dispute may become harder to present, although an unlawful clause is not automatically validated by a signature.

Where the problem began with the application rather than the renewal, keep it separate. Article 22-1 states that, when a guarantee is required, a landlord cannot refuse a guarantor because the guarantor lacks French nationality or does not live in metropolitan France. The official Article 22-1 text uses the words “ne peut refuser la caution présentée au motif qu’elle ne possède pas la nationalité française ou qu’elle ne réside pas sur le territoire métropolitain”. That rule is relevant to a British guarantor, but the present article concerns what happens after the lease and the rent have been agreed. The existing rental-file guide should be used for the application evidence.

II. Can a French landlord end the lease or penalise a British tenant?

A. What notice, reason and deadline must the landlord follow?

A landlord cannot generally end a residential principal-home lease in the middle of its term merely because the tenant is British, has changed immigration category or uses UK income. The normal landlord notice operates at the contractual end date and must fit one of the permitted grounds. The notice is the congé; the notice period is the préavis. Do not confuse either with a demand to pay, a proposal to renew at a higher rent or a warning about a possible future sale.

For an unfurnished lease, Article 15 of the 1989 law requires the landlord’s notice to be justified by a decision to take the home back, to sell it or by a legitimate and serious reason, such as a proven failure by the tenant to perform a contractual obligation. The text provides, “A peine de nullité, le congé donné par le bailleur doit indiquer le motif allégué”. In the case of a proposed repossession, the notice must identify the beneficiary and the family relationship permitted by the legislation, and the landlord must justify the real and serious character of the decision. The landlord’s notice period is six months.

The notice must be delivered by a recognised method and the period runs from receipt, not simply from the date written at the top of the letter. Article 15 refers to registered delivery with acknowledgement, service by a commissaire de justice, meaning the French judicial officer who formally serves documents, or hand delivery against a receipt or signature. A text message or an informal WhatsApp message may show what the landlord intended, but it does not automatically satisfy the statutory form. Keep the delivery record and calculate the end date using the actual receipt.

The three permitted categories need careful testing. A sale notice is not a general power to remove the tenant immediately; its contents, timing and any tenant-pre-emption rules must be checked. A repossession notice must identify the permitted beneficiary and be genuine. A legitimate and serious reason may involve a serious, established breach, but a landlord cannot convert a disagreement over an arguably incorrect IRL calculation into a definitive eviction without following the applicable process. In Cass. 3e civ., 7 February 1996, no. 94-14.339, the Court of Cassation explained that “la justification d’un congé par un motif légitime et sérieux n’étant pas limitée à l’inexécution par le locataire de l’une de ses obligations”. The case shows that the category is not limited to unpaid rent, but it does not give a landlord an unlimited discretion: the stated reason still has to be legally sufficient and factually supported.

Article 15 allows the judge, including on the judge’s own initiative, to examine the reality of the reason and compliance with the landlord’s obligations. The judge may declare the notice invalid if the non-renewal is not supported by serious and legitimate elements. A British tenant should therefore ask for the evidence behind a claimed repossession or serious breach, without entering the premises, threatening the landlord or signing a departure agreement before advice. A notice that says only “the owner no longer wishes to rent to foreign nationals” does not fit the permitted categories.

Furnished accommodation follows a separate notice provision. Article 25-8 permits the tenant to end a furnished lease at any time with one month’s notice. When the landlord wants to change the conditions at expiry, the landlord must give three months’ notice; if the tenant accepts the new conditions, the lease is renewed for one year. When the landlord does not wish to renew, the landlord must give three months’ notice and state whether the reason is repossession, sale or a legitimate and serious reason. The current Article 25-8 also requires a recognised notification method and lets the judge review the reality of the reason.

The difference between empty and furnished leases is therefore significant:

  • an unfurnished lease normally requires six months’ landlord notice at expiry and uses the Article 15 grounds;
  • a furnished principal-residence lease normally requires three months’ landlord notice at expiry and uses Article 25-8;
  • the lease continues if a valid notice is not given in time and form;
  • British nationality does not shorten either period or add a new ground;
  • a rent revaluation procedure cannot be used to disguise an immediate termination.

If the landlord changes hands, the tenant’s lease does not disappear. Article 22 provides that the new landlord takes responsibility for returning the deposit after a transfer of the rented premises. The tenant should obtain the new owner’s identity and payment details, but should not sign a new lease with a different rent merely because the property has been sold. A sale may later support a properly timed notice, but ownership and termination are separate questions.

Nor should a landlord use a lock change, utility cut-off or personal pressure to obtain departure. If rent is unpaid, the lease may contain a clause résolutoire, a clause allowing automatic termination after the statutory process. Article 24 states that the clause for unpaid rent or charges takes effect only after an unsuccessful commandement de payer, a formal demand to pay served by a judicial officer, and the current text says: “Cette clause ne produit effet que six semaines après un commandement de payer demeuré infructueux.” A letter announcing that the tenant must leave in forty-eight hours is not the same as that process.

