Airbnb 2025: the new rules in cities

2025 marks a major turning point for short-term rentals in France. After several years of public debate, studies, legislative proposals and complaints from exasperated neighbours, France's largest cities have taken a much firmer line. The aim? To strike a balance between welcoming guests and keeping a stock of housing that residents can actually afford.

In this article, we take a complete and easy-to-follow look at the new Airbnb regulations in 2025, with concrete examples from Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and other cities. Buckle up: it is all rather administrative, but we will do our best to make it digestible… and even quite enjoyable!

Why is 2025 a pivotal year for Airbnb regulation?

Ever since peer-to-peer rental platforms took off in the early 2010s, cities have had to adapt. Some reacted early, others dragged their feet, but all of them now acknowledge that these rentals have a massive impact on the housing market.

The main aims of the new rules

The aims are straightforward. Easing the housing shortage in city centres, preventing homes from being turned into “quasi-hotels”, regulating second homes converted into furnished tourist accommodation. Add to that tighter tax oversight, made possible by platform transparency, and the wish to create a fairer framework for “amateur” hosts compared with professionals.

: the rise of the “Le Meur Act”

This legislation, passed at the end of 2024, gives local councils far more scope to regulate furnished tourist accommodation. Among other things, it allows them:

• to cut the cap from 120 to 90 days for main residences,
• to extend the number of regulated zones,
• to introduce quotas or bans by neighbourhood,
• to toughen up penalties.

Combined with local political will and geographical realities, this law has created a very uneven picture from one city to the next. Paris does not work like Nice, Lyon does not face the same problems as Biarritz, and Marseille follows its own logic entirely.

Paris: the capital tightens the screw even further

Paris has long been the city that symbolises the Airbnb conflict. In 2025, the trend is confirmed: the city hall wants to cut the supply of furnished tourist accommodation drastically in order to win back homes for its residents.

The lower cap: 90 days maximum

In Paris, a main residence may now only be let for 90 days per calendar year.

That is a significant drop from the 120 days previously allowed.

Why the change?

Because some hosts were getting around the rules by splitting up stays, listing several properties, or using multiple platforms at once. The city therefore decided to:

The city has therefore chosen to cross-check data more effectively, step up automated checks and penalise breaches of the cap more quickly.

An impact that is already visible

Since the cap came into force:

Since then, the number of listings has fallen slightly in certain arrondissements, notably the 3rd, 4th, 11th and 18th. Some owners have switched to long-term furnished lets, which are more stable, and a number of “superhosts” have had to rethink their business model.

And there is good news for Parisians: according to several council studies, pressure on housing has stabilised slightly in some neighbourhoods.

Lyon: residents first, and tight control of second homes

Lyon has applied a fairly strict Airbnb policy for several years now. In 2025, it is tightening that approach further still.

The main obligations for hosts in Lyon

1. Mandatory declaration to the city council.
2. Obtaining a registration number, which must appear on every listing.
3. Mandatory change of use where the property is a second home or where the letting exceeds the set limits.
4. Possible caps tailored to each neighbourhood (Presqu'île, Vieux-Lyon, Guillotière, etc.).

Why is Lyon so strict?

An owner of a studio flat in Vieux-Lyon who wants to let it for 200 nights a year will have to:

That owner has to apply for a change of use, provide detailed supporting documents and sometimes offset the conversion by putting another property back on the residential market.

Suffice to say, this is no longer a simple formality.

Marseille: registration for all, and tax inspections

In Marseille, the council has pinned its hopes on a simple but effective tool: compulsory registration.

A mandatory 13-digit number

Every host must declare their property on the official platform. A unique number is generated, and without it no listing can legally go online.

Stricter checks

In 2025, the city council began to:

The council verifies the tourist taxes declared, spots discrepancies between the platforms and the municipal registers, and penalises hosts who fail to meet their obligations.

The impact in Marseille

Hosts have become noticeably more professional. Illegal listings have dropped. And residents, who until then had grown weary of the disturbances, now view the phenomenon more favourably.

Nice, Bordeaux, Biarritz: very different local strategies

Every city now adapts its rules to its own circumstances.

Nice: fine-grained rules by neighbourhood

Nice distinguishes between several zones:

Nice distinguishes three types of zone. In the highly touristic ones, a change of use is almost always required. In the “buffer” zones, the council can limit the number of authorisations. In the “quiet” zones, hosts keep a little more room for manoeuvre.

Students who sublet their accommodation on a temporary basis must now obtain a specific authorisation, valid for one year only.

Bordeaux: quotas and restrictions

Between 2018 and 2023, Bordeaux saw an explosion in tourist lettings.

