An Expat’s Guide to Renting an Apartment in France

When we rented our apartment in France, we learned quickly that the process is less about browsing pretty apartments and more about prep.

From building a dossier to understanding guarantors, deposits, and agency fees, a lot comes down to having the boring stuff ready.

This guide walks through exactly how to go about renting an apartment in France as an expat. We include what landlords look for, how foreigners can rent without residency, and the small details that can make or break an application.

If you want the real, practical version of renting in France, this is the kind of information we wish we’d had from the start.

Can foreigners rent an apartment in France?

Absolutely. Proof of accommodation is one of the mandatory requirements for your long-stay visa application, and a signed 12-month lease is one of the most common ways for you to qualify. Let’s go over how to get this done, shall we?

What You’ll Need to Rent an Apartment in France as an Expat

Whether you’re looking for a small room, a multi-bedroom apartment, or even a second home, the process in France is more about preparation than browsing pretty listings.

First, you’ll want to gather *gasp* more paperwork, as renters put together a rental dossier to show potential landlords. Think of it as a “rental resume” that proves your identity, income, financial stability, and reliability as a tenant.

In competitive markets like Paris, you will most likely be rejected without a complete dossier.

Common documents in a dossier include:

Proof of identity, like your passport or national ID card.
Proof of address, such as a recent utility bill, rental receipt, or certificate of domicile.
Proof of income. I’ll explain later.
Student ID card and proof of enrollment if you are a student.
Proof of your pension if you’re retired.
Tax documents, such as your last tax notice. This is called the avis d’imposition in France.

For expats, your dossier should include your visa, carte de séjour, or residence permit. Most agencies and landlords accept digital copies of necessary dossier components via email or secure platforms like Dossier Facile.

Now, I’m going to tell you a quick story because I didn’t know these things myself before we applied for our first long-stay visa.

For our first visa application, we found an Airbnb for a month. We used that receipt, along with a letter explaining that we would look for permanent accommodations when we arrived in France.

This worked for us, as we received a very quick approval for our first visa. We then reached out to the owner of the Airbnb to see if they would be willing to rent to us for the first year.

After a Zoom call and a lease agreement on monthly rent, we signed our first one-year lease virtually, before we even officially moved!

Note: I don’t know if this is common or if we just were extremely lucky. It was just our experience.

That being said, our first place ended up being a little bit too small for our needs, so we did need to search for a new place after our first four months. This is where I first learned about the dossier and its importance, so I promise this guide will be worth your while.

Guarantors for Expats in France

Many landlords will require a guarantor in your application if you are an expat like in our situation. They may also want one if you’re a student, not a French citizen, have no revenues in France, or if you earn less than three times the rent.

Here are two main ways to obtain a guarantor:

Through the Visale program offered by the French government. This is a state-backed program primarily for tenants under 30 or those with an employment contract but limited income. Unfortunately, we didn’t qualify for this free program.
Through private guarantors like Garantme. This is not free, but it provides the landlord with a guarantee in case you are not able to pay your rent.

Our town is heavy with international residents, so Garantme was a very common request from landlords and real estate agencies.

The application process is very easy, and when done, it gives you a PDF you add to your application that states you’re approved for a certain amount of rent.

Note: In our situation, this guarantor costs us an additional 1,000 euros each year.

While it’s frustrating to pay for “insurance” in case you don’t pay your rent, this is often the only way for your application to be accepted if you’re in a situation like ours. For a more detailed look at the cost of living in France, we have a guide for that.

Proof of Income Rules Explained

To show proof of income, the necessary documents will depend on your situation. For employed tenants already in France, include:

Your last three payslips.
Your work contract.
Or if applicable, a job offer letter or signed employment contract from a future employer.

For self-employed or business owners, include:

Proof of business registration, called a SIREN/SIRET certificate.
Three years of tax notices showing stable income.
Profit and loss statements.
Or recent financial accounts.

For students, you need:

Your student ID card (carte d’étudiant).
A certificate of enrollment (certificat de scolarité).
Proof of scholarship or financial support.

For retirees or pensioners, you need:

Proof of pension (e.g., last three pension statements or a certificate from the pension provider).

Renting in France Without a Traditional Job

A man thinks about drinking his wine in France.

For self-employed workers, retirees, or those with sporadic income, you can still find apartments in France, but it may require a little extra work on your part.

You can attempt to include the proof of income as described above, but you may still find difficulty finding a place to accept you, especially if you are not a French citizen.

The easiest way would be for you to just include a guarantor with your application and budget for that additional cost.

The long-stay visa we applied for doesn’t allow for professional activity within France, so we don’t have an employment contract, payslips, or revenue coming from France.

While we do receive enough passive income from this website and our investments to qualify without one, many French landlords still want us to show a guarantor. So we included our Garantme contract with our application.

Fun fact: I begrudgingly include this extra cost in my budget spreadsheet, even though I don’t care to pay for someone else’s insurance.

How the Apartment Search Works in France

A woman wears a crown while petting her dog in France.

France doesn’t work that much differently from what you are probably used to regarding apartment searches. They have their own version of Craigslist called Leboncoin and real estate-specific websites like SeLoger.

You will also find that, along with boulangeries and patisseries, France has no shortage of real estate agencies in every town. Each real estate agency will have its own rental listings, so as you walk about, you can peruse them all at your leisure.

Airbnb listings might also be a route for you, since we were successful in renting our first place from the initial listing we booked. For our second rental, we used a real estate agency to show us the places they had available.

In our application for a long-stay visa, we booked an Airbnb for a month. There’s an option to print out a receipt for visa purposes within the app, so we included this along with a letter stating our intention to find a long-term rental when we arrived.