Article 7 remains important when a tenant receives an aggressive rent demand. The tenant should not stop every payment because one part of the demand is disputed. Non-payment can create a separate default and expose the tenant to a clause-resolutoire procedure. Use a written reservation, pay the amount that is clearly due where possible and obtain advice quickly if payment cannot be made. A British tenant who returns to the UK should still treat the French lease and French deadlines as live until the lease has legally ended and the keys have been handed back.

B. What should a British tenant do when the rent demand or notice is unlawful?

Start by freezing the evidence. Save the signed lease and every annex, the original rent statement, the landlord’s calculation, the DPE, the notice, the envelope or electronic delivery record, bank confirmations, photographs and all messages. Export emails in their original format and keep a dated chronology. If an agent or landlord has referred to “Brexit”, “British tenants”, “foreigners”, “UK income” or a British guarantor, preserve the exact wording. Do not edit screenshots to improve the narrative.

Then classify the problem. A wrong IRL calculation is a rent-review dispute. A market comparison sent at renewal is an Article 17-2 dispute. A notice from an owner who wants the property back is an Article 15 or Article 25-8 dispute. A lock change or demand to leave immediately may be an unlawful self-help measure. A statement that the rent is higher because the tenant is British may also raise discrimination. One letter can contain several issues, but each issue needs its own rule, proof and remedy.

For a rent calculation, write a short challenge identifying the lease clause, the reference quarter, the two indices, the formula and the amount that follows. Ask the landlord to correct the rent statement and confirm the effective date. If the dwelling is class F or G, identify the statutory energy-performance restriction and attach the DPE page showing the class. If the landlord relies on works, ask for the written contractual clause, the scope of the works and the amount said to justify the increase. Keep paying the undisputed contractual rent unless a lawyer advises another protected route.

For a renewal revaluation, check three dates immediately: the contractual end date, the date the proposal was received and the four-month point before expiry. Check whether the landlord supplied the required comparable references and whether the notification reproduces the statutory provisions. An absence of response does not always mean acceptance. If the landlord has served a revaluation proposal and a notice for the same expiry, place both documents side by side because Article 17-2 restricts that combination.

For a landlord’s notice, check the type of lease, the reason stated, the identity of the beneficiary if repossession is claimed, the delivery method and the six-month or three-month period. If the notice arrived late, calculate the next contractual end date rather than accepting the date demanded by the landlord. If the notice gives no proper reason, contains contradictory dates or appears to be a response to a complaint about nationality, the defect should be raised before the tenant leaves or signs a settlement. The fact that a notice looks like an official French letter does not make it valid.

A British tenant can also ask the landlord to explain whether the issue is a genuine solvency or contractual matter. The foreign-income rules matter most when the lease is being formed, but they can reveal the reason for a later threat. Article 22-2 states that the documents which may be requested from a tenant or guarantor before the lease are set by decree. The official Article 22-2 also provides for an administrative fine of up to €3,000 for an individual or €15,000 for a legal person in case of breach. The implementing Decree no. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015 says: “Les pièces produites peuvent être des copies des documents originaux. Elles sont rédigées ou traduites en langue française et les montants inscrits convertis en euros.” A UK document can therefore be made readable and converted; it does not have to be replaced by a French document that does not exist.

Nationality discrimination is a separate legal route. Article 1 of the 1989 law provides: “Aucune personne ne peut se voir refuser la location d’un logement pour un motif discriminatoire défini à l’article 225-1 du code pénal.” Article 225-1 of the French Criminal Code includes a person’s real or supposed membership or non-membership of a nation among the protected grounds. The official text refers to “appartenance ou non-appartenance, vraie ou supposée, à une … Nation”. Article 225-2 identifies, among the punishable forms of discrimination, refusing to provide a good or service or making its provision subject to a protected condition. Read the official Article 1, Article 225-1 and Article 225-2 together.

This does not make every dispute involving a British applicant discrimination. A landlord may assess whether rent will be paid, whether a document is reliable and whether a contractual guarantee is enforceable. The evidence becomes more serious when the landlord applies a rule such as “no British tenants”, “no UK income” or “no guarantor outside France” without testing the individual file or explaining an objective security problem. Article 1 shifts the evidential conversation: the person alleging a discriminatory refusal presents facts suggesting direct or indirect discrimination, and the landlord must show that the decision was justified. A British tenant should therefore identify a comparator if one exists, such as a French applicant with the same income profile who was treated differently.

