{"id":2124156,"date":"2026-09-18T15:02:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/18\/british-tenant-france-deposit-conge-eviction-challenge-brexit\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T15:02:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:02:59","slug":"british-tenant-france-deposit-conge-eviction-challenge-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/18\/british-tenant-france-deposit-conge-eviction-challenge-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"British Tenant in France After Brexit: Getting Your Deposit Back, Challenging a Cong\u00e9 and Stopping an Eviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, thousands of British citizens rent their first French home: a flat in Paris while a house purchase goes through, a cottage in the Dordogne for a trial year, a studio for a child studying at a French university. Renting in France feels familiar until the day something goes wrong. The landlord keeps the whole d\u00e9p\u00f4t de garantie<\/em> (security deposit) for repainting that was already due. A cong\u00e9<\/em> (formal notice to leave) arrives by recorded delivery, giving six months to vacate a home you thought was yours for years. Or a letter headed commandement de quitter les lieux<\/em> orders you out within two months. At that moment, British reflexes mislead: there is no holding deposit scheme, no section 21 equivalent that works the way you expect, and no lawful self-help eviction. French residential letting is governed almost entirely by one statute, the loi n\u00b0 89-462 du 6 juillet 1989<\/em>, applied by a specialist housing judge, the juge des contentieux de la protection<\/em>, and policed by a Court of Cassation that hands down tenant-friendly rulings every year. Since Brexit, British tenants rent as third-country nationals, often on tight timetables linked to a visa or a carte de s\u00e9jour<\/em>, which makes every procedural deadline bite harder. This guide explains, with the exact statutory wording and the most recent case law, how to get your deposit back when you leave, how to test whether your landlord’s cong\u00e9 is valid, and how to delay or stop an eviction.<\/p>\n

I. Getting Your Deposit Back When You Leave Your French Rental<\/h2>\n

Deposit disputes are the single most common conflict between French landlords and departing tenants, and British leavers are particularly exposed: they often hand back the keys in a hurry, forget to give a forwarding address, and discover the problem months later from the United Kingdom. French law, however, is precise and generous to tenants who know the timetable.<\/p>\n

A. How Long Does Your Landlord Have to Return Your Deposit?<\/h3>\n

The starting point is Article 22 of the Act of 6 July 1989<\/a>, which caps the deposit and fixes two different return deadlines. Where a deposit is stipulated in the lease, the statute provides that “il ne peut \u00eatre sup\u00e9rieur \u00e0 un mois de loyer en principal.” From there, everything depends on the \u00e9tat des lieux de sortie<\/em>, the check-out inventory compared against the check-in inventory. The Act states: “Il est restitu\u00e9 dans un d\u00e9lai maximal d’un mois \u00e0 compter de la remise des cl\u00e9s par le locataire lorsque l’\u00e9tat des lieux de sortie est conforme \u00e0 l’\u00e9tat des lieux d’entr\u00e9e, d\u00e9duction faite, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, des sommes restant dues au bailleur et des sommes dont celui-ci pourrait \u00eatre tenu, en lieu et place du locataire, sous r\u00e9serve qu’elles soient d\u00fbment justifi\u00e9es.” In plain terms, if you leave the flat in the condition recorded when you moved in, the landlord has one month from the return of the keys to pay you back, less only sums that are properly evidenced. If the two inventories differ, the landlord gets a second month: “Il est restitu\u00e9 dans un d\u00e9lai maximal de deux mois \u00e0 compter de la remise en main propre, ou par lettre recommand\u00e9e avec demande d’avis de r\u00e9ception, des cl\u00e9s au bailleur ou \u00e0 son mandataire, d\u00e9duction faite, le cas \u00e9ch\u00e9ant, des sommes restant dues au bailleur et des sommes dont celui-ci pourrait \u00eatre tenu, aux lieu et place du locataire, sous r\u00e9serve qu’elles soient d\u00fbment justifi\u00e9es.”<\/p>\n

