Housing for hybrid workers in France: a base for office days

Key takeaways

• For a hybrid worker, a fixed-days lease sets the days of occupancy for its whole term, three months at least: they cannot be changed and none can be added during the lease.
• According to Service-Public.fr, without an agreement or a charter, “the frequency of telework is determined by agreement between the employer and the employee”. The page speaks of frequency, not of specific days.
• On our example rates outside Paris, housing for hybrid workers on two fixed nights a week costs €476 a month in rent, against about €1,100 in a hotel and about €780 in a holiday let.

All quotations from French law and official French sites in this article are our translations; the links go to the French originals.

You live in Nice, your job is in Marseille, and your manager wants you on site on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. No assignment ending in June, no probation period: this pattern has no end date, and you have no plan to move. So you sleep in Marseille two evenings a week, Monday and Tuesday. What remains is to match housing for hybrid workers to the days your employer expects you on site.

What French telework law sets, and what it leaves open

What a hybrid worker is, and the telework rules, from the right to refuse to who pays the costs, are covered in hybrid worker in France: meaning and rules.

The page on telework in the private sector on Service-Public.fr explains what frames the pattern itself:

• “There are 2 frequencies of telework: regular telework and occasional telework.”
• “The frequency of telework is specified in the collective agreement, in the charter drawn up by the employer.”
• “In the absence of an agreement or a charter, the frequency of telework is determined by agreement between the employer and the employee (employment contract or amendment, for example).”

The page talks about frequency: how many days away from the office, at what pace. It does not say the agreement names Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Your telework arrangement can give you two remote days a week without saying which ones.

Housing for hybrid workers: matching your office days to your lease

A fixed-days lease works the other way round: it names the days. Kowo’s standard lease covers a furnished home and states that the tenant’s right of occupancy “applies exclusively to the following days of each week”, with an arrival time on the first day and a departure time the day after the last night. You have exclusive use of the home on your days; the owner can let it to other occupants on the other days, each with their own contract. The lease is “governed by Articles 1714 et seq. of the French Civil Code”; how it works in full is set out in the fixed-days lease, explained.

Those days are fixed for the whole term of the lease. You cannot move them or add one along the way.

For our Nice case, the first question is which days you will be in Marseille, not just how many. If your company has a collective agreement or a charter, read what that text says about frequency; if it does not name your days, go over them with your manager. If there is neither an agreement nor a charter, the frequency is set by agreement between you and your employer, for instance in an amendment to your employment contract. Our advice: ask for your on-site days to be written down there, not just their number. An email or an amendment that says “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday” lets you sign a lease for those days. The employer’s side is covered in recruiting remote talent with a weekday home.

Then there is the term. A fixed-days lease runs for at least three months and at most nine years per period; it can renew automatically at the end of its term if it says so. With no end date in sight, a short term gives you time to check that the pattern holds, and automatic renewal saves you renegotiating if it does.

Other housing options for a hybrid work pattern

• The daily round trip. It avoids housing altogether, but the distance between Nice and Marseille makes it hard to keep up three days in a row, every week. The rules on commuting costs and commuting time are in our article on a long commute in France.
• A hotel, an aparthotel or a holiday let. No commitment, but nights to book week after week. Our comparison of hotels, aparthotels and a weekday base sorts them by length and frequency of stay.
• A year-round rental. The home is yours seven days a week, and so is the rent, including the evenings you spend at home in Nice.
• Temporary housing. It fits a need with an end date, a six-month assignment for example. If your time on site has an end date, our guide to temporary housing in France compares the options. That is not the case here.

Worked example: two nights a week in Marseille for a year

Back to the opening case, over twelve months: on site Monday to Wednesday, so two nights a week in Marseille. The amounts are our example rates outside Paris, not prices observed in Marseille.

The €476 rent is €55 a night, two nights a week, over 4.33 weeks a month.

Against the hotel, the fixed-days lease costs €624 less a month (1,100 − 476), or €7,488 over the year. Against a holiday let, the gap is €304 a month (780 − 476), or €3,648 over the year.

The page for part-time furnished apartments in Marseille covers the option there.

For owners: tenants who come back on the same days

This employee arrives on Monday and leaves on Wednesday, every week, with no end date announced. For a furnished home that sits empty during the week, that is two nights let on a regular basis; the rest of the week can go to another occupant, under their own contract. Renting out your second home in France compares this lease with the other ways to let.

Checklist before you sign

• Your days, in writing. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, not just “three days”: ask for something in writing that names them.
• The lease’s arrival and departure times. Check them against your trains: the Monday arrival time and the Wednesday departure time have to fit your week.
• The term of the lease. Three months at least; check whether automatic renewal is provided for.
• Your costs. The conditions for deducting dual residence costs from French income tax are set out in dual residence costs in France: conditions and proof.

Frequently asked questions about housing for hybrid workers

Do I need to know my on-site days before signing a fixed-days lease?
Yes. A fixed-days lease sets your days of occupancy for its whole term, and you cannot change them or add one during the lease. It is better to settle your on-site days with your employer before you sign.

Does my telework agreement set my on-site days?
Not necessarily. According to Service-Public.fr, the frequency of telework is specified in the collective agreement or the employer’s charter or, failing that, agreed between employer and employee. That page does not say these texts name your days: if yours do not, go over them with your manager.

What lease term suits housing for a hybrid worker with no end date?
A fixed-days lease runs for at least three months and at most nine years per period, and it renews automatically at the end of its term if it says so. With no end date in sight, a short term lets you check that the pattern holds, and automatic renewal saves you renegotiating.

For more on the model itself, read long-term part-time renting, explained; the part-time renting section gathers the other articles on the subject.