What Changed for French Property in 2025–2026 — and What Each Change Costs You

Updated 2026-06-21 · The French Property Playbook

French property law moved more in eighteen months than in the previous decade: a new short-let tax regime, a depreciation clawback at resale, a transfer-duty hike now live in most departments, and a social-charge split that quietly raised the rate on furnished rentals. This guide walks through every confirmed change, dates it, says who it hits, and puts a euro figure on it — so you can model a deal instead of guessing. (Everything here is as of June 2026, with the update box below re-verified 2 July 2026.)

Updated 2 July 2026 — five developments since first publication:

1. Micro-BIC threshold enacted: the furnished/classé ceiling rises €77,700 → €83,600 for 2026 income (declared 2027) — now law (LF 2026, LOI n° 2026-103 du 19 février 2026; triennial 2026–2028; service-public A18813). €77,700 still governs 2025 income.
2. "Statut du bailleur privé" enacted (LF 2026 art. 47, CGI 31 I-1° i/j): an amortisation deduction against revenus fonciers for unfurnished lettings — neuf 3.5/4.5/5.5% / ancien 3.0/3.5/4.0%, base 80% of price, capped €8k/€10k/€12k per foyer, 9-year commitment, recapture at resale via CGI 150 VB III; acquisitions/permis 21 Feb 2026 – 31 Dec 2028.
3. Non-resident LMP test recast (LF 2026 art. 53, CGI 155 IV 3°): foreign professional income taxed under an equivalent income tax now counts — many non-residents flip LMP → LMNP from 2026 income (18.6% social charges or 7.5% EU/EEA/Swiss-affiliated, instead of SSI cotisations ~35%).
4. DPE coefficient reform (1 Jan 2026, arrêté du 13 août 2025): the electricity primary-energy coefficient fell 2.3 → 1.9 — ~850,000 mostly electric-heated dwellings left F/G with no works; no label worsens; pre-2026 DPEs stay valid and a free updated label is available via the ADEME observatory. Re-check your DPE before pricing works.
5. Q3 2026 taux d'usure (in force 1 Jul–30 Sep 2026): fixed ≥20 yrs 5.29%; Q4 publishes ~late Sept 2026.

At a glance

What changed, change by change

Loi Le Meur — micro-BIC for tourist lets slashed

The flat deduction (abattement) on short-term furnished tourist lets (meublés de tourisme) under micro-BIC fell hard. Unclassified (non-classé) lets went from a 50% deduction with a €77,700 ceiling to a dedicated category — 30% deduction with a €15,000 ceiling (CGI 50-0 1° bis). Classified (classé) lets went from 71%/€188,700 to 50%/€77,700, and that 50% is now uniform nationwide. Effective on 2025 income, declared in 2026 (loi n° 2024-1039 of 19 Nov 2024).

Who it affects: Airbnb-style tourist-let owners using micro-BIC.

The € impact: On €20,000 of unclassified-let income, your taxable base jumps from €10,000 (old 50%) to €14,000 (new 30%) — €4,000 more taxed at your marginal rate plus social charges. Above the new €15,000 ceiling you are pushed into régime réel entirely.

What to do: Run the régime réel alternative — actual costs plus depreciation often beat a 30% flat deduction. Getting your property classé restores the 50%/€77,700 treatment and is usually worth the classification cost.

→ See the full LMNP/furnished reform breakdown.

Loi Le Meur — registration and day caps (non-tax)

Separately from the tax cut, short-lets now carry compliance teeth. A mandatory 13-digit registration number must appear on listings via a national téléservice, with a deadline of 20 May 2026. The principal-residence short-let cap stays at 120 days/year but can be cut to 90 days by a motivated commune deliberation (power live since 1 Jan 2025). DPE obligations are phasing in, and a syndic can now vote to ban or regulate tourist lets in a building.

Who it affects: all short-term tourist-let owners and principal-residence hosts.

The € impact: indirect but real — losing 30 lettable nights (120 → 90) on a property earning €150/night is roughly €4,500 of gross income gone, and a syndic ban can end the activity entirely.

What to do: register before 20 May 2026, check your commune's current day cap and your building's règlement, and stress-test your model at 90 nights, not 120.

LMNP/LMP amortisation recapture at resale

This is the change foreign investors most need to understand. Under the old rule, the depreciation (amortissement) you deducted while renting a furnished property was not added back when you sold — it sheltered rental income for free. For sales completed on or after 15 February 2025 (LF 2025 art. 84, CGI 150 VB III), that depreciation is now subtracted from the acquisition price, lowering your deemed cost base and enlarging the taxable gain. It captures pre-2025 depreciation too (confirmed in Réponse Mette, QE n° 10097, JOAN 24/03/2026). Only depreciation actually deducted is recaptured — amortissements différés that were never deducted are not. Certain managed residences (student/under-30-in-training/over-65 per CCH L.631-12/13, EHPAD/senior per CASF L.312-1 6°/7°, long-term care per CSP L.6143-5) and micro-BIC investors are excluded.