In 2025, the city:

In 2025, the city imposes quotas, bans certain conversions of second homes into Airbnb lets and clearly gives priority to residential housing.

Biarritz and Saint-Malo: tourist pressure

As seaside resorts, these towns have had to:

These towns have had to protect the housing stock for their residents, limit new furnished tourist accommodation and impose stricter rules in the most sought-after areas.

Here too, hosts often have to deal with short-lived authorisations, change-of-use applications or offsetting requirements.

The table below sums up, city by city, the flagship 2025 measure and what it actually requires from the host.

City	Flagship 2025 measure	What the host must do
Paris	Cap lowered to 90 days per calendar year for a main residence	Track the calendar day by day: data cross-checks and faster penalties
Lyon	Change of use for second homes, caps set district by district	Register with the city, display the registration number, sometimes offset
Marseille	Mandatory 13-digit registration number	No number, no legal listing; tourist tax cross-checked with city records
Nice	Three zone types: high-tourism, buffer, quiet	Change of use almost always required in high-tourism zones; one-year permit for students subletting
Bordeaux	Quotas and a ban on some second-home conversions	Check before buying or converting: residential housing comes first
Biarritz and Saint-Malo	Limits on creating new tourist rentals	Work with short-term permits, a change of use or an offset

The general obligations for all hosts in 2025

Although every city has its own particularities, some rules apply everywhere in France.

Compulsory declaration to the council

Whether you are in Marseille, Paris or Nantes, you must declare your property if you let it on a short-term basis.

Displaying the registration number

Essential if you want to avoid fines and keep your listing online.

Sticking to the annual cap

The annual cap is 90 days in cities that have adopted the new limits, and 120 days everywhere else.

Change of use for second homes

This is the most widely misunderstood rule… and also the most expensive one to get wrong.

Tax obligations

• declaring your income,
• collecting the tourist tax,
• paying closer attention to transparency (the platforms pass on the data).

How to adapt to the new regulations

Here are a few simple tips for carrying on letting with complete peace of mind

Keep yourself informed

The rules change fast, and sometimes from one neighbourhood to the next.

Take a more professional approach

A clear calendar, tidy accounts and good administrative record-keeping can spare you a great deal of trouble.

Optimise your listing

Fewer nights available?

Focus on:

Fewer nights available means betting on a better standard of welcome, consistent pricing and longer stays.

Consider medium-term lets

They are often a good compromise between:

It is often a good compromise between profitability, peace of mind and legal compliance.

Conclusion: a new reality that can also open up opportunities

In 2025, France's major cities are not trying to wipe out Airbnb lettings, but to regulate them.

For hosts, that means less improvisation and more structure: restrictive at times, but also clearer.

One thing is certain: the holiday rental is not dead. It is evolving.

And those who adapt now will carry on welcoming guests and tourists… entirely legally, and with no nasty surprises in the letterbox.

Frequently asked questions

How many days can I rent out my main home in 2025? The cap is 90 days per calendar year in the cities that have adopted the new limit, starting with Paris, and stays at 120 days elsewhere. The Le Meur law, passed at the end of 2024, allows municipalities to bring the ceiling down from 120 to 90. Check your own town’s rule before you open your calendar: it may have changed since your last season.

Do I have to register my property with the town hall even in a small town? Registering a furnished tourist rental applies everywhere in France, whether you rent in Paris, Marseille or Nantes. It produces a registration number that must appear on all your listings. In Marseille, that 13-digit number is what allows a listing to go live: without it, the advert is not legal.

What is a change of use and who has to apply for it? It applies to second homes rented out short term and to lettings that go beyond the limits set by the town. It is the most misunderstood rule, and the most expensive one to forget. In Lyon, the owner of a studio in Vieux-Lyon aiming for 200 nights a year has to put together a file of supporting documents and, in some cases, offset it by returning another home to the residential market.

Are the rules the same across the whole city? No, and that is where most hosts get caught out. Nice separates highly touristic zones, where a change of use is almost always required, buffer zones, where the number of permits can be capped, and quieter zones, where hosts keep more room to move. Lyon can also set caps district by district, from the Presqu’île to the Guillotière.

Do the platforms report my income to the tax authorities? Yes, and it is exactly this transparency imposed on platforms that made tighter tax checks possible. You are still required to declare your rental income and to collect the tourist tax. In Marseille, the city cross-checks the declared tax against its own registers to spot inconsistencies.

Is mid-term renting a good answer if I lose available nights? Often yes: it is a compromise between profitability, peace of mind and compliance, and some Paris owners have already switched to more stable long-term furnished lets. But it is not a neutral choice, the yield per night drops and the type of guest changes. If your place lives mainly on short high-season stays, start instead with better hospitality, consistent pricing and longer bookings.