Three practical consequences follow from Article 22<\/a>, and British tenants trip over each of them. First, the clock runs from the return of the keys, however effected: handed over in person or sent by recorded delivery. Keep proof of that date, because every later calculation depends on it. Second, when you hand back the keys you must give your new address, since the statute adds: “A cette fin, le locataire indique au bailleur ou \u00e0 son mandataire, lors de la remise des cl\u00e9s, l’adresse de son nouveau domicile.” Tenants returning to the United Kingdom frequently omit this step, and the omission has teeth, as explained below. Third, in blocks of flats the landlord may hold back a capped provision while the annual service-charge accounts are finalised: the Act allows the landlord to “conserver une provision ne pouvant exc\u00e9der 20 % du montant du d\u00e9p\u00f4t de garantie jusqu’\u00e0 l’arr\u00eat\u00e9 annuel des comptes de l’immeuble”, provided the retention is properly justified, with final settlement within the month following definitive approval of the accounts. A 20 per cent retention for pending charges<\/em> (service charges) is therefore lawful in a copropri\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em> (co-owned block); a 100 per cent retention is not.<\/p>\n

Missing the deadline is expensive for the landlord. That same Article 22<\/a> provides: “A d\u00e9faut de restitution dans les d\u00e9lais pr\u00e9vus, le d\u00e9p\u00f4t de garantie restant d\u00fb au locataire est major\u00e9 d’une somme \u00e9gale \u00e0 10 % du loyer mensuel en principal, pour chaque p\u00e9riode mensuelle commenc\u00e9e en retard.” Every month begun late adds 10 per cent of the monthly rent excluding charges, automatically. There is one escape hatch for the landlord, and it is the one British leavers trigger most often: “Cette majoration n’est pas due lorsque l’origine du d\u00e9faut de restitution dans les d\u00e9lais r\u00e9sulte de l’absence de transmission par le locataire de l’adresse de son nouveau domicile.” If you move back to Manchester or Maidstone without leaving a forwarding address, the penalty does not run. Leave the address in writing and the penalty is yours to claim.<\/p>\n

The Court of Cassation confirmed how strictly this works in a decision of 12 February 2026 that every tenant should know. A landlord who had rented out a furnished flat sent a reimbursement cheque on 9 April 2021 and argued that the deposit had been returned on time; the tenant said he had never received the cheque, which was never cashed. The Third Civil Chamber recalled the rule first: “Il r\u00e9sulte du second qu’\u00e0 d\u00e9faut de restitution dans le d\u00e9lai de deux mois \u00e0 compter de la remise des cl\u00e9s, le d\u00e9p\u00f4t de garantie restant d\u00fb au locataire est major\u00e9 d’une somme \u00e9gale \u00e0 10 % du loyer mensuel principal, pour chaque p\u00e9riode mensuelle commenc\u00e9e en retard et que la majoration court de plein droit \u00e0 l’issue du d\u00e9lai de deux mois suivant la remise des cl\u00e9s.” It then quashed the lower court’s refusal of the penalty: “En statuant ainsi, sans constater que le bailleur justifiait de la r\u00e9ception du ch\u00e8que par le locataire, qui la contestait, le juge a viol\u00e9 les textes susvis\u00e9s.” (Cass. 3rd civ., 12 Feb. 2026, No 24-21.258<\/a>). A cheque that is posted but never received and never cashed is not payment. For a British tenant paid by international transfer, the lesson is identical: keep the bank credit advice, because the landlord who cannot prove receipt pays the 10 per cent. Note also that this ruling applied Article 22 to a furnished letting, so the one-month and two-month deadlines protect you whether you rent furnished or unfurnished. The English-language service-public fact sheets on the security deposit<\/a> and on the check-out inventory<\/a> summarise the same timetable for readers who want the administration’s own version.<\/p>\n

