Key takeaways
- When moving to Paris, know this first: the rent of a home that is the tenant’s main residence, or that is let under a mobility lease (bail mobilité), is capped by reference rents, according to Service-Public.fr.
- A furnished let used as your main residence is signed for at least one year (Article 25-7 of the law of 6 July 1989 on landlord-tenant relations (loi du 6 juillet 1989)), but the tenant can end it at any time with one month’s notice (Article 25-8).
- For a lease governed by the law of 6 July 1989, the documents in your rental file must be written in French or translated into French, with amounts converted into euros, under Decree No. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015.
- Two nights a week in a Paris hotel (€140 to €180 a night) come to €1,213 to €1,560 a month; the same rhythm under a fixed-days lease runs between €650 and €820 a month.
Your contract starts on 1 September, the office is in the 9th arrondissement, and you land from Toronto, or from Lyon, with two suitcases. Moving to Paris rarely sorts out your housing in one step: a few weeks somewhere temporary while you visit flats, then a lease. Sometimes there is a phase in between, when you only come in a few days a week.
By the end you will know roughly what each stage costs and what a French landlord is allowed to ask you for.
The first weeks: somewhere temporary
Nobody sensible signs a one-year lease from abroad, on photos, for a neighbourhood they have never walked through. The first nights are almost always in a hotel or an aparthotel, and that is fine: you have an address on arrival day, and time to compare Belleville with the 15th on a Saturday afternoon.
The trouble is duration. A week in a hotel is manageable; a full month much less so (the numbers are below). Set a check-out date when you book, and use those weeks to visit flats, not to wait.
If you are weighing a hotel, an aparthotel and a weekday pied-à-terre on fixed days, our comparison of hotel vs aparthotel vs weekly housing sets out how they differ depending on your rhythm.
What French law says about renting in Paris
Four terms come up in listings, and they do not have the same consequences for you.
Furnished home (logement meublé). Article 25-4 of the law of 6 July 1989 (loi du 6 juillet 1989) defines it as a decent home equipped with furniture “in sufficient number and quality to allow the tenant to sleep, eat and live there properly given the demands of everyday life” (our translation). The list of required furniture is set by decree. If you arrive with two suitcases, this is the natural option.
Furnished lease for a main residence. This is the standard lease for a furnished flat you live in year round. Under Article 25-7, it “is concluded for a period of at least one year” (our translation), then renews automatically for a year if neither side gives notice. The one-year term is not a trap: Article 25-8 provides that “the tenant may terminate the contract at any time, subject to one month’s notice” (our translation). A landlord who does not want to renew, on the other hand, must give you three months’ notice before the lease ends and state the reason.
Mobility lease (bail mobilité). It is a short furnished lease reserved, among other cases, for tenants on a work transfer or a temporary assignment (Article 25-12), signed for one to ten months and not renewable, except in employment-focused residences (résidence à vocation d’emploi) (Article 25-14): our article on the mid-term lease vs part-time rental compares it with the fixed-days lease.
Rent control (encadrement des loyers). Paris is one of the municipalities where the landlord “cannot freely set the amount of rent, because it is capped using lower and upper reference rents”, according to Service-Public.fr (our translation). The same page sets the scope: rent control “concerns housing that is the tenant’s main residence, or that is let under a mobility lease” (our translation). Before signing, check that the advertised rent respects the cap for that address. The rules, the exceptions and the second-home case are covered in our article on Paris rent control.
What your first months cost when moving to Paris
The figures below are orders of magnitude, using an average month of 4.333 weeks and a Paris hotel night between €140 and €180. For the fixed-days lease, they are the Paris amounts already given in our article on rent control. They are there to compare options, not to predict a bill to the cent.
Scenario 1: a full month in a hotel. You sleep in Paris every night while you look for a lease.
- Low end: €140 × 7 nights × 4.333 = €4,246 a month.
- High end: €180 × 7 nights × 4.333 = €5,460 a month.
A month of flat hunting from a hotel therefore costs between €4,246 and €5,460.
