Hello everyone. My family and I have lived in France for about 4 years now, but when we arrived, we were denied rental due to lack of employment history in France. Now, two of us are self employed and we’ve saved up a bit of money. We’d like to rent, but it seems the amount demanded by rental agencies is extremely steep. 2 years payslips for example. Is this something we will have to worry about from every agency? Is there a better option than an agency? Airbnb seemed nice, we’re only looking to stay for a year, but the prices are enormous.
Thank you all.
Legally AirBnB is for holiday accommodation, so they should only offer maximum 3 month rentals and only to people who have their main residence somewhere else. I don’t know whether home owners stick to these rules tho’, so maybe they don’t.
All agencies are a bit different. Some ask for lots of background, others ask for a guarantor if you know anyone who would back you, and other ask for you to pay for non-payment of rental insurance. It’s worth trying a couple different ones. Or looking in Leboncoin or local boulangeries for private ads.
French landlords have to be careful because it’s so hard to evict non paying tenants.
The gold standard is to have a permanent job and guaranteed salary of at least 3 times the rent.
Unfortunately, self employed is always going to be second choice because you are perceived as having less job security/less secure income/higher risk of being unable to pay.
Do you have a friend d with a permanent employment contract in France who would act as guarantor for you?
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I’d certainly be willing to pay extra. Or a significant amount up front. Think looking in leboncoin or some other non-agency website is a good idea? Thanks for your info, this helps.
I have a lot of family in France, and I know at least one person with a permanent employment contract. Think this’d help much? Thanks for the info though, I’ll keep all of that in mind.
Yes I think that if you say you can provide a guarantor it could help a lot.
Hello I have seen your post. Have you been able to rent anywhere yet? You do not say where you want to rent. We have a place near to Sarlat and may be able to offer you a stay. Please e mail me on dordogneholidaybarn @gmail.com if this is of interest.
Best wishes
Bob