Airbnb rental and proof of residential use

The Court of Cassation considers as ineffective the proof that a premises is used for residential purposes after January 1, 1970 (Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, January 11, 2024, n°22-21.126)

A municipality sued the owner of a residential premises and his tenant to have them ordered to pay a civil fine for having changed the use of the premises, by renting it repeatedly for short periods, via the Airbnb site, to a transient clientele.

As a reminder, Article L. 631-7 of the Building and Housing Code provides that changing the use of premises intended for housing is subject to prior authorization, it being specified that a premises is deemed to be used for housing if it was allocated for this purpose on January 1, 1970, this allocation may be established by any means of proof.

In support of its request, the municipality produced a summary declaration dated October 9, 1970 indicating that the premises on the fifth floor, from which the apartment in dispute originated, were service rooms.

The Court of Cassation ruled that the mere production of this declaration, made to the tax authorities, is insufficient to establish that the use of the premises on January 1^st, 1970 was not for residential purposes.

In other words, the fact that the declaration is only a few months later does not indicate the use of the premises as of January 1^st, 1970, since subsequent work may have given the disputed premises a residential use.

Consequently, the Court of Cassation concluded that the municipality could not rely on an illicit change of use within the meaning of Article L. 631-7 of the Building and Housing Code.

https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/juri/id/JURITEXT000048950040?init=true&page=1&query=22-21.126&searchField=ALL&tab_selection=all

Real estate construction