Recoverable rental charges

An exhaustive list, not a general principle

Decree no. 87-713 of 26 August 1987 lists the charges a landlord may recover from their tenant. Anything not on it is not recoverable, even if it seems fair. It is a closed list: nothing can be added to it by the lease, and a clause attempting to do so would be deemed unwritten.

The reading is simple: the tenant pays for what they BENEFIT from and what WEARS OUT through their use. The owner keeps what belongs to ownership of the property: its upkeep, its bringing up to standard, its improvement.

Which side an expense falls on

To the tenant

Water and heating consumed, electricity for the communal areas, routine upkeep of the green spaces and the lifts, cleaning, household waste collection, and the share of the caretaker's pay corresponding to their upkeep duties and to putting out the bins.

To the landlord

Works, the replacement of equipment, façade renovation, bringing the property up to standard, the managing agent's fees, the taxe foncière excluding the household waste portion, and general meeting costs. Everything that increases or preserves the value of the property remains with the person who owns it.

The three cases that give rise to disputes

Repair or replace

Repairing existing equipment is generally recoverable ; replacing it is not. Replacing a hot water tank that is beyond use is an owner's expense, the annual servicing of that same tank is a tenant's expense.

The caretaker

Their remuneration is only partly recoverable, and the proportion depends on the tasks they actually carry out. A caretaker who handles both the cleaning and the refuse collection allows a wider recovery than a caretaker who handles only one of the two.

The household waste tax

It appears on the taxe foncière notice, which is an owner's charge, but it is recoverable. It is the only line on that notice which is, and it is evidenced by producing the notice itself.

Monthly provisional payments, then an annual adjustment

In an unfurnished letting, charges are paid by monthly provisions, adjusted once a year against actual expenditure. The annual reconciliation is an obligation, not an option: without it, the provisions become a flat fee in disguise, and a tenant may claim them back.

In a furnished letting, the tenancy may instead provide for a flat charge, set at signature and not subject to reconciliation. The flat charge must remain in keeping with the actual charges: it cannot be used to inflate the rent.

One month before the adjustment, the landlord gives the tenant the statement by category of charges and, in a collective building, the method of apportionment. The supporting documents are kept available to the tenant for six months after the statement is sent. A tenant who asks to see them is exercising a right; a landlord who has prepared them settles the matter in a single visit.

And if the reconciliation has been overlooked

Charges are subject to a three-year limitation period. A landlord who has not reconciled them for several years may therefore still claim the last three, but no further back, and the tenant may ask to spread payment over twelve months when the reconciliation covers more than a year of arