Giving a tenant notice: what the law allows, and on what date

At the end of the term, and not a day before

A tenant may leave whenever they wish, subject to notice. The landlord can end the lease only at the end of its term: after the three years of an unfurnished lease granted by an individual, after the year of a furnished one. Without valid notice, the lease renews tacitly, for three years if unfurnished and for one year if furnished.

The period is counted back from the end of the term: at least six months for an unfurnished home, three months for a furnished one. It runs from the day the tenant actually receives the letter, not the day it is sent. A registered letter the tenant never collects from the post office starts no period at all.

Hence a rule of prudence: send early. Notice received well before the deadline remains valid and simply takes effect at the end of the term. Notice received one day too late is invalid, and the lease renews.

The calculation runs from date to date. For a term ending on 20 September, the tenant must have received the letter by 20 March at the latest. For a term ending on 31 August, by 28 February, or the 29th in leap years. Weekends and public holidays count.

Taking the home back to live in

Notice to repossess allows the landlord to move into the home, as a main residence, themselves or a relative named by the law: their spouse, their civil partner, a partner in a publicly known relationship for at least a year, their ascendants, their descendants or those of their spouse or partner. A family property company, formed between relatives and in-laws up to the fourth degree, may repossess for one of its members.

The letter says who, and why. It gives the name and address of the beneficiary, their relationship to the landlord, and an indication showing that the decision to repossess is genuine and serious. Notice that merely recites the formula, with nothing to support it, is easily challenged.

For an unfurnished home, the letter must be accompanied by an information notice on the landlord's obligations and the tenant's remedies, whose content is set by an order of 13 December 2017. The notice is not required for a furnished letting.

A property bought with a sitting tenant follows its own timetable. If the current lease ends less than two years after the purchase, notice to repossess may target that date, but it takes effect only two years after the deed was signed.

Selling with vacant possession, and the tenant's right to buy

In an unfurnished letting, notice to sell is an offer to sell to the tenant. The letter states the price, the terms of sale and a description of the home and its let outbuildings. It reproduces the first five paragraphs of section II of article 15 of the 1989 law.

The offer stands for the first two months of the notice period. A tenant who accepts then has two months to sign the deed, four if they state they will take out a loan, and the notice period is extended accordingly. If they let the two months pass or decline, they must leave at the end of the term.

If the landlord later decides to sell on terms or at a price more favourable to the buyer, the protection applies a second time: the notary must notify these new terms to the tenant, on pain of the sale being void, and this second offer stands for one month. A tenant who buys this way does not pay the commission of the agent instructed by the landlord: the Cour de cassation so ruled on 1 March 2023.

Two exceptions matter. The right of first refusal does not apply where the property is sold to a relative of the landlord up to and including the third degree who undertakes to live there for at least two years. And in a furnished letting, the tenant has no right of first refusal at all: the landlord gives notice to sell, with no offer. A property bought with a sitting tenant, for its part, can be the subject of notice to sell only at the end of the first renewal where the term ends less than three years after the purchase.

A legitimate and serious reason

The law does not define it. The court assesses it, and it is for the landlord to prove it is well founded if the tenant objects.

It most often lies in a breach by the tenant, such as repeated late payment or failure to provide proof of home insurance. It can also come from the landlord's side, for instance where the home needs heavy refurbishment works.

This notice follows the same rules of timing and form as the others, and applies only at the end of the term. Faced with arrears during the lease, a different route opens, that of the termination clause, described in our article on unpaid rent.

The elderly tenant and the offer of rehousing

Article 15 protects a tenant who is over 65 on the date the lease ends and whose income is below a regulatory ceiling. Outside the Paris region, that ceiling stands at 23,403 € for a single person in the scale published by service-public.fr, checked in June 2026. The landlord may then refuse renewal only by offering nearby rehousing suited to the tenant's needs and means.

For a municipality divided into cantons, as Nice is, the law reads nearby as the same canton or an adjoining one, and that is where the home offered must be.

The protection extends to a younger tenant who has a dependant over 65, where household income remains under the same ceiling. It falls away, however, where the landlord, as an individual, is also over 65 or has income below the ceiling.

Income is assessed over the twelve months before notice is served, age on the date the lease ends. Notice given to a protected tenant without an offer of rehousing can be challenged, and the lease renews.

The form of notice, and the cost of getting it wrong

Notice is sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by a court officer's writ. It may also be handed over in person, against a receipt or signature. A plain email is worthless, even if the tenant acknowledges it. An electronic registered letter is accepted, provided the tenant has agreed to this method beforehand.

It is addressed to every signatory of the lease. If the landlord knows the tenant is married, it goes to both spouses, even if only one signed. When served by an agency or a property manager, it must state the owner's name.

Fraudulent notice, such as a repossession never followed by occupation or a sale advertised at a price designed to deter the tenant, exposes the landlord to a criminal fine of 6,000 €, 30,000 € for a company, on top of any damages owed to the tenant.

Notice is prepared well before it is received, especially when the evidence for a repossession must be gathered or a sale offer priced. It is one of the moments when a management mandate stops a missed date from costing three more years of lease. Promenades Services manages properties in Nice and along the nearby coast, from 107 Promenade des Anglais.