Use careful language in the first letter. Instead of alleging a criminal offence as an established fact, state the chronology, quote the relevant message, identify the rule and request the decision-maker’s explanation. Ask whether the same calculation, notice rule and document requirement was applied to other tenants. A refusal to answer may be useful evidence, but it is not proof on its own. Preserve names, agency addresses, advert reference numbers and the identity of the owner. If the facts suggest discrimination, the tenant can seek assistance from the Défenseur des droits, the French independent rights authority, and obtain advice on a civil or criminal complaint. The Service-Public information on discrimination in rental applications explains the evidence and reporting options.

Conciliation may be the correct first procedural step. The commission départementale de conciliation, or departmental conciliation commission, is a non-judicial body with equal landlord and tenant representation. Article 20 of the 1989 law states that it gives an opinion within two months and attempts to reconcile the parties: “La commission rend un avis dans le délai de deux mois à compter de sa saisine et s’efforce de concilier les parties.” Its competence includes disputes about Article 17, 17-1, 17-2 and 18, housing characteristics, the inventory, the deposit, charges, repairs and notices under Article 15. The tenant or landlord may refer the matters listed in the text. A request should contain the lease, the calculation, the notice, delivery evidence, the chronology and the remedy sought. The official Article 20 provides the statutory framework.

Conciliation does not automatically suspend every deadline. If the contractual end date is approaching, obtain advice about protecting the tenant’s position before the expiry. If a court claim is needed, the usual civil forum for a principal-home tenancy is the judicial court through its protection-litigation judge, known as the juge des contentieux de la protection. The exact court, claim and urgent procedure depend on the location of the home and the relief sought. A claim may seek correction of the rent, repayment of sums, recognition that a notice is invalid, damages or an order concerning repairs. A tenant who has moved back to Britain should still provide a reliable address for service and preserve the French address, lease and payment trail.

If the landlord threatens termination for rent arrears, do not ignore a command served by a commissaire de justice. Article 24 has its own timetable and mandatory information. It also refers to the possibility of asking the competent court for a grace period under Article 1343-5 of the Civil Code. Contact the landlord or a lawyer immediately, prepare a complete arrears calculation and record any payment or proposed plan. A partial payment may reduce the debt but does not automatically cancel a formal notice. The tenant’s British nationality neither removes the process nor makes the process optional.

The exit file matters as much as the opening file. Before handing over the keys, arrange the état des lieux, the check-in or check-out inventory, and compare it with the original. Article 3-2 requires an inventory at handover and return of keys and permits the tenant to ask for a correction to the entry inventory within ten days. The official Article 3-2 states that the inventory is made contradictorily and attached to the lease. Take dated photographs, record meter readings and obtain a written key receipt. Do not leave solely because a landlord says that the notice is valid; agree the physical departure only after the legal and financial consequences are clear.

The deposit is the dépôt de garantie; it is not the caution, which is the guarantor. Article 22 limits the deposit for an unfurnished lease to one month of principal rent and sets one- or two-month return periods depending on the condition report, subject to justified deductions and the statutory rules for building charges. The current Article 22 also says that the deposit should not be revised during the lease. A departing British tenant should give a forwarding address, keep the bank details used for payment and demand an itemised statement for any deduction. The existing deposit article on the British desk may be useful for a wear-and-tear dispute, but it does not replace the rent and notice analysis in this article.

Paris and Île-de-France require additional practical care. A notice or rent proposal may arrive while the tenant is abroad, the agency may use an electronic portal and the property may be re-let quickly. Use a monitored email address, ask for delivery confirmation, calculate deadlines in calendar form and retain proof of every appointment. If the property is in Paris or another rent-controlled municipality, record the reference rent and any permitted supplement. If the tenant is preparing to leave France, arrange a French address for post, a UK forwarding arrangement and an authorised representative where appropriate. These are evidence measures, not immigration substitutes.

A short evidence table is often more useful than a long narrative:

  • lease type, start date, end date and landlord identity;
  • current rent excluding charges and the contractual IRL clause;
  • landlord’s requested amount, calculation and proposed effective date;
  • DPE class and date of the lease, renewal or tacit renewal;
  • notice date, receipt date, stated ground and delivery method;
  • messages mentioning British nationality, UK income or a foreign guarantor;
  • payments, arrears, repairs, photographs and condition reports;
  • the exact remedy needed: correction, repayment, invalidity, time or damages.

That table also prevents a common error: mixing a difficult rental market with a legal conclusion. A landlord may be unhappy with a foreign document, a currency conversion or a tenant’s timetable. That does not by itself prove discrimination. Equally, a tenant may have a strong legal argument about an unlawful increase but still need to pay the contractual rent while the dispute is being decided. The correct response is to preserve the evidence, use the proper rule and act before the next contractual date.