Who it affects: LMNP/LMP investors selling furnished property held under régime réel — especially foreign and non-resident owners who modelled a low-tax exit.

The € impact: The gain stays in the standard private capital-gains regime — 19% income tax + 17.2% social charges = 36.2% before allowances (it is not taxed at the 18.6% furnished-BIC social rate). If you deducted €80,000 of depreciation over the hold, your taxable gain rises by €80,000 — roughly €29,000 more tax before holding-period taper. That taper survives: full income-tax exemption at 22 years, full social-charge exemption at 30 years.

What to do: re-model your exit; long holds soften the blow via the taper. Do not assume the old "depreciate and walk away" math.

→ See the LMNP 2026 reform guide.

Social charges on furnished BIC raised to 18.6%

The LFSS 2026 (loi n° 2025-1403 of 30 Dec 2025) lifted the CSG component on capital income from 9.2% to 10.6%, taking the headline social-charge rate to 18.6%. Crucially, real estate was split: revenus fonciers (unfurnished rent) and plus-values immobilières (property capital gains) stay at 17.2%, while furnished-letting BIC profit of LMNP (non-professional) landlords rises to 18.6% as "revenu du patrimoine" — LMP profit sits under SSI social cotisations (~35%) instead. It applies from 2025 patrimoine income declared in 2026. (The split is statute-confirmed: CSS L.136-8 consolidated; DINR FAQ, impots.gouv.fr, 13 Apr 2026.)

Who it affects: furnished landlords on their rental profit; unfurnished landlords and property-gain sellers are untouched.

The € impact: on €10,000 of furnished BIC profit, +1.4 points = €140/year extra, recurring.

What to do: factor 18.6% (not 17.2%) into furnished cash-flow models; the gap nudges some borderline cases toward unfurnished or régime réel optimisation.

DMTO (transfer duty) — departmental share up to 5.00%

LF 2025 art. 116 lets départements raise their share of transfer duty from 4.50% to a maximum of 5.00% (+0.5 point), pushing global DMTO on existing property from ~5.81% to ~6.32% (observed bands ~5.09% / 5.81% / 6.32%). It applies to deeds signed 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2028 (per the statute; a service-public news page says "30 April 2028" — the statute prevails); votes after 15 April 2025 generally take effect from January 2026. Ancien only — new-build/VEFA (~0.715% duty) is unaffected. Primo-accédants (no principal-residence ownership in the prior 2 years) are exempt from the +0.5 point. At the 1 April 2025 start only about thirty départements applied it; in 2026, 88 of 101 départements are at the 5.00% rate (11 at 4.50%, 2 at 3.8% — impots.gouv.fr DMTO table, May 2026 edition).

Who it affects: buyers of ancien in adopting départements. Investors buying to let generally do not qualify for the primo-accédant exemption.

The € impact: on a €400,000 ancien purchase, +0.5 point = ~€2,000 in extra duty. Your notaire-cost percentage is now a geographic variable, not a national constant.

What to do: confirm the specific département's rate before budgeting your apport.

→ See notaire fees and DMTO in 2026.

DPE rental ban — class G dwellings unlettable

Since 1 January 2025, a class G dwelling is legally indecent and cannot be let on any new or renewed (including tacit-renewal) lease in métropole; class F follows on 1 January 2028 and class E on 1 January 2034 (set by décret n° 2023-796 of 18 Aug 2023). The ban bites on new leases and renewals — it does not retroactively break a pre-2025 lease, and it does not block buying or selling a passoire thermique. (Overseas France: G from 2028, F from 2031.) Note the small-surface (<40 m²) DPE recalculation in force since 1 July 2024 reclassified ~140,000 units — always check the current certificate.

Who it affects: landlords of G (then F, then E) dwellings on new or renewed leases; buyers of passoires thermiques.

The € impact: exiting class G typically costs €10,000–€30,000+ in works. A déficit foncier enhanced cap of €21,400/year is available for energy renovations that move a dwelling from E/F/G into A/B/C/D, with the new class to be justified by 31 December 2027 (deadline extended by LF 2026).

What to do: price the renovation into any low-rated purchase, and use the enhanced déficit foncier if you let under régime réel. A relaxation of the F/G ban is moving but is still a bill, not law: the projet de loi "relance et décentralisation du logement" (Jeanbrun/Lecornu) went to the Conseil des ministres on 24 June 2026 and sits at the Sénat (n° 801) with the séance publique on 7–8 July 2026 — it would allow F/G re-letting against a registered works commitment (3 yrs house / 5 yrs copro, target ≥ class D). Until (and unless) it passes, the G ban remains fully in force. Also re-check your DPE first — the 1 Jan 2026 coefficient reform (see the update box above) may have moved an electric-heated property out of F/G with no works.

→ See the DPE 2026 rental ban guide and what the Senate votes on 7–8 July.

Loi de finances 2026 — LMNP amortisation kept, new landlord status

The feared abolition of LMNP amortissement did not happen: the loi de finances 2026 (promulgated 19 February 2026) retained it. It also created a new unified "statut du bailleur privé" (dispositif Jeanbrun) to rationalise landlord incentives, and extended the €21,400 déficit foncier energy cap to 31 December 2027. PTZ was left unchanged.