B. What Deductions Can You Challenge on the Way Out?<\/h3>\n

Landlords rarely refuse outright to repay; they deduct. Repainting, cleaning, a broken blind, estimated future charges, a month of rent supposedly unpaid: each deduction must survive the same statutory test, which appears twice in Article 22 in the words “sous r\u00e9serve qu’elles soient d\u00fbment justifi\u00e9es” (subject to being duly evidenced). A deduction without paperwork is a deduction you can challenge. In practice, French judges expect invoices, receipts or at least detailed quotes for works actually carried out, comparative check-in and check-out inventories describing the same item differently, and, for service charges, the annual statement. A standard forfait m\u00e9nage<\/em> (flat-rate cleaning charge) written into the lease, an estimate never followed by works, or photographs with no inventory to anchor them routinely fail this test. Ask in writing for the evidence behind every euro retained; the landlord who cannot produce it owes it back, with the 10 per cent monthly penalty if the lawful deadline has passed.<\/p>\n

The check-out inventory is where most deductions are won or lost. It must be adversarial and free: both sides walk through together, note each room, and sign. If no check-in inventory was ever drawn up, the tenant benefits from a powerful presumption in Article 1731 of the Civil Code<\/a>: “S’il n’a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 fait d’\u00e9tat des lieux, le preneur est pr\u00e9sum\u00e9 les avoir re\u00e7us en bon \u00e9tat de r\u00e9parations locatives, et doit les rendre tels, sauf la preuve contraire.” Read carefully, this cuts both ways, and British tenants misunderstand it in both directions. Where no inventory exists at all, you are presumed to have received the flat in good decorative order, so you must return it in good decorative order; the landlord cannot, however, charge you for deterioration that is mere wear and tear (v\u00e9tust\u00e9<\/em>), nor for defects the flat already had, and proving either is easier where the landlord kept no record. Where a full check-in inventory exists and the check-out matches it, the one-month deadline applies and deductions should be close to zero. Never sign a check-out inventory you disagree with without writing your reservations on the document itself; once signed without comment, it becomes the landlord’s best exhibit.<\/p>\n

A second trap concerns the notice period itself. British tenants who give notice and move out early often assume rent stops when they hand back the keys. The opposite is true when notice comes from the tenant, and the Court of Cassation said so again on 4 June 2026. A tenant who had given notice on 22 April 2023 returned the keys early by agreement on 1 July and argued she owed nothing further; the landlord claimed rent to the end of the notice period. The Third Civil Chamber held: “Il r\u00e9sulte de ce texte que, lorsque le locataire a notifi\u00e9 le cong\u00e9, il est redevable du loyer et des charges pendant tout le d\u00e9lai de pr\u00e9avis, l’acceptation de la remise des cl\u00e9s et la r\u00e9daction d’un \u00e9tat des lieux de sortie, qui n’\u00e9tablissent que la lib\u00e9ration des lieux, ne suffisant pas \u00e0 caract\u00e9riser la renonciation non \u00e9quivoque du bailleur au paiement de l’int\u00e9gralit\u00e9 des loyers \u00e9chus pendant le pr\u00e9avis.” (Cass. 3rd civ., 4 June 2026, No 25-13.387<\/a>). Only an unequivocal waiver by the landlord, or a reletting agreed with the landlord before the notice expires, releases you. Get any early-release agreement in writing before you book the ferry.<\/p>\n

If the landlord will not pay, proceed in stages and keep everything in writing. Start with a formal demand (mise en demeure<\/em>) by recorded delivery, recalculating the deadline from the proven key-return date and adding the 10 per cent penalty month by month. If that fails, the standard next step is the juge des contentieux de la protection<\/em> at the local tribunal judiciaire<\/em>, the specialist housing judge who decided both cases cited above; small deposit claims follow a simplified procedure there and representation by a lawyer is not compulsory, though cross-border tenants usually benefit from one. The administration’s procedure page for claiming back a deposit that was not returned<\/a> walks through the same sequence. Throughout, remember the two details that decide British cases: the proven date the keys came back, and the forwarding address you left in writing.<\/p>\n