Scenario 2: three days a week during the transition. Your employer wants you on site Monday to Wednesday, which means two nights in Paris each week (Monday and Tuesday), for several months.
| Option | Calculation | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel, low end | €140 × 2 nights × 4.333 | €1,213 |
| Hotel, high end | €180 × 2 nights × 4.333 | €1,560 |
| Fixed-days lease, low end | Kowo Paris range, 2 nights a week | €650 |
| Fixed-days lease, high end | Kowo Paris range, 2 nights a week | €820 |
The monthly gap runs from €563 (€1,213 against €650) to €740 (€1,560 against €820). Over a year, that is between €6,756 (€563 × 12) and €8,880 (€740 × 12).
We do not put a figure on a year-round furnished flat here: it depends on the address, the floor area and the rent cap that applies to it.
Coming in a few days a week during the transition
Plenty of moves to Paris start part time: a probation period with three days on site, or a hybrid role from the first month. For that rhythm, renting a whole flat year round means paying for empty nights, and the hotel stays expensive week after week.
That is the case Kowo handles. With a fixed-days lease (bail à jours définis), you rent a furnished home on fixed days every week, for example Monday to Wednesday, with exclusive use on your days. The days are set for the whole lease: they cannot be changed or added to along the way. The minimum term is three months. Rent receipts are issued through Stripe and can be used for expense claims.
Part-time homes in the city are listed on the Paris page.
The rental file to prepare before you arrive
Prepare your rental file (dossier de location) before you leave, not the evening of your first viewing. For a lease governed by the law of 6 July 1989, Decree No. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015 sets the list of supporting documents a landlord may require from a rental applicant. It adds a rule that matters when you come from abroad: the documents “are written in or translated into French and the amounts shown converted into euros” (our translation). Copies are accepted, but the originals “must be available for presentation at the landlord’s request” (our translation).
In practice, an employment contract in English or payslips in dollars should be translated and converted before you arrive, and the originals travel with you.
The full list of documents, and what Kowo asks for under a fixed-days lease, is in our article on the rental application in France: required documents.
For property owners: tenants looking for fixed days
If you own a Paris flat that sits empty part of the week, the part-time arrivals described above are a demand in their own right: occupants who want the same days every week, over several months. The different ways to let a property you do not occupy full time are compared in renting out your second home in France: 5 options compared.
What to check before signing in Paris
- The type of lease. One-year furnished lease, mobility lease or fixed-days lease: the regime changes the term, the conditions and how you can leave.
- The rent against the cap. For a main residence or a mobility lease, compare the rent with the upper reference rent for the address.
- The furniture. A furnished home must let you sleep, eat and live properly; compare the inventory in the lease with what you see.
- The notice period. In a furnished main residence, you can leave at any time with one month’s notice: note it before you commit.
- Translations. Documents in French or translated, amounts in euros, originals in your luggage.
- Your hotel check-out date. Work out what each extra week costs.
Frequently asked questions about moving to Paris
How long should I plan to stay in a hotel when moving to Paris?
As short a time as you can: at €140 to €180 a night, a full month in a hotel costs between €4,246 and €5,460. Use the first weeks to visit flats and sign a lease, with a check-out date set when you book.
Can I leave a one-year furnished lease early?
Yes. Under Article 25-8 of the law of 6 July 1989, the tenant of a furnished home let as a main residence can end the contract at any time, subject to one month’s notice.
Do my rental documents need to be in French?
Yes, for a lease governed by the law of 6 July 1989: Decree No. 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015 provides that the documents are written in or translated into French and that amounts are converted into euros. Copies are accepted, but the originals must be available at the landlord’s request.
Are rents capped in Paris?
According to Service-Public.fr, in Paris the rent of a home that is the tenant’s main residence, or that is let under a mobility lease, is capped using lower and upper reference rents.
What if I only come to Paris three days a week at first?
For two nights a week, a Paris hotel comes to €1,213 to €1,560 a month. A fixed-days lease, on the same days every week (for example Monday to Wednesday), runs between €650 and €820 a month for the same rhythm, with a minimum term of three months.
The rules of Paris rent control and the homes on the Paris page complete this guide; the other contracts for your first months are in our Expats and long stays guide.