Who it affects: LMNP/LMP investors and private landlords weighing incentive regimes.

The € impact: keeping amortissement preserves the core LMNP advantage — often €2,000–€5,000/year of sheltered rental income on a typical apartment.

What to do: keep LMNP régime réel in your modelling; the statut du bailleur privé mechanics are now enacted (LF 2026 art. 47 — see the update box above) as an unfurnished-lane alternative with its own caps, commitment and recapture.

Notaire émoluments — scale renewed, brackets unchanged

The regulated notaire fee scale was renewed by arrêté du 25 February 2026, brackets unchanged, valid to 29 February 2028. The degressive HT brackets remain 3.870% / 1.596% / 1.064% / 0.799%, with a permitted uniform remise of up to 20% on the slice at or above €100,000.

Who it affects: all buyers.

The € impact: no change to the regulated component — but the 20% remise above €100,000 is real money: on a €400,000 purchase it can shave a few hundred euros if your notaire grants it.

What to do: on larger purchases, ask whether the notaire applies the permitted remise.

Taxe foncière — base coefficient +0.8% for 2026

The annual revaluation coefficient is +0.8% for 2026 (definitive, IPCH confirmed by INSEE on 28 Nov 2025) — down sharply from +1.7% (2025), +3.9% (2024) and +7.1% (2023). Communes can still raise their rates separately on top.

Who it affects: all owners liable to taxe foncière.

The € impact: on a €2,000 bill, +0.8% = ~€16 from the base alone — modest, but watch your commune's own rate vote.

What to do: budget the base rise, then check your commune's rate decision for the real number.

If you are a US person — the traps that cost the most

US citizens and green-card holders carry a separate, heavier layer of rules that have nothing to do with French law and everything to do with the IRS. These are standing rules, emphasized for 2026 buyers — and the penalties attach to the forms, so you can owe zero tax and still face five-figure exposure.

The SCI trap

In France an SCI is fiscally transparent and routinely recommended. The IRS ignores the French label under "check-the-box" rules (Treas. Reg. 301.7701-2/-3): two-or-more members default to a foreign partnership → Form 8865, penalties up to ~$60,000/year; a single member is a disregarded entity → Form 8858; electing corporate treatment can create a CFC → Form 5471 plus Subpart F/GILTI (if US persons own >50%) or a PFIC → Form 8621. Even a no-income SCI holding one holiday home triggers US filings and can roughly double your annual compliance cost. Practitioner default: hold French property directly in your own name.

→ See the SCI / US-person trap explained.

FBAR and Form 8938

Owning French property as a US person triggers recurring federal information returns: FBAR / FinCEN 114 when aggregate foreign accounts (including an SCI bank account or signature authority) exceed $10,000, and Form 8938 (FATCA) when specified foreign financial assets exceed $200k year-end / $300k at any point if you live abroad ($50k/$75k if you live in the US; higher for joint filers) — an SCI interest counts. Non-filing penalties are severe and independent of any tax owed.

PFIC, §988, and what actually helps

For US persons, French pooled vehicles — SCPI, OPCI, French mutual funds, and unit-linked funds inside an assurance-vie — are generally PFICs, triggering punitive Form 8621 treatment on phantom gains. The rule: own French real estate directly; avoid French funds and wrappers. Paying down a euro mortgage can also create a taxable §988 currency gain if the euro weakened against the dollar between borrowing and repayment. On financing generally, most French retail banks decline US persons because of FATCA (FATCA compliance and withholding risk); where a loan exists, expect ~50–70% LTV (30–50% down), ~3.5–4.25% rates, and USD income haircut ~20%.

What does help: the US-France Income Tax Treaty (1994, as amended) plus the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) generally eliminate US income tax on income already taxed in France; CSG/CRDS (17.2%) is creditable under the 2019 IRS concession (Directive LB&I-04-0819-007); IFI may be creditable; and the 1978 Estate & Gift Tax Treaty (2004 protocol) lets US domiciliaries apply the large US estate-tax exemption against French situs tax.

What to do: budget ~€1,000–3,000+ for a cross-border CPA before you buy, not after — a single misfiled entity form costs more than the advice.

→ See buying property in France as an American.

Put a number on your own deal

Every figure above moves the bottom line — and they interact. The fastest way to see what your purchase actually costs is to run it through our free buying-costs calculator: it folds in the correct departmental DMTO, regulated notaire fees, and the furnished-vs-unfurnished tax split so you get a real all-in number, not a rule of thumb.

This guide is education, not legal, tax, or investment advice. French and US rules change frequently and apply to your specific situation in ways a guide cannot capture; the BOFiP gloss on the non-EU non-resident social-charge scope is still pending, and the relance-logement bill is before the Sénat. Figures are stated as of June 2026, update box re-verified 2 July 2026. Verify with a French notaire and, if you are a US person, a cross-border CPA before acting.