II. Challenging a Cong\u00e9 and Stopping an Eviction in France<\/h2>\n

Receiving a cong\u00e9 is frightening, but a surprising number of cong\u00e9s served on British tenants are defective, and even a valid cong\u00e9 is only the first step of a long judicial procedure. No landlord in France may change the locks, cut off utilities or remove your belongings to force you out; only a court can order eviction, and only a commissaire de justice<\/em> (the enforcement officer, formerly titled huissier<\/em>) can carry it out. Understanding the two phases, validity of the notice and the eviction procedure, turns panic into a plan.<\/p>\n

A. Is Your Landlord’s Cong\u00e9 Valid?<\/h3>\n

A landlord’s notice to terminate is valid only if it states a lawful ground and follows a strict form. Article 15-I of the Act of 6 July 1989<\/a> provides: “Lorsque le bailleur donne cong\u00e9 \u00e0 son locataire, ce cong\u00e9 doit \u00eatre justifi\u00e9 soit par sa d\u00e9cision de reprendre ou de vendre le logement, soit par un motif l\u00e9gitime et s\u00e9rieux, notamment l’inex\u00e9cution par le locataire de l’une des obligations lui incombant.” Repossession for personal use, sale, or a serious and legitimate ground such as persistent arrears: those are the only doors, and the notice must say which one it walks through, since “A peine de nullit\u00e9, le cong\u00e9 donn\u00e9 par le bailleur doit indiquer le motif all\u00e9gu\u00e9 et, en cas de reprise, les nom et adresse du b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaire de la reprise ainsi que la nature du lien existant entre le bailleur et le b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiaire de la reprise”, a circle limited to the landlord, spouse, civil partner, long-standing partner, ascendants and descendants. The notice period for a landlord’s cong\u00e9 is six months: “Le d\u00e9lai de pr\u00e9avis applicable au cong\u00e9 est de six mois lorsqu’il \u00e9mane du bailleur.” Service must be by recorded delivery, by enforcement officer, or handed over against receipt: “Le cong\u00e9 doit \u00eatre notifi\u00e9 par lettre recommand\u00e9e avec demande d’avis de r\u00e9ception, signifi\u00e9 par acte d’un commissaire de justice ou remis en main propre contre r\u00e9c\u00e9piss\u00e9 ou \u00e9margement.” A cong\u00e9 sent by ordinary email, or arriving five months before the lease ends, is vulnerable to annulment. And judges check of their own motion: “En cas de contestation, le juge peut, m\u00eame d’office, v\u00e9rifier la r\u00e9alit\u00e9 du motif du cong\u00e9 et le respect des obligations pr\u00e9vues au pr\u00e9sent article.”<\/p>\n

The cong\u00e9 for sale (cong\u00e9 pour vendre<\/em>) deserves special attention because British tenants in Paris, Lyon and the coastal cities receive them regularly, and the formalities are the strictest of all. The Court of Cassation restated them on 9 February 2022: “Selon ce texte, le cong\u00e9, lorsqu’il est fond\u00e9 sur la d\u00e9cision de vendre le logement, doit, \u00e0 peine de nullit\u00e9, indiquer le prix et les conditions de la vente projet\u00e9e. Le cong\u00e9 vaut offre de vente au profit du locataire.” (Cass. 3rd civ., 9 Feb. 2022, No 21-12.179<\/a>). The notice must quote the price and conditions, and it doubles as an offer to sell to you, which Article 15-II<\/a> keeps open for the first two months of the notice period: “l’offre est valable pendant les deux premiers mois du d\u00e9lai de pr\u00e9avis.” In that 2022 case the tenant argued the stated price of 225,000 euros was so far above market value that the cong\u00e9 was a sham; the appeal court had shrugged that overpricing was irrelevant, and the Court of Cassation quashed it for failing to ask “si l’\u00e9cart entre le prix propos\u00e9 et celui du march\u00e9 ne r\u00e9v\u00e9lait pas le caract\u00e8re frauduleux du cong\u00e9 d\u00e9livr\u00e9 au locataire”. An inflated price does not automatically void the cong\u00e9, but a gross, unexplained gap invites the judge to find fraud, and fraud kills the notice. Since 2021 Article 15-IV<\/a> gives this criminal teeth as well: “Le fait pour un bailleur de d\u00e9livrer un cong\u00e9 justifi\u00e9 frauduleusement par sa d\u00e9cision de reprendre ou de vendre le logement est puni d’une amende p\u00e9nale dont le montant ne peut \u00eatre sup\u00e9rieur \u00e0 6 000 \u20ac pour une personne physique et \u00e0 30 000 \u20ac pour une personne morale”, and “Le locataire est recevable dans sa constitution de partie civile et la demande de r\u00e9paration de son pr\u00e9judice.” A sham cong\u00e9 can therefore end with the landlord fined and ordered to compensate you.<\/p>\n

