The French Lease Explained: What Must Be in It, What to Attach, What It Commits You To

Article 3 of the 1989 law lists what the contract has to state. Read your lease against this list:

• The landlord: name, and home or registered address, plus the agent's if there is one

• The tenant: name

• Dates: when the lease starts, and how long it runs

• The home: what it consists of, what it's used for, and its living area

• What's yours and what's shared: the private rooms and equipment, the shared parts of the building, and internet and telecoms access

• The rent: the amount, how it's paid, and the rules for any revision

• The previous rent: the amount and date of the last rent paid by the previous tenant, if they left less than 18 months before signing

• Works: the type and cost of work done since the last lease ended or was renewed

• The deposit: the amount, if there is one

• Energy costs: an estimate of the home's theoretical energy costs, for information

The model contract then sets the order and the wording, in eleven sections, from the parties (I) to the annexes (XI). If you want to know what changed in October 2026, we covered it in the new lease template guide.

A lease isn't only the signed pages. These documents go with it:

• The information notice on each side's rights and obligations, and on how to settle a dispute

• The diagnostics file, provided by the landlord: the energy rating (DPE), the lead report, the asbestos statement and the electricity and gas report, where each one applies

• The risk statement, if the home is in a listed risk zone, and the noise information if it's in an airport noise zone

• Extracts of the building's co-ownership rules, if the home is in a co-owned building

• The move-in inspection report (état des lieux), and the furniture inventory for a furnished let

The law gives a tenant a real remedy here. Without the risk statement, a tenant can ask a court to cancel the lease or reduce the rent (Article 3-3).

A missing mention doesn't automatically void the lease, but it isn't harmless either.

• Either party can demand a compliant lease at any time. The landlord can't use their own breach of Article 3 against the tenant.

• If the living area or the previous rent is missing, the tenant has one month from the start of the lease to send the landlord a formal notice. If there's no answer within a month, or a refusal, the tenant has three months from the notice to go to court, and can obtain a rent reduction where justified.

For a landlord, that's the practical reason to complete every line. For a tenant, it's the reason to check them in the first month, not the last.

The lease goes on working long after the keys change hands.

As a tenant:

• Pay the rent and charges on the agreed dates

• Insure the home and show proof every year

• Give notice properly when you leave: 3 months unfurnished, 1 month in the cases the law lists, 1 month furnished

As a landlord:

• Provide a rent receipt, free of charge, when the tenant asks

• Revise the rent only if the lease provides for it, once a year, on the IRL index. Homes rated F or G can't be increased.

• Settle the charges at least once a year if the tenant pays provisions

• Give notice only for the end of the lease, 6 months before it (3 if furnished), for a reason the law allows

• Return the deposit within one month of the keys if the two inspections match, two months if they don't, less sums due and justified

The lease must stay in French. The explanations don't have to. On AdminLanding you work in English, and the document follows the official model section by section, in French. A field you leave empty stays blank rather than being filled in for you, and the tool lists what's missing before it generates.

Your first rental property is free, with 10 documents. Beyond that it's part of the AdminLanding membership: €6 a month or €59 a year, renewed automatically, cancel any time. See the lease generator.

For the full legal background, durations and lease types, see our complete guide to the French bail.