France Loi ELAN 2018: Impact on Landlords

The Loi n° 2018-1021 du 23 novembre 2018 — known as Loi ELAN (Évolution du Logement, de l’Aménagement et du Numérique) — reshaped French residential tenancy law in dozens of ways. By 2026, after multiple amendments and supplementary regulations, the ELAN framework has settled into a coherent body of obligations for landlords. This deep-dive sets out the principal ELAN-driven changes a residential landlord must navigate, with statutory references and practical compliance points from the Gyoseishoshi (行政書士) perspective.

1. The ELAN Architecture in Outline

Loi ELAN is a 234-article omnibus statute touching:

• Loi du 6 juillet 1989 (residential tenancies) — many amendments
• Loi ALUR 2014 (rent encadrement) — reauthorisation framework
• Code de la construction et de l’habitation (CCH) — energy performance, accessibility
• Bail mobilité — new category of furnished short-term lease
• Bail réel solidaire — long-term affordable housing tool
• Digital signing — recognition of electronic lease execution
• Squat / occupation illicite — strengthened landlord remedies

Primary source: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000037639478/

2. Bail Mobilité — A New Lease Category

ELAN created the bail mobilité (articles 25-12 to 25-18 of Loi du 6 juillet 1989), a furnished lease of 1 to 10 months for tenants in specific situations:

• Higher education students
• Professional internships
• Apprenticeships
• Professional training
• Volunteer civic service
• Temporary professional missions / mobility

Key Features

• Non-renewable
• No security deposit permitted (article 25-15)
• Rent encadrement applies in zones tendues
• Tenant can leave anytime with 1 month’s notice
• Landlord cannot terminate during the term
• Reduced documentation: no notice of leaving, no DPE if commune is exempt

Strategic Use

Bail mobilité fills the gap between traditional 1-year furnished leases and short-term tourism rentals. It is widely used by employers housing temporary staff and by landlords wanting clean turnover without commercial-let regulation.

Reference: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F35325

3. Encadrement des Loyers — Reauthorisation Framework

Article 140 of Loi ELAN reauthorises rent caps in zones tendues following the 2017 Conseil d’État annulment of the original Paris encadrement. Key features:

• 5-year experimental period (extended)
• Local authorities apply via a structured procedure
• Prefect publishes annual reference rents (médian, majoré +20%, minoré -30%)
• Complement de loyer permitted for exceptional features
• Contestable by tenants before the Commission Départementale de Conciliation (CDC)

By 2026, encadrement is active in: Paris, Lille, Plaine Commune, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Est Ensemble, Annecy, Grenoble Métropole.

Reference: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/encadrement-loyers

4. DPE — Performance Energy Strengthening

ELAN reinforced the Diagnostic de Performance Énergétique (DPE) under articles L.126-26 et seq. of the Code de la construction et de l’habitation:

• DPE made opposable to landlords (binding) from 1 July 2021
• DPE classes G, F made passoires thermiques (energy-leaking dwellings)
• G class properties cannot be re-let from 1 January 2025 under Loi Climat 2021 (downstream from ELAN)
• F class will be banned from 1 January 2028
• E class banned from 1 January 2034

For landlords, this means progressive major-works obligations to maintain re-letting eligibility. Average renovation cost to move G→D: €25,000–€50,000 per apartment.

Primary source: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/texte_lc/LEGITEXT000006074096/

5. Squatting and Illegal Occupation — Landlord Remedies Strengthened

ELAN strengthened landlord position against squat (illegal occupation) by:

• Reducing court delays for evicting squatters
• Reinforcing prefectoral expulsion powers (article 38 Loi DALO 2007 amended by ELAN)
• Penalties strengthened: up to 3 years’ imprisonment + €45,000 fine for squatting an occupied dwelling (Code pénal, post-Loi du 27 juillet 2023 anti-squat)

The Loi anti-squat 2023 (Loi n° 2023-668 du 27 juillet 2023) further strengthened ELAN’s framework, but is technically a separate enactment.

