Almost every flat I have viewed around Nice was shown to me in the late afternoon, in summer, with the shutters half closed and the owner talking the entire time. You walk out remembering the terrace and the light, and absolutely nothing about the boiler.
In brief
- The list of documents a landlord may require is set by décret n° 2015-1437.
- Since 1 January 2025 a home rated G cannot be let on a new lease.
- Deposit: one month unfurnished, two months furnished, charges excluded.
- Photograph everything at the viewing, long before the inventory.
Bring the file, and know what nobody can ask you for
The tenant file is the part you can settle before you leave the house, and it is what decides most viewings on the Riviera in July.
Décret n° 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015 fixes the exhaustive list of supporting documents a landlord, or an agency acting for them, may require from a rental candidate and from their guarantor. It covers four families: proof of identity, proof of current housing, proof of professional activity and proof of income. Anything outside that list simply cannot be demanded, and asking for it exposes the landlord to an administrative fine of up to 3,000 euros for an individual and 15,000 euros for a company. Photocopies are accepted; you only have to be able to produce the originals if asked.
Bring two full paper sets and the same file on your phone. It sounds excessive until you are the third person that afternoon and the only one who can hand the agent something complete.
The guarantor problem, and the free way around it
If you have just landed in France, the honest obstacle is not your salary, it is that nobody here can vouch for you.
That is what Visale, the free guarantee scheme run by Action Logement, exists for. Under the 2026 rules it is open to anyone aged 18 to 30 regardless of income, and to salaried workers over 31 whose net monthly resources do not exceed 1,710 euros, including people hired less than six months ago or relocating for work. The 2026 rent ceilings are 1,940 euros including charges in Île-de-France, 1,575 euros in urban areas of more than 100,000 inhabitants, which is where Nice sits, and 1,365 euros elsewhere. Turning up with the certificate already issued does more for your application than any cover letter.
What twenty minutes in the flat should actually be spent on
Look at the things that cost money to fix and cannot be judged from photographs.
- Damp. Open the wardrobe at the back of the bedroom and smell it. On the coast, the north facing wall of a ground floor flat is where salt air and condensation leave their mark first.
- Water pressure. Run the shower and the kitchen tap together. In older buildings above the port this is where a lovely flat quietly disqualifies itself.
- Heating and cooling. Ask what the winter bill actually was. A flat shown in August tells you nothing about February, and air conditioning that exists as a wall unit in the living room only is not air conditioning for the bedroom.
- Shutters, screens and windows. Test every shutter. Ask whether the windows are double glazed, then open one and listen for ninety seconds.
- Storage and circulation. Count power sockets, look for somewhere to put a vacuum cleaner, and check that a door does not open onto the fridge.
Photograph as you go, wide shot then detail, including anything already damaged. Those pictures are your evidence when the inventory is drawn up, and they cost nothing today.
The paperwork tells you things the visit cannot
Ask to see the diagnostics and the draft lease at the viewing, not after you have committed.
The DPE, the energy performance certificate, is the one to read first. Under the Climate and Resilience Act, homes rated G have been barred from new lettings in mainland France since 1 January 2025, with F following in 2028 and E in 2034. A landlord offering you a G rated flat on a new lease is offering you something they are not entitled to let, and an F rated one is offering a home that will need work within two years.
| What to check | The rule that applies |
|---|---|
| Energy rating on the DPE | G excluded from new lettings since 1 January 2025, F from 2028 |
| Floor area written in the lease | If the real area is more than one twentieth smaller, article 3-1 of the 1989 Act allows a proportional rent reduction |
| Security deposit | One month’s rent excluding charges unfurnished, two months furnished |
| Rent asked at re-letting | Capped in tight housing areas, Nice included, by a decree renewed each year |
On that last line, the cap was extended again by décret n° 2026-644 of 20 July 2026, which runs from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027. For a home rated F or G it is absolute: the new rent cannot exceed what the previous tenant paid, with no exception available.
If you are the one showing the flat
The landlord’s job at a viewing is to remove doubts, not to decorate them away.
Have the diagnostics, the draft lease and the last set of service records in a folder on the table. Fix the small visible faults first, because a dripping tap is read as a warning about everything you cannot see. And let people open cupboards in peace: the owners who follow me from room to room are the ones I remember for the wrong reason.
Three questions worth asking out loud
How long has the flat been empty, and why did the last tenant leave? The answer is rarely dramatic, but hesitation before it is informative.
Who pays for what in the charges? Ask for the figure per month and what it covers, especially in a building with a lift or a pool.
How quickly can the inventory be done? The état des lieux at entry is annexed to the lease and is the document your deposit is measured against. Where entry and exit inventories match, the deposit must be returned within one month; where they differ, within two.
One local detail that catches new arrivals out: in a tight housing area, and Nice is one, a tenant giving notice is entitled to a one month notice period rather than three. It is worth knowing on the way in, not on the way out.
General information, written from the point of view of the private rental market in France. Rules and thresholds change, so check the current position with ADIL or a professional before you sign anything.
When renting stops being the obvious answer
Sharing the cost of a property with people you trust raises a different set of questions, and they are worth understanding early.
