Campaigners are pushing for a new "right to suspend rent payments" for overheated properties, but at present - despite soaring temperatures making some homes almost unliveable - French tenants cannot legally withhold rent.
Under French law, tenants remain legally obliged to pay their rent, even if they are in dispute with their landlord over the condition of the property.
Article 7 of the law governing landlord-tenant relations (Law No. 89-462 of July 6th, 1989) requires tenants to pay rent and service charges according to the terms of their lease. Withholding payment because a property is too hot is not a legally recognised option.
Heat is not treated like cold
French housing regulations distinguish sharply between excessive cold and excessive heat.
A 2002 decree defining what constitutes "decent" housing requires rented properties to include heating, meaning landlords can be compelled to act if accommodation cannot be adequately heated in winter.
No equivalent obligation exists for protecting tenants from extreme summer temperatures.
As a result, landlords are not legally required to install air conditioning or ceiling fans, and tenants cannot argue that a property is legally unfit for habitation simply because it overheats during a heatwave.
What landlords are required to do
Current regulations do provide tenants with some rights.
The 2002 decree requires windows to open properly and any existing ventilation systems to function correctly. This means tenants can request repairs if windows are broken or if mechanical ventilation or air-conditioning systems already installed in the property are not working.
However, landlords are not obliged to install new cooling equipment where none exists.
The regulations also do not require rental properties to have shutters or external blinds, despite these being one of the simplest ways to reduce indoor temperatures during periods of extreme heat.
It's for this reason that you'll often see reflective covers, thermal blankets or even tinfoil attached to windows by desperate tenants during a heatwave.
New rules with limited protections
Some changes have begun to acknowledge the growing impact of hotter summers.
A 2023 decree amended the Public Health Code to require rooms intended for sleeping to have a way of blocking out light, such as shutters, blinds or an equivalent device.
However, the measure does not create new rights between landlords and tenants. It cannot be relied upon in court to force a landlord to install shutters.
Instead, tenants who believe their accommodation does not meet public health standards may ask the Regional Health Agency (Agence régionale de santé) to investigate and, where appropriate, order improvements.
Campaigners want stronger rights
Housing organisations argue that these protections fall short of what is needed as climate change makes heatwaves more frequent and intense.
Last year, the Fondation pour le Logement (formerly Fondation Abbé Pierre) drafted a proposed law known as "Zéro Logement bouilloire", backed by around 150 MPs from eight political groups.
The proposal would give tenants the right to require landlords to install external shading and ventilation fans, include summer comfort within France's Energy Performance Certificate (DPE), and recognise overheating as a form of energy poverty when assessing housing quality and renovation needs.
For now, however, the proposal is not on the government's legislative agenda.
Instead, campaigners have criticised government plans to relax restrictions on renting out some of France's least energy-efficient properties. Homes with the lowest G-rated energy performance certificates had been progressively removed from the rental market to encourage renovation.
The housing rights association Droit au Logement (DAL) says the proposed changes send the wrong signal at a time when poorly insulated homes are becoming increasingly difficult to live in during summer.
Together with the collective Grève des loyers (Rent Strike), DAL has launched a petition titled "Pas de volets, pas de loyers" (No shutters, no rent). The petition, which has, at the time of publication, more than 46,000 signatures, calls for the creation of a legal right allowing tenants to suspend rent payments when accommodation becomes effectively uninhabitable.
What can tenants do today?
Although tenants cannot legally stop paying rent, they still have a few options.
The first step is usually to write a formal letter to the landlord explaining the problem and providing evidence, such as temperature measurements, photographs of broken shutters, or proof that ventilation systems are not functioning.
Tenants can ask for repairs or request a rent reduction, although landlords are under no obligation to agree unless the property has officially been declared unfit for habitation.
If conditions are considered sufficiently serious and the landlord fails to act, tenants can begin the formal procedure for reporting substandard housing by contacting their local council or the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF). This process, however, can be lengthy and complex.
Tenants can also report problems through the government's Signal Logement platform or refer the dispute to the Commission départementale de conciliation (CDC), which attempts to help landlords and tenants reach an amicable settlement before legal proceedings become necessary.
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