More French towns put bans and taxes on new second homes

New planning laws have seen towns across France take action to reduce second-home ownership.

The changes mean that municipal councils can now include bans on new second homes in their plan local d’urbanisme (PLU), their planning blueprint. The PLU serves to regulate land use, building density, and development to ensure sustainable growth, environmental protection, and coherent city planning.

Popular ski town Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, which has 70% of its housing as second homes, was the first to put a ban in place early this year.

Mayor Eric Fournier said only 12 hectares of building land remains in the town, the vast majority of which is now reserved for building properties to use as main homes.

Other surrounding towns have followed suit, including Les Houches, Servoz and Vallorcine.

In Brittany, the seaside town of Cancale has introduced a ban on building second homes, while in Saint-Malo proposals are being considered amid some 30% of residences in the historic heart of the city being used as Airbnb rentals.

In Cancale the area for the ban on new second homes includes most of the town outside the historic centre including many houses with gardens. It will be effective if houses are demolished and rebuilt, or if gardens are dug up for new homes. 

Cancale’s councillor in charge of planning, Maude Korsec said the policy was pushed by demand from locals.

120-day limit on Airbnbs  

“People who work here sometimes have to travel from up to 40km away and they are in the active stage of life, with children in schools, taking part in sport and other associations, and they also want to live closer to where they work.

“We already have 44% of second homes, which for a small town which had agriculture and fishing as its base, is a huge number. 

Another factor is that having so many second homes means we will be an aging village, as people with second homes often retire to them.”

She added: “It is not a policy against second homes, but rather a policy for main residences.”

The town has also imposed a 120-day limit on renting out homes via Airbnb and similar platforms, and is considering if it should limit it further to 90 days.

Paris of the Ile d’Oléron have also introduced bans on new second homes as has Bonifacio, Corsica.

The commune des communes for the Ile d’Oléron won a court case in April against Airbnb, which was ordered to pay €8.6 million for not collecting taxe de séjour tourist tax from visitors.

In the summer the group of Basque towns of Biarritz, Bayonne, Anglet, Bidart and Boucau, agreed to work on a reform of the PLU which will see 1,000 hectares of urban land reserved for new main residences.

The Basque coastal towns were among the first to raise the issue of being able to give a priority to main homes, with mayors telling The Connexion that second homes and properties used for Airbnb rentals had resulted in property price increases forcing locals to move elsewhere meaning the towns were at risk of being dead out of season. 

Royan in Charente-Maritime has banned on using a planned housing estate on a 12 hectare plot for second homes, and will ensure this is permanently written into each property’s deeds. 

Notaires will have to check the rule is accepted by buyers before a sale can go through.

Royan was one of a cluster of towns along the Charente-Maritime coast to raise taxe d’habitation for second home owners by a maximum 60%, following changes in 2023.

Objections from second home owners in the Côtes-d’Armor commune of Saint-Cast-le-Guildo in Brittany led to the mayor suspending the rise there. 

Town hall meetings were held to discuss the matter, with some members of the council who work as artisans reported to be accused of “biting the hand that feeds them”.