Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Housing-decency disputes turn heavily on the facts and on expert evidence, and the rules change frequently. Consult a French avocat specialising in landlord-tenant law before acting on anything you read here. The English Investor accepts no liability for decisions taken on the basis of this article.
Here is a fact pattern that should make every absentee landlord sit up: a furnished Paris flat, a tenant in place since 2005, and a landlord managing it all from his home in Italy. In 2015 the tenant sued, claiming the flat fell short of France’s decency standards and asking for three things: the works, a suspension of rent, and damages. Three years into the litigation, she upgraded the damages claim to cover her entire tenancy – thirteen years of allegedly substandard living, counted back to the day she first turned the key.
On 4 June 2026 the Cour de cassation used her case to state, in one clean sentence, exactly how long a landlord’s exposure runs on an indecent rental. The answer is double-edged: the tenant can force you to do the works for as long as the breach lasts, however old it is – but damages only reach back three years from the day the tenant goes to court. The tenant who wanted thirteen years of compensation lost; the principle that will outlive her case is one every foreign owner of a French rental should memorise.
The facts: a Paris flat, a landlord in Italy, and a claim that grew
The tenant moved into the furnished flat on 1 October 2005. On 10 August 2015 she summoned the landlord before the courts, seeking completion of works in the dwelling, suspension of rent payments, and compensation for the loss of enjoyment (préjudice de jouissance) she said she had suffered since 21 September 2013 because the dwelling was not decent. So far, a claim within conventional bounds: the damages period requested sat comfortably inside the three-year prescription that governs actions arising from a residential lease.
Then, in written submissions filed in November 2018, she expanded the claim: compensation for the entire period since 1 October 2005, the day she moved in. Her argument had a respectable logic to it: an indecent dwelling inflicts a continuous harm, the harm was still running, so – she said – the three-year clock could not be used to slice up a single, ongoing injury. The Paris cour d’appel disagreed and confined her compensation to the period she had originally claimed. She took it to the Cour de cassation.
What the Court held: two remedies, two clocks
The Third Civil Chamber rejected her appeal, and in doing so drew the map for both sides of every future dispute. Building on article 6 of the law of 6 July 1989 (the landlord must deliver a decent dwelling, with the standards set by decree), article 1709 of the Code civil (the essence of a lease is procuring enjoyment of the thing), and article 7-1 of the 1989 law (all actions deriving from a lease prescribe in three years), the Court reasoned that the obligation to deliver a decent dwelling is a continuous obligation, owed afresh every day of the lease. Two consequences follow:
- The tenant may pursue forced performance in kind (exécution forcée en nature) – a court order compelling the works – for as long as the breach persists. A decency defect never becomes too old to fix: the claim is, in effect, imprescriptible while the problem remains.
- The tenant may also recover damages for the consequences of the breach, but only over the three years preceding the court claim. The continuous nature of the harm does not switch off prescription; it simply means a fresh damages claim accrues each day, and each day’s claim expires three years later.
What “decent” means in 2026, and why the bar keeps rising
The decency standards live in décret n° 2002-120 of 30 January 2002. The headline criteria: at least one main room of 9 m² with a 2.20 m ceiling (or 20 m³ of habitable volume), weather-tight structure, safe gas and electrics, working heating, ventilation, natural light, drinking water and sanitation, no vermin infestation, and nothing presenting a manifest risk to physical safety or health.
And since the Climate law grafted energy performance onto the decency regime, the bar has been rising on a timetable. A dwelling rated G on its DPE has been legally indecent in mainland France since 1 January 2025; F-rated dwellings follow on 1 January 2028, and E-rated ones in 2034. We walked through what that means for foreign landlords in our DPE letting-ban guide – and through the Lecornu government’s draft bill that would soften the ban via renovation contracts in this follow-up. Unless and until that bill becomes law, the ban is the law as it stands. Connect the dots with the June ruling and the picture sharpens: every G-rated (and, from 2028, F-rated) tenanted property is a standing decency breach, and its tenant holds an unexpiring claim to force the renovation plus a rolling three-year damages meter.
