French court bans Airbnb-style letting after neighbour complaints

A couple have been banned from letting their flat for Airbnb-style stays after the owners’ association (syndicat des copropriétaires) took them to court over complaints of noise and damage caused by short-term renters.

The case was heard by the tribunal judiciaire in Nice and followed the pattern of several similar cases.

One detail caught the attention of the French media: the court rejected an attempt to force the couple to remove a lockbox containing keys to the flat from inside their letterbox in the foyer of the building, despite the wider ruling preventing them from offering the property for short-term lets.

The ‘war on lockboxes’

A ‘war on lockboxes’ has become a feature of life in many tourist areas.

The lockboxes are often installed on the walls of buildings without authorisation, potentially breaching planning or co-ownership rules where alterations to a building’s façade require approval.

Some municipalities have begun taking action against lockbox owners and, where the owners cannot easily be traced, have started removing the boxes themselves.

Ingenious methods of circumventing the crackdown have emerged, including one widely reported case in which a lockbox was attached to a child’s bicycle in La Rochelle, which was then regularly moved around to avoid detection.

Why the syndicat took the couple to court

In the case heard in Nice, the syndicat argued that the lockbox had been installed without authorisation in the building’s common areas and sought an order requiring its removal.

The couple argued that the lockbox was inside their letterbox, which was for their exclusive use and constituted a private part of the building.

In its complaint to the court, the syndicat included statements from residents of the block, describing concerns about strangers regularly passing through the building.

Residents blamed renters’ luggage for damage to common areas, including the entrance door and lift. They also reported doors being slammed and noise from the first-floor flat late into the night.

Other complaints included trails of rubbish left between the flat and the ground-floor exits, as well as concerns about a possible bedbug infestation.

Residents gave accounts of seeing pests crawling on the floor along the walls.

The syndicat argued that renting out the flat was a commercial activity and therefore breached the building’s rules, and also produced evidence of damage and repairs to common areas.

What the owners argued

For their part, the owners argued that they were entitled to use the flat as they wished, that their letting activity was civil rather than commercial, and that, in any event, the building was already in mixed commercial and residential use, with shops on the ground floor.

They also said that neighbourhood disturbances had previously caused a long-term tenant to leave, forcing them to turn to short-term tourist letting.

The court noted that the règlement de copropriété distinguished between the commercial premises on the ground floor and the residential use of the remainder of the building, but did not rule on whether the letting activity was commercial.

Instead, it based its decision to ban the short-term letting on provisions in the règlement de copropriété stating that, while owners were free to use their flats as they wished, they were not permitted to interfere with the rights of other owners in the building.

Flat owners were also required to ensure that they did not disturb the peace of the building and to ensure the same rule was observed by their family, guests, renters, visitors or people in their employment.