Paris is finding its rent control laws hard to enforce, with a new study by a consumer protection agency finding that almost half of all public ads for property in Paris list illegal rents.
While the city, and the world, have focused on the effect of vacation rentals such as Airbnb on local housing, Paris has had a long-term tight rental market reflected in rising rents around the city, forcing many lower-earning families out altogether. The city addressed that with a new rent control law that went into effect last July.
But in December, the consumer group CLCV found that 44% of a thousand ads they checked out showed rents higher than the caps, and that the smaller the apartment, the more likely it was to be listed with an illegal rent. The study included private rentals as well as agency rentals; it found more compliance by agencies, which had only 30% illegal listings.
Although there are procedures for reporting illegal rentals and enforcing the legal rent, but as of December, only 21 complaints had been filed. That may reflect people not aware of the new caps, or perhaps people who are afraid to upset the applecart and would rather overpay than be out searching again.
Photo: PHeymont/TravelGumbo
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