The landlord’s exposure, itemised
What does the exposure actually look like in practice? Préjudice de jouissance awards are typically assessed as a percentage of the rent over the compensated period, scaled to how badly the defects impaired daily life – a damp bedroom wall sits at one end of the scale, an unheatable flat at the other. Forced-performance orders usually come with an astreinte, a per-day penalty until the works are done. And tenants receiving housing benefit have a separate lever: where the CAF establishes that a dwelling is not decent, it can withhold the housing allowance for up to 18 months while the landlord brings the property into line – and if the landlord does nothing, the withheld months are simply never paid out (articles L. 843-1 and following of the construction code).
One important counterweight, which the tenant in this case also discovered: a tenant cannot simply stop paying rent because the dwelling is allegedly indecent. The courts consistently require rent to be paid while the dispute runs, short of a judge authorising suspension or the dwelling being truly uninhabitable – a tenant who unilaterally withholds rent hands the landlord a counterclaim, and potentially grounds for termination. Decency litigation is a two-way street, and tenants who overplay it (like tenants who hide assets to dodge judgments) do not get a free pass.
The two remedies side by side
| Forced performance (works) | Damages (préjudice de jouissance) | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 6, law of 6 July 1989 | Articles 6 and 7-1, law of 6 July 1989 |
| Time limit | None while the breach persists | Three years preceding the court claim |
| What the tenant gets | Court order to do the works, usually with a daily astreinte | Money, typically a percentage of rent over the compensated period |
| Can old history be invoked? | Yes – the age of the defect is irrelevant | No – anything older than three years is gone |
| Cumulative? | Yes – the 4 June 2026 ruling confirms both can be pursued together | |
What this means if you let French property from abroad
The landlord in this case ran a Paris rental from Italy, which is precisely the configuration most of this blog’s readers are in – and distance is no defence. Three practical conclusions follow from the ruling.
First, there is no waiting-out a decency problem. Unlike a rent dispute that dies quietly after three years, a defective boiler, a damp wall or a failing DPE rating sits on your balance sheet indefinitely, accruing a fresh three years of damages exposure at every moment. The rational move is always to fix early: the works cost the same now or later, but the damages meter only runs while you wait.
Second, the three-year cap is also your shield. The Cour de cassation expressly refused to let tenants reach back to the start of the tenancy. A landlord confronted with a demand for “ten years of substandard living” now has a clean, citable answer: the recoverable window is three years from the assignation, full stop.
Third, paperwork wins these cases. Decency disputes are fought over condition reports, photographs, contractor invoices and the dates on letters. If you cannot inspect the property yourself, build the inspection cycle into your management setup – our guide to managing French property remotely covers how to keep eyes on the place from another country. A documented response to the first complaint is worth more than the most eloquent défense three years later. And if the property has quietly slid into serious disrepair while empty, remember that the commune itself may come knocking: we covered the fast-track expropriation of visibly abandoned property last week.
Have you faced a decency claim – or inherited one with a property purchase? Tell us through the contact form: real cases (anonymised) shape what we cover next.
FAQ: indecent housing claims in France
What makes a French rental legally “indecent”?
Failing any of the criteria of décret 2002-120: minimum size (one main room of 9 m² and 2.20 m ceiling height, or 20 m³), structural soundness, safe gas and electrics, heating, ventilation, natural light, drinking water, sanitation, no vermin – or, since 2025, a G-rated DPE in mainland France (F joins in 2028).
How far back can a tenant claim damages for an indecent dwelling?
Three years before the date the tenant goes to court, confirmed by the Cour de cassation on 4 June 2026. The continuous nature of the harm does not extend the window: anything older than three years at the date of the claim is time-barred.
Can a claim to force the works become time-barred?
No. As long as the dwelling remains non-compliant, the tenant can seek a court order compelling the works, usually backed by a daily penalty. The age of the defect is irrelevant; only fixing it ends the exposure.
Can the tenant stop paying rent in the meantime?
Not unilaterally. French courts require rent to keep flowing while the dispute runs, unless a judge authorises suspension or the dwelling is genuinely uninhabitable. A tenant on housing benefit triggers a different mechanism: the CAF can withhold the allowance for up to 18 months pending compliance, and the landlord permanently loses those months if the works are never done.
Does the decency regime apply to furnished lets?
Yes – the 4 June 2026 case itself concerned a furnished flat. Any dwelling let as the tenant’s principal residence is covered, furnished or not. Short-term tourist lets fall outside the 1989 law’s decency regime, though other safety rules still apply.