Two protective regimes in Article 15<\/a> frequently help British households. The first concerns older tenants of modest means: the landlord generally cannot refuse renewal against a tenant over sixty-five whose annual income sits below the social-housing ceiling unless comparable rehousing is offered, with the ages assessed at the lease expiry date and resources at the notice date, since “L’\u00e2ge du locataire, de la personne \u00e0 sa charge et celui du bailleur sont appr\u00e9ci\u00e9s \u00e0 la date d’\u00e9ch\u00e9ance du contrat ; le montant de leurs ressources est appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 \u00e0 la date de notification du cong\u00e9.” The shield falls away where the landlord is personally over sixty-five or of similarly modest means: “les dispositions de l’alin\u00e9a pr\u00e9c\u00e9dent ne sont pas applicables lorsque le bailleur est une personne physique \u00e2g\u00e9e de plus de soixante-cinq ans ou si ses ressources annuelles sont inf\u00e9rieures au plafond de ressources mentionn\u00e9 au premier alin\u00e9a.” British retirees renting in France check these thresholds first. The second concerns tenants who give notice themselves: the standard notice is three months, cut to one month in defined situations such as a first job, a transfer, job loss, health grounds certified by a doctor, domestic violence, welfare benefits or allocation of social housing, provided the ground is stated and evidenced when notice is sent. During the notice, the money rule mirrors the deposit case: “Pendant le d\u00e9lai de pr\u00e9avis, le locataire n’est redevable du loyer et des charges que pour le temps o\u00f9 il a occup\u00e9 r\u00e9ellement les lieux si le cong\u00e9 a \u00e9t\u00e9 notifi\u00e9 par le bailleur”, whereas the tenant who gives notice owes the whole period unless the flat is relet by agreement. Read your cong\u00e9 the week it arrives, diary the six-month expiry, and take advice before that date passes, because once the notice expires you hold the flat with no legal right (sans droit ni titre<\/em>) and the landlord can sue.<\/p>\n

B. How Do You Delay or Stop an Eviction?<\/h3>\n

Even after a valid cong\u00e9 expires, or where rent arrears justify termination, eviction follows a mandatory court route with several built-in pauses. The first pause protects everyone: once the landlord has you served with a formal order to leave (commandement de quitter les lieux<\/em>), Article L412-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures<\/a> provides that “elle ne peut avoir lieu qu’\u00e0 l’expiration d’un d\u00e9lai de deux mois qui suit le commandement, sans pr\u00e9judice des dispositions des articles L. 412-3 \u00e0 L. 412-7 .” No physical eviction within two months of that order, and any attempt to bypass it, locks changed or belongings removed, is a criminal matter to report to the police and the procureur de la R\u00e9publique<\/em> (public prosecutor) rather than a civil dispute to negotiate.<\/p>\n

