Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Tax and housing rules in France change frequently and depend on your personal situation. Always consult a qualified French notaire, avocat fiscaliste, or chartered accountant before acting on anything you read here. The English Investor accepts no liability for decisions taken on the basis of this article.
Less than a fortnight after we walked you through the 2026 DPE letting ban, the script has been rewritten. From a stage in Marseille this morning, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a draft housing bill that would soften the absolute ban on letting passoires énergétiques (energy sieves), giving landlords of F- and G-rated properties a way to keep their tenants — provided they sign a renovation contract within a fixed window. For British landlords with a buy-to-let in France, this is the most consequential housing announcement of the year so far.
The headline: F and G properties get a stay of execution
Under current law, properties rated F or G on the Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique (DPE) cannot be let to a new tenant — full stop. G-rated homes have been off-limits since 1 January 2025, and F-rated homes will join them on 1 January 2028. Roughly 453,000 G-rated rentals are already affected, and a further 693,000 F-rated homes will be caught from 2028, for a combined total of around 650,000 to 700,000 properties.
Lecornu’s projet de loi sur le logement (housing bill), due to land in Parliament in summer 2026, replaces that absolute ban with a conditional one. A landlord of an F or G property would be allowed to re-let to a new tenant on the strict condition that they sign a renovation contract — and the work must lift the property out of the F/G band within a defined window.
Three years for houses, five for flats
The window depends on what you own. Single-family houses get three years from the signing of the contract to complete the renovation. Apartments in copropriété, where works often have to clear an assemblée générale and coordinate with the syndic, get five years. It’s a pragmatic split: anyone who has tried to push a façade insulation vote through a Parisian copro will recognise why flats need the extra runway.
If you’re sitting on a G-rated rental that has been sitting empty since January 2025, this is the announcement you’ve been waiting for. If you’re staring down the 2028 cliff for an F-rated flat in Lyon or Bordeaux, you’ve just been handed a planning horizon — and a contractual obligation.
What else is in the bill
The DPE softening is the eye-catching headline, but the bill goes wider. Vincent Jeanbrun, the Minister of Cities and Housing, is extending the dispositif Jeanbrun — the new statut du bailleur privé tax break — to old single-family houses (it had previously been limited to new-build and renovated apartments). The renovation-work threshold is being lowered from 30% to 20% of acquisition cost, and the property must reach at least DPE grade D to qualify.
The bill also introduces opérations d’intérêt local — fast-track planning procedures inspired by the regime used to deliver the Paris 2024 Olympic infrastructure — and decentralises management of MaPrimeRénov’ and aides à la pierre down to the intercommunalités. Mayors will get a veto on social-housing allocations in their commune, a long-standing demand of the Association des Maires de France.
The bigger picture: 2 million homes by 2030
The bill is the legislative arm of a target Lecornu set in January: 2 million new homes built or rehabilitated by 2030. The PM also flagged a third generation of renouvellement urbain (urban renewal), to run from 2030 to 2040, picking up where the current ANRU programmes leave off.
The reaction was, predictably, mixed. Manuel Domergue of the Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés warned that softening the DPE ban risks slowing the renovation push that the original deadline was designed to force. Sébastien Miossec of Intercommunalités de France welcomed the decentralisation, calling it overdue. Landlord groups, by contrast, are likely to breathe out for the first time in eighteen months.
What this means for you, the British landlord
If you own a French rental and your DPE is F or G, three things change today. First, the cliff edge becomes a slope: provided you sign a renovation contract, you can keep letting. Second, the Jeanbrun extension may now apply to your old maison de ville in Toulouse or Pézenas, opening a tax-break route that didn’t exist for second-hand single-family stock before. Third, the 3- and 5-year clocks become real planning horizons — work them backwards into your devis, your artisan bookings, and (for copros) your AG calendar. For the broader tax calendar those deadlines have to mesh with, our French tax deadlines guide is the reference. Renovation costs also feed into local tax bills — our TEOM and REOM guide explains the household-waste levy side of that maths.
None of this is law yet. The bill goes to Parliament this summer, and anyone who has watched a French housing bill go through the Sénat and Assemblée knows it can change shape several times before promulgation. The current DPE rules — including the G ban already in force — remain the law of the land until then. If you’re considering re-letting an F or G property on the strength of today’s announcement, wait for the texte voté, not the press conference.
If you’d like a refresher on the DPE rules as they stand, our DPE letting ban guide walks through the bands, the calendar, and the renovation maths. For the broader French market backdrop, our France political turmoil and property piece sets the scene.
Frequently asked questions
Has the DPE letting ban been scrapped?
No. The current ban on letting G-rated properties (in force since 1 January 2025) and the upcoming 2028 ban on F-rated properties remain on the statute book. The Lecornu bill, if voted as announced, would replace the absolute ban with a conditional one tied to a signed renovation contract.
How long do I have to complete the renovation?
Three years from the signing of the renovation contract for single-family houses, five years for apartments held in copropriété. The longer window for flats reflects the time needed to coordinate works through the syndic and assemblée générale.
When will the bill become law?
The projet de loi is due to be tabled in Parliament in summer 2026. As with any French housing bill, expect amendments through both the Assemblée and the Sénat before the texte voté is promulgated. Don’t act on the announcement alone.
Does the dispositif Jeanbrun now cover my old French house?
Under the announced extension, yes — the statut du bailleur privé would apply to old single-family houses, with a renovation-work threshold lowered from 30% to 20% of acquisition cost, and a minimum DPE grade of D after works. Apartments in the old stock are not, on the announcement as worded, included.
What if my G-rated property has been empty since January 2025?
Once the bill is voted, you would be able to re-let it to a new tenant provided you sign a renovation contract committing to lift the DPE out of the F/G band within three years (house) or five years (copro flat). Until the bill is law, the absolute ban still applies.
