After seeing its anti-AirBNB regulations suspended on January 24, the Urban Community of La Rochelle had to review its copy and new, lighter regulations could be put in place. More information with our AirBNB concierge in La Rochelle.
Regulated seasonal rentals… but not too much
Faced with the explosion of seasonal rental accommodation, the agglomeration of La Rochelle had decided to act. Marie Nédellec, the elected La Rochelaise who carried out the draft regulations, denounced a 175% increase in furnished tourist accommodation between 2019 and 2022, for a total of 1419 year-round accommodations lost. This reduction in the number of accommodation available year-round leads to an increase in prices due to strong demand, and students and the most modest households are the first to bear the brunt of this.
“After the suspension of its regulations at the end of January, La Rochelle had been forced to review its copy, says Eva Roger, director of the Concierge La Rochelle YourHostHelper. Some measures had been deemed disproportionate”. To circumvent this ban, the elected officials of La Rochelle have therefore lightened their regulations and its application will finally be postponed to November 1, 2023.
The agglomeration has notably chosen, with regret, to remove the ban on renting accommodation smaller than 35 m². As Marie Nédellec, the elected representative behind the project, explains, “we want to remove the points of difficulty, it is essential to move forward on this subject. Our desire is to uphold the right to housing”. The community should thus be able to implement its project more quickly and impose its main measure: limiting the rental of furnished tourist accommodation to a single accommodation per legal or natural person.
Towards an evolution of the regulations in La Rochelle:
It will also be proposed to add a clarification concerning the granting of authorizations for a change of use in sectors not subject to compensation: the accommodation must have essential facilities characteristic of a dwelling in order to live there (kitchen, bathroom). The rules for temporary change of use adopted on October 20 are not modified, as is the principle of compensation in neighborhoods subject to high tension (hypercentre and Minimes). In 2023, these concentrate 2 of the 676 furnished tourist accommodation in La Rochelle.
Despite this step backwards, Marie Nédellec does not intend to give up: the elected official has already seized the Council of State to challenge the suspension decision dating from the end of January and will continue to fight for the right to housing. for each rochelais. Regarding the referral to the Council of State, the case should not be judged before next year, at best.
For Eva Roger, director of the YourHostHelper agency in La Rochelle, “it is important to regulate the seasonal rental market to avoid abuse. The locals must not find themselves in need of housing and currently, there is a real shortage and solutions must be found. Adjusted regulations will certainly make it possible to obtain a compromise and satisfy everyone”.
What will the new anti-AirBNB regulations consist of?
The urban community of La Rochelle has already implemented some measures to limit the increase in the number of short-term rental accommodation. As of 2019, the Agglomeration Community decided to regulate the rental of furnished tourist accommodation in the tight area of La Rochelle by deliberating to establish a single registration number and an authorization for a temporary change of use, issued within the limit three accommodations per owner for a period of three years.
The original deliberation had been voted on Thursday, October 20, 2022 by the Community Council of the Agglomeration Community of La Rochelle and was to apply from June 1, 2023. The objective of this decree was, according to the agglomeration, that a part of the tourist accommodation can return to the year-round rental market, for families, students or even young working people who would like to settle in their main residence in La Rochelle. Indeed, as indicated by Marie Nédellec, the elected leader of the project, “there is an urgent need to act to regulate tourist accommodation in La Rochelle. There is a real housing shortage. The situation has become urgent and we must find solutions”.
The agglomeration still has the same battle horse: it wishes to restore a balance between attractiveness, solidarity for the inhabitants and tourist and economic development. La Rochelle has seen, like many other cities, a sharp increase in the number of accommodation units intended for seasonal rental. This large number of requests offers substantial economic benefits but creates a shortage of housing for the inhabitants.
Seasonal rental professionals are up against regulations
Since its deliberation last October, the decree had not only made people happy, especially on the side of the National Union for the Promotion of Holiday Rentals (UNPLV) which brings together the main players in holiday rentals. such as Abritel, AirBNB, Leboncoin, HomeToGo or CléVacances.
The association had pointed the finger at several measures voted, in particular the ban on owners from renting accommodation of less than 35 square meters, by issuing serious doubts on the legality of such a measure. The UNPLV considered that “this measure constitutes a disproportionate attack on several constitutional principles and European law, such as the right to property and the freedom to provide services”.
The union chamber also contested the principle of compensation, adopted in the city center, one of the most tense neighborhoods. It consists of the obligation for a furnished tourist accommodation owner to rent out another property, commercial premises or garage, on pain of no longer being able to exercise his tourist activity.
The compensation consists in transforming into housing premises not devolved to habitation (office, shop, etc.). This compensation thus makes it possible to reconstitute the "loss" of a dwelling by creating another dwelling. This room must have a surface area at least equivalent to that being the subject of a seasonal rental and be located in the same municipality. A so-called “change of use” authorization is then issued.
La Rochelle is not against seasonal rentals
The urban community of La Rochelle is not against seasonal rentals and defends itself from wanting to drive out the owners of furnished tourist accommodation. “We just want it to be supervised and avoid abuse, says Marie Nédellec. As the sector is booming, many owners are interested and investing in the municipality, which is still a good thing”. The goal remains to avoid the shortage of year-round housing, while maintaining an interesting and attractive seasonal housing stock.
As for the owners, they expected a lot from this new version of the regulations which seems to suit them. Both sides are still hoping to find final common ground but so far no appeals have been filed against the new relaxed measures.