The landlord must then apply to the juge des contentieux de la protection<\/em>, before whom you can raise every defence at once: the cong\u00e9 was void, the arrears figure is wrong, charges were never properly settled, or you need time. The judge hearing the eviction can grant renewable stays where rehousing cannot happen in normal conditions: “Le juge peut accorder des d\u00e9lais renouvelables aux occupants de lieux habit\u00e9s ou de locaux \u00e0 usage professionnel, dont l’expulsion a \u00e9t\u00e9 ordonn\u00e9e judiciairement, chaque fois que le relogement des int\u00e9ress\u00e9s ne peut avoir lieu dans des conditions normales.” (Article L412-3<\/a>). Those stays run from one month to one year: “La dur\u00e9e des d\u00e9lais pr\u00e9vus \u00e0 l’article L. 412-3 ne peut, en aucun cas, \u00eatre inf\u00e9rieure \u00e0 un mois ni sup\u00e9rieure \u00e0 un an.” (Article L412-4<\/a>), calibrated on your conduct in paying what you owe, the parties’ ages, health, family and financial situations, the steps you document to find somewhere else, and your right to decent housing. A British tenant who pays arrears into court, who shows school enrolment for children, medical certificates, or evidence of a full search for alternative accommodation in a tight market, and who applies for social housing and registers with the local housing support services, gives the judge concrete material for a long stay. Arrive with nothing and the judge has nothing to work with.<\/p>\n

The final shield is the calendar. Article L412-6<\/a> establishes the winter truce (tr\u00eave hivernale<\/em>): “Nonobstant toute d\u00e9cision d’expulsion pass\u00e9e en force de chose jug\u00e9e et malgr\u00e9 l’expiration des d\u00e9lais accord\u00e9s en vertu de l’article L. 412-3, il est sursis \u00e0 toute mesure d’expulsion non ex\u00e9cut\u00e9e \u00e0 la date du 1er novembre de chaque ann\u00e9e jusqu’au 31 mars de l’ann\u00e9e suivante, \u00e0 moins que le relogement des int\u00e9ress\u00e9s soit assur\u00e9 dans des conditions suffisantes respectant l’unit\u00e9 et les besoins de la famille.” Even a final eviction order cannot be enforced between 1 November and 31 March unless you are rehoused in conditions that keep the family together. Use those five months to clear arrears, negotiate a supervised repayment plan (plan d’apurement<\/em>), or secure the next tenancy, because on 1 April the file reopens. Note the narrow exception at the end of the same article for people who forced their way into someone else’s home by threats or violence; ordinary tenants with a lease are not concerned by it.<\/p>\n

For British readers the practical sequence is therefore straightforward. The week a cong\u00e9 or payment order arrives, check the notice against Article 15, diary every deadline, and keep paying the rent and charges you genuinely owe, since judges punish tenants who stop paying altogether. Answer every step in writing, attend every hearing, and assemble the file a French judge expects: lease, inventories, rent receipts, proof of payments, medical and school documents, evidence of your housing search, and, where money is the issue, a realistic repayment proposal. Where residence rights interact, for example where a pending permit renewal complicates a move, the companion guide on long-stay visas and residence permits for Britons<\/a> explains the immigration side. And where the dispute starts across the Channel, the United Kingdom government’s Living in France guide<\/a> collects the British-side pointers for residents.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

A French tenancy gives British tenants stronger protection than most expect, provided they act on paper and on time. The deposit comes back within one month where the check-out matches the check-in and within two months otherwise, with 10 per cent of the monthly rent added for every month begun late, and a posted cheque that never arrives is not payment. Deductions survive only where they are duly evidenced, and handing back the keys early does not cut short a notice period the tenant gave. A landlord’s cong\u00e9 must state a lawful ground on pain of nullity, allow six months, and, where it is a cong\u00e9 for sale, quote the price and stand as an offer for two months; a sham notice risks a criminal fine of up to 6,000 euros alongside damages. Even then, eviction needs a court order, a two-month order to leave, and survives the one-month to one-year stays a judge can grant and the winter truce from 1 November to 31 March. Keep the lease, both inventories, the key-return receipt, the forwarding address and every payment trace in one file, challenge each defective step in writing, and put the file before a lawyer before the deadlines expire rather than after the locks are changed.<\/p>\n

Need a quick opinion on your case<\/h2>\n

Facing a retained deposit, a cong\u00e9 or an eviction threat in France? Our firm offers a telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer of the firm. Call +33 6 46 60 58 22<\/a> or contact us via our contact page<\/a>. Our Paris office advises British tenants across France, including Paris and the \u00cele-de-France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British tenant in France? 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