What Are France’s Zones Tendues?: Taxe d’Habitation Increases on Second Homes

With an ever-rising demand for property and a tightening housing market in certain areas of the country, France has delegated certain cities and communes ‘Zones Tendues’ (‘tense zones’). These are areas in which there is a known property shortage, and local measures can be implemented in order to address this.

Most notably, these measures include:

• Rental control schemes and caps imposed on property rentals.
• Additional taxes on vacant properties such as second homes.

Is my French property in a ‘Zone Tendu’?

If you own a property or plan to purchase a property in cities such as Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Marseille, or popular areas such as Provence and the Côte d’Azur, you may find your property falls within a Zone Tendu. There are now Zones Tendues all around the country, though, so don’t assume that your property doesn’t fall within a zone either!

Since August 2023, the requirements for a “zone tendu” were relaxed, allowing communes with a population of less than 50,000 to feature on the list – and granting them the right to increase property taxes on second homes in the area. Since then, an additional 2,263 communes became zones tendues, including many towns in rural areas.

You can see the full list of Zones Tendu here, organized by department code.

All second homes in France are subject to two property taxes in France – the Taxe d’habitation and the Taxe Fonciere. Since 2023, the Taxe d’habitation no longer applies to homeowners or renters on their primary residence. However, it remains payable by all second-home owners (unless your property is rented out permanently). This applies whether or not your property is in a Zone Tendu.

However, if your property is also in a Zone Tendu, the commune may also elect to add additional charges to this tax. This can be up to 60% of the original tax, so it is not to be baulked at! The idea is to discourage second-home owners from keeping a property empty in these zones and encourage such homeowners to either sell the property or rent it out.

As of 2024, at least 1,500 communes have opted to increase taxes, including popular holiday home Saint-Malo (Brittany), Saint-Tropez (Var), Bonifacio (Corse-du-Sud), Quiberon (Morbihan), and Chamonix (Haute-Savoie). You can see the full list of communes that have voted to increase taxe d’habitation on second homes here.

What is the Taxe sur Logements Vacants?

In addition to the Taxe de Habitation, some communes also add an additional tax on vacant properties. This taxe sur les logements vacants (TLV) is fixed at 12.5 % of the value of the property during the first year that the property is vacant, rising to 25% if the property remains unoccupied during the following years. The tax doesn’t apply to properties that are occupied for more than 90 consecutive days a year, are undertaking major building or renovation works, or are on the rental market.

Who has to pay the taxes?

These taxes apply to furnished properties in a Zone Tendu that are vacant or not being used as a primary residence. The taxes aren’t payable if your house is rented out full-time. You may also request an exemption for certain circumstances, such as a second home owned in an area where you work on location (find out more about that here).

If you own a property or are planning to purchase one in a Zone Tendu, its highly advised to seek local advice on the applicable taxes. A good place to start is this online simulator – enter the relevant postcode and you can see a list of the taxes that apply in that region.