6. Digital Signing

ELAN article 88 confirmed that residential leases can be signed électroniquement (under the eIDAS Regulation framework). This formalisation enabled remote landlord-tenant transactions and underpins the modern digital rental platforms (BailFacile, Garantme, etc.).

7. État des Lieux — Streamlined and Digital-First

ELAN article 134 modernised the état des lieux d’entrée et de sortie — the inventory document central to deposit disputes:

• Can be delivered digitally
• Single form for entry + exit (with comparative columns)
• Deemed acceptance after 10 days if signed and not contested
• Required photos must be of “sufficient quality”

The state-issued état des lieux template is freely available at service-public.fr.

8. Restitution of Deposit — Tightened Timelines

The deposit must be returned within 1 month of restitution if no deductions, or 2 months with deductions. ELAN strengthened the 10% per month penalty under article 22 Loi 1989 for late restitution beyond these windows.

9. Bail Numérique — Standardised Lease Templates

ELAN (and downstream decrees) made the standardised lease template mandatory for residential principal residences (Décret n° 2015-587, refined by ELAN). Mandatory clauses include:

• Identity of parties
• Property description
• Rent and revision modality
• Deposit
• Duration
• Conditions of termination
• DPE annex
• Risk diagnostics annex (ERP — État des Risques et Pollutions)
• Reference rents (in zones with encadrement)

A non-compliant lease is generally deemed valid but missing clauses may be supplemented by the law’s defaults; some omissions can ground tenant rent reduction claims.

10. SLI — Système de Location Intermédié

ELAN created the SLI framework allowing professional intermediaries to manage rentals on behalf of small landlords with state guarantees (Visale, GLI). Aligned with Action Logement programs.

11. Common Mistakes — Gyoseishoshi View

12. Tenant-Friendly vs Landlord-Friendly Provisions

The net assessment: ELAN was tenant-protective in housing standards (DPE, encadrement) and landlord-supportive in operational efficiency (digital, anti-squat).

13. Tax Implications for Landlords

ELAN did not directly change rental taxation, but downstream measures linked to ELAN’s energy-renovation push include:

• MaPrimeRénov’ — incentive for renovation works
• Loi Climat 2021 — DPE-driven re-let bans (timelines above)
• Réduction d’impôt Loc’Avantages (replacing Pinel partially) — for landlords renting at sub-market rents to lower-income tenants

14. Strategic Implications for Landlords in 2026

1. Audit DPE class of every property; plan renovations for G in 2025, F by 2028
2. Use bail mobilité for legitimate temporary tenants — clean turnover and zero deposit risk
3. Adopt digital signing and standardised lease templates
4. Document complement de loyer rigorously in encadrement zones
5. Track ERP / risk diagnostic annexes — non-annexure can ground tenant claims

Conclusion — A Foundational Statute

Loi ELAN is the foundation on which French residential tenancy law has been built since 2018. Subsequent statutes (anti-squat 2023, Climat 2021, downstream IRL caps in lois pouvoir d’achat) layer onto ELAN’s architecture. A landlord who masters ELAN compliance is well-positioned for the supplementary obligations.

A Gyoseishoshi cannot represent French parties before CDC, the prefect, or French courts. Scrib🐮 produces compliant lease templates and the documentary architecture: bail mobilité templates, ELAN-aligned standardised leases, état des lieux frameworks, and DPE-informed re-letting checklists.

Create your ELAN-compliant lease documents with Scrib🐮

¥22,000/month pass for unlimited access to all 18 document types across 7 countries. Start Free Preview →

Disclaimer

Legal information, not legal advice. MmowW Scrib🐮 is operated by a licensed Gyoseishoshi (行政書士) office in Japan. We are not avocats.

Sources

• Loi ELAN (Légifrance): https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000037639478/
• Service-public.fr (bail mobilité): https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F35325
• Encadrement loyers: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/encadrement-loyers
• Code construction et habitation: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/texte_lc/LEGITEXT000006074096/