After our visa approval, we reached out to the owner of the Airbnb to see if he would be willing to rent to us on a long-term basis. We spent time on a Zoom call with him, and signed a lease contract shortly after our visa was approved.

How Apartment Viewings Work

Once we were in France, apartment viewings, in our case, worked just like they would back in the United States. We made an appointment with two different agents, walked through each option for 10-15 minutes, and left.

If you like the apartment, you’re expected to submit your application shortly after your visit. If you’re chosen, things move quickly.

Rental Costs, Deposits, and Fees in France

A woman walks a street in France at sunset.

Rental costs typically are split between the monthly rent for the apartment itself, and any provisional charges not electricity related, like water, garbage pickup, sewer, etc.

For example, your rent of €2,000 may be split between €1,850 for the apartment and €150 for provisional charges.

Most rentals will also include a security deposit. They are capped at one month’s rent (excluding provisional charges) for unfurnished properties, but for furnished properties, they can be as much as two months’ rent.

Fun fact: Our security deposit for a furnished rental was two months’ rent.

Your initial charges may also include agency fees. In high-demand areas, they’re capped at €12 per square meter plus €3 per square meter for the move-in/out inventory inspection.

We paid a total of €15/sq meter for our apartment as it was listed through an agency.

You may also be asked to pay for the first month’s rent up front, as we did for our apartment.

Aside from the provisional charges that are included in your monthly rent, you will most likely be responsible for setting up your electric utilities, and internet/phone.

Our electric bills average about €75/month, and internet/cell phone service is another €75/month.

Furnished vs. Unfurnished Apartments in France

Apartments in France that are listed as long-term rentals fall under two main categories: unfurnished and furnished rentals. Unfurnished apartments have a rental contract length of three years, while furnished apartments are for one year.

In more competitive markets, such as the Paris region, the rules are friendly towards the renter. At any point during your one or three-year contract, you can break the lease with no penalty, provided you give at least 30 days’ notice.

As far as which option is better for expats, it might depend on whether you’re deciding to move with all of your stuff or not. For us, furnished apartments were much easier.

Furnished in France, by the way, may not mean what you expect. I mean, you’ll get literal furniture, but potentially all kinds of other surprises:

Apartment Rental Scams and Red Flags to Watch For

I’m not aware of too many common rental scams. However, there are some agencies that attempt to put in annual fee language in their contracts.

You should only have to pay them once for the agency fee. After that, each renewal can be handled directly through the landlord.

When renting anywhere, keep basic precautions in mind. Always verify the address, insist on a viewing (in person or live video), and never send documents or money via WhatsApp, wire transfer, or gift cards.

When in doubt, stick to well-known platforms or licensed agencies.

Tenant Rights and Lease Basics in France: What Expats Should Know

Tenant rights vary based on the region you want to call home. In more competitive markets, like Paris, rental rights are very pro-tenant:

Landlords cannot increase rent during your lease, and any increases are capped and tied to the official rent index (IRL).
For unfurnished rentals, the lease renews automatically for the same duration (typically three years) unless the landlord provides notice six months before it ends.
For furnished rentals in France, you’ll need to check your lease. In most cases, the lease renews automatically for the same duration (typically one year).
Landlords cannot force you out without notice. This is six months for unfurnished apartments. Non-payment of property rent, serious lease violations, or the landlord needing the property for personal use are the only valid reasons for evictions.
Evictions are prohibited from November 1 to March 31 (the “trêve hivernale”), giving tenants extra protection in cold months.
Landlords cannot prohibit tenants from keeping pets. Exceptions may apply for dangerous dog breeds or certain exotic animals.

If you have concerns as a tenant in France, you can turn to your local mairie, or town hall, or the Agence Départementale pour l’Information sur le Logement (ADIL). The ADIL gives free legal advice on housing, leases, and tenant protections.

FAQs About Renting an Apartment in France

Do you need a French bank account to rent an apartment in France?

Most landlords will require a payment via bank transfer. While this doesn’t necessarily mean you need a bank account, you should at a minimum look into neo-banks such as Wise or Revolut.

Can you rent short-term while looking long-term?

Yes. Short-term rentals give you a legal address, time to understand neighborhoods, and some time to navigate viewings without pressure. They also allow you to open a bank account, gather documents, and build a proper rental dossier.

This is what we did to obtain our long-stay visa. Many expats start with a furnished rental for a few months, then transition once they’re fully set up.

Do you need to speak French to rent an apartment in France?

It will definitely help to have a minimal grasp of the language, but it isn’t mandatory to know French during your initial search.

What happens if your visa status changes mid-lease?

If you are in a busy region, all you need to provide is 30 days’ notice to break your lease if your visa changes.

Is it hard to rent an apartment in France as an expat?

France has a very paperwork-heavy rental system, and landlords are risk-averse. They usually want proof of stable income, a French guarantor, and a complete rental dossier to consider you.

That said, expats rent all the time. Using a guarantor service, starting with a short-term rental, or looking outside the most in-demand neighborhoods can make the process much smoother.

Final Tips Before You Start Apartment Hunting in France

Research as much as you can before starting. I thought that I did a lot, but even I found that more information could be uncovered the more I looked.

If possible, visit an apartment in person. Photos can be misleading, but seeing a place in person gives you a feel for the area, too. Be as prepared as possible, especially if you’re in a more competitive market, like Paris.

And be decisive! Good places go fast. When you find one you like that fits your needs, submit your application quickly. Friendly tenant rights mean you aren’t tied to any place long-term.

Planning travel in France? Check out these guides:

We’ve written a lot about France! Here are a few more:

Want to see more?

Subscribe to my biweekly newsletter for hot travel tips I come across, weird stories you won’t see elsewhere and perhaps lifelong friendship.

Too much, or just enough?