Rental Housing: What Is a Reasonable Rent?
Following the Council of State’s overturning of the decree of July 23, 2023, departments will be able to continue requiring ceiling heights greater than 1.80 m for rental properties. A look back at a confusing government situation.
The issue sparked strong reactions in the summer of 2023, following the publication of a decree concerning “hygiene and health standards for residential premises.” This decree authorized, throughout France, the rental of “non-standard” housing units with a height of 1.80 meters or a width of less than two meters.
Under certain conditions (access to the outdoors, no exposure to exhaust fumes, etc.), it also became possible to rent out basements. Fortunately, renting out cellars and windowless rooms remained prohibited.
With this change, the government sought to standardize practices throughout the country. The decree on decent housing stipulates that, to be rented, a dwelling must have “at least one main room with either a living area of at least 9 square meters and a ceiling height of at least 2.20 meters, or a living volume of at least 20 cubic meters.”
This corresponds to a unit measuring 11 m² with a ceiling height of 1.80 m (anything lower than that is no longer considered living space). However, departments may establish stricter requirements in their health regulations: for example, at least 2.20 m in Paris and 2.30 m in Hauts-de-Seine.
Organizations are mobilizing against the bill
Reactions from organizations such as Droit au Logement (DAL), the National Housing Confederation (CNL), and the Abbé Pierre Foundation were immediate. They denounced the bill as a “step backward,” a “decree favoring slumlords,” and a “windfall for slumlords.” In an opinion issued on March 4, the High Committee for the Right to Housing—despite being a government body—stated that “the new bill represents a regression in the applicable law regarding health regulations, putting those living in substandard housing at greater risk.”
On the specific issue of ceiling height, it notes that “this decline is part of a historical trend regarding ceiling heights in residential spaces, which have been decreasing since 1902, falling from a minimum of 2.60 m to 2.70 m in 1937, then to 2.50 m in 1948, 2.20 m in 1978, and 1.80 m in 2023, against a backdrop of an increase in the average height of the population.” The High Committee had, in fact, called for a revision of the text, a request that went unheeded.
The Council of State’s Ruling
At the request of the Droit Au Logement federation, the Council of State struck down Section 2 of the July 2023 decree on August 29. This ruling lifts the ban on departments requiring ceiling heights greater than 1.80 m and the prohibition on renting out basements.
However, the annulment does not concern the substance of the decree but rather its form. The Council of State annulled the decree on a procedural ground—namely, abuse of authority. Specifically, the latest version had not been submitted in advance to the High Council for Public Health. A new draft is expected to be presented to the High Council for Public Health shortly. It remains to be seen whether it will be amended.