Conclusion

A French landlord cannot charge a British tenant a special rent or end a residential lease solely because the tenant is British or receives income from the United Kingdom. During the lease, an annual increase generally requires a clause, must follow the IRL and must be requested within the statutory period. At renewal, a market revaluation requires a manifestly under-valued rent, comparable local references, advance notice and the prescribed procedure. Energy class F or G can restrict increases. At expiry, an unfurnished lease normally requires six months’ landlord notice and a furnished principal-residence lease three months, with a lawful reason and recognised delivery method.

The safest response is precise: calculate the rent, check the lease type, preserve the notice, record any reference to nationality, keep paying the undisputed amount and refer the dispute to the appropriate conciliation or court route before a deadline expires. Brexit explains why a file may contain UK documents; it does not rewrite French tenancy law.

Need a quick opinion on your case

Arrange a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer from the firm about your French rent increase, lease renewal or landlord notice.

We can review the lease, IRL calculation, notice, DPE and evidence of any British-nationality or UK-income issue.

Call Maître Reda Kohen on +33 6 46 60 58 22.

Contact the firm through the French website.

Source : Cour de cassation – Base Open Data « Judilibre » & « Légifrance ».

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Best real estate and business lawyer in Paris. A compassionate and attentive lawyer, with a wonderful team. Thank you, Maître KOHEN

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Janou SAMUEL
1 month ago

Thank you to Maître KOHEN for his analyses of recent case law regarding fraudulent concealment in real estate sales. This reinforces my decision to pursue an action for rescission that I am considering after acquiring a house affected by serious defects intentionally concealed by the seller and not reported by the real estate agent; also defects (rising damp) characterized by progressive through-cracks and damp patches, not reported by the real estate agent… Worse, defects concealed by the latter or on his initiative under a coat of paint and polystyrene tiles glued to the ceiling of a bedroom. And said real estate agent was the drafter of the preliminary contract, which naturally contains no information regarding any of these defects. I would just add that, being 77 years old and suffering from cognitive impairment, I am certain the real estate agent thought I would not be able to uncover the deception and, above all, characterize fraudulent intent, let alone initiate legal proceedings given the complexity and length of the process... That is why I am opting for criminal proceedings, insofar as the intentional concealment of defects by the seller and then by the real estate agent

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Paul MALIK (powlo)
4 months ago

Maître Reda KOHEN assisted me in a dispute concerning a sale agreement with a defaulting party. He provided professional and responsive support, and I highly recommend him.

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Legal advice is only valuable if it arrives on time — delighted to have been there when needed. Thank you for your kind words.

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5 months ago

I highly recommend Maître Reda Kohen. Thanks to his explanations, I was able to recover my security deposit in a situation that seemed blocked. He was responsive, clear, and very professional. A big thank you for his invaluable help!

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The return of the security deposit is a more common rental dispute than one might think; glad that the situation was resolved quickly. Thank you for this feedback.

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5 months ago

Excellent support from Maître Kohen in a case combining business law and real estate law. Clear legal analysis from the first meeting, right through to the hearing. Professional and accessible lawyer, I highly recommend his firm in Paris 17.

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Cases at the intersection of business law and real estate law require a comprehensive overview — that's the core of the firm's practice, from the initial meeting to the hearing. Thank you for this precise recommendation.

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Maître Kohen assisted me in recovering unpaid debts from a defaulting tenant. Procedure mastered from start to finish, from the payment order to eviction. Human, attentive, and always reachable. Thank you for your work.

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Collecting unpaid rent requires a procedure handled from start to finish, without downtime — glad to have seen yours through to completion. Thank you for this testimonial.

Cha
5 months ago

As a young student living in an apartment, my landlord tried to make me leave my accommodation even though he had sent me no termination notice. I therefore contacted Mr. Reda Kohen to help me as I couldn’t handle the situation alone. In just 3 days everything was resolved, Maître Kohen defended me and accompanied me with an irreproachable level of commitment and efficiency. I can only recommend his professionalism!

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An irregular termination notice does not terminate a lease: delighted that the situation was resolved in a few days. Good luck with your studies.

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6 months ago

I turned to Maître Kohen for a complex real estate dispute and I highly recommend his firm. He is very professional; he thoroughly analyzed my case from the very first appointment and clearly explained the possible options. Thanks to his expertise, we achieved a very favorable outcome. Responsive, a good teacher, and committed, he is a lawyer you can truly trust. Yours faithfully, Miss Maazaz

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Reply from the firm

Thank you very much, Miss Maazaz, for this feedback. Analytical rigor and responsiveness are essential commitments of our law firm specializing in real estate law in Paris, where each case requires a tailored approach. Delighted that we were able to achieve a favorable outcome. The firm remains at your disposal. Best regards.