By Garen Ajderhanyan · · 8 min read
In brief
The rent on a residential lease can be reviewed only once a year, and only if the lease contains an indexation clause. The increase cannot exceed the annual change in the rent reference index (IRL) published by INSEE: in the second quarter of 2026 it stands at 148.37, up 1.15 % over a year. The landlord has one year from the scheduled date to request the review, and it applies only from the request, never retrospectively. Nice is not subject to rent-level control, which is reserved for areas such as Paris or Lille. It is, however, a designated tight housing zone, so rent increases on a new letting remain capped by the decree of 27 July 2017, in force until 31 July 2027. A home rated F or G can no longer have its rent raised at all, annual review included.
No clause, no review
The annual review is not automatic. It requires a clause in the lease providing for it, and it applies only once a year, on the date agreed by the parties, often the anniversary of the contract. A lease that is silent on the point freezes the rent until renewal.
The clause also names the quarter of the index that will serve as the reference. Failing that, the last index published by INSEE at the date of signature applies, and it is that figure which is compared each year with the index for the same quarter of the following year.
Furnished lettings follow the same rule, with one nuance: where charges are paid as a fixed sum, that sum may also be reviewed each year on the same terms as the rent. The mobility lease, for its part, forbids any review during the contract.
Review is not the only route. In a home let unfurnished, improvement works paid for by the landlord, in the home or in the common parts, can justify an increase during the lease, provided for by a clause or by an amendment signed by both parties. The landlord cannot impose it alone.
The calculation, in one line
New rent equals current rent, multiplied by the index for the reference quarter of the current year, divided by the index for the same quarter of the previous year. The result is rounded to two decimal places. Nothing else enters the calculation, neither the charges nor the cost of a façade renovation voted last year.
An example. A rent of 1,500 € excluding charges, indexed to the second quarter, rises on its first anniversary to 1,517.28 €: 1,500 multiplied by 148.37, divided by 146.68, the index for the second quarter of 2025 being 146.68 and that for the second quarter of 2026 being 148.37.
The latest published indices give the order of magnitude: 145.77 in the third quarter of 2025 (+0.87 % over a year), 145.78 in the fourth (+0.79 %), 146.60 in the first quarter of 2026 (+0.78 %), then 148.37 in the second (+1.15 %). The index for the third quarter of 2026 is published on 15 October 2026.
The temporary cap of 3.5 % on the annual change, introduced during the inflation surge, covered the indices from the third quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2024. It no longer applies: the annual change in the index is once again the only ceiling.
One year to act, and not a single day of backdating
A landlord who lets the review date pass does not lose the right straight away. They have one year from that date to state their intention to review, preferably by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. After that, the review for the year is lost for good.
Even when requested within the year, the review does not turn back the clock. It takes effect on the date of the request. For a review date of 13 March 2025, the landlord could act until 12 March 2026; but if they only came forward on 13 June 2025, only the rent due from that day is increased.
This one-year window should not be confused with the three-year limitation period that applies to claims arising from the lease. Reviewed rent, properly requested and left unpaid, can be claimed for three years, whereas a review that was never requested gives rise to no claim.
The tenant, for their part, may challenge a calculation error. For a dispute of 5,000 € or less, an amicable step before the departmental conciliation commission or a court conciliator must come before any court action.
Nice does not apply rent-level control
Two schemes go by the same name in everyday language, and they need to be told apart. Rent-level control caps the rent itself, through lower and upper reference rents set by prefectoral order. Control of rent increases merely stops the rent from rising between two tenants.
The first applies only to a closed list of areas: Paris and two areas of Seine-Saint-Denis, Est Ensemble and Plaine Commune, then Lille, Lyon and Villeurbanne, Montpellier, Bordeaux, part of the Grenoble metropolitan area and the Pays basque. Nice is not on it. We checked the service-public.fr page updated on 1 August 2026: no reference rent is set for Nice, and a Nice lease need not mention one.
The second, on the other hand, does apply in Nice. The city appears in the schedule to the decree of 10 May 2013 on tight housing zones, under the Nice urban area, alongside Cannes or Antibes. It is this designation that triggers the re-letting rules described below.
For several of the areas concerned, the administration shows reference rents valid until 24 November 2026, the current end date of the experimental framework. Any extension, in time or in scope, is a matter for Parliament, and we will update this article should Nice ever be brought in.
On a new letting, the eighteen-month rule and its exits
Our article on leases in Nice sets out the principle of the decree of 27 July 2017, extended until 31 July 2027: the new tenant's rent may not exceed the previous tenant's. How it applies turns on a few details, often discovered only when the property is re-let.
The rule covers only a home re-let less than eighteen months after the previous tenant left. Beyond that, the rent on a home rated A to E is set freely. And if the previous rent was not reviewed during the last twelve months, the landlord may apply the annual change in the index published at the date the new lease is signed.
Works open two doors. If they amount to at least half of the last year's rent, the annual rent may be increased by 15 % of their cost including tax. If they amount to at least one year's rent and are less than six months old, the rent is set freely. Energy-saving works already rewarded by an increase do not count in this calculation.
That leaves a manifestly undervalued rent. The landlord may raise it, but the increase may not exceed half the gap between a reference rent drawn from comparable homes in the neighbourhood and the last rent charged. The burden of proof lies with the landlord, with references, and the tenant may refer the matter to the conciliation commission.
F and G: the rent frozen, review included
Since 24 August 2022, in mainland France, a home rated F or G on its energy performance diagnosis can no longer have its rent increased. The freeze covers the annual review as well as any increase on re-letting, for every lease entered into since that date, renewals and tacit extensions included.
For a landlord, the consequence is concrete: a perfectly drafted indexation clause becomes a dead letter until the energy rating improves. The decency timetable, which ruled out class G on 1 January 2025 and will rule out class F on 1 January 2028, is set out in our article on leases in Nice.
A new energy diagnosis after works, moving the home up to class E, reopens the review for the future. It does not make it retrospective, any more than an ordinary review.
Everything therefore comes down to a date and an index. A landlord who misses the date loses the year, and one who uses the wrong quarter invites a challenge. It is the kind of deadline a management mandate tracks for the landlord, lease by lease, with the energy rating alongside. Promenades Services manages properties in Nice and along the nearby coast, from 107 Promenade des Anglais.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the annual rent review calculated?
- The rent excluding charges is multiplied by the rent reference index for the quarter named in the lease for the current year, then divided by the index for the same quarter of the previous year, rounded to two decimal places. In the second quarter of 2026 the index stands at 148.37, against 146.68 a year earlier, an increase of 1.15 %.
- Can a landlord claim a review they forgot?
- For one year from the review date set in the lease, yes, but the increase applies only from the request, with no backdating. After that, the review for the year is lost.
- Does Nice apply rent control?
- Not rent-level control: Nice is not among the areas with reference rents, such as Paris or Lyon. But the city is a tight housing zone, and the decree of 27 July 2017, extended until 31 July 2027, caps rent increases there on a new letting or a renewal.
- Can the rent on a home rated F or G be reviewed?
- No. Since 24 August 2022, in mainland France, the rent on a home rated F or G can no longer increase, whether through the annual review or on a new letting.
- When is the rent reference index for the third quarter of 2026 published?
- INSEE publishes it on 15 October 2026. It is used for leases whose review is indexed to the third quarter, and is compared with the index for the third quarter of 2025, which stood at 145.77.
References
- Service-public, augmentation et révision du loyer en cours de bail d'habitation (clause, calcul, délai d'un an)
- INSEE, Informations rapides n° 167 : indice de référence des loyers du deuxième trimestre 2026
- ANIL, tableau de l'indice de référence des loyers
- Service-public, encadrement des loyers en zone tendue (territoires soumis à l'encadrement du niveau, règle des 18 mois)
- Légifrance, décret n° 2017-1198 du 27 juillet 2017, prorogé par le décret n° 2026-644 du 20 juillet 2026 (évolution des loyers à la relocation, 1er août 2026 au 31 juillet 2027)
- Légifrance, décret n° 2013-392 du 10 mai 2013 (communes en zone tendue, agglomération de Nice)
The author
Garen AjderhanyanEditor of La Gazette de la Promenade
Editor of La Gazette de la Promenade. He writes on Riviera property and the art of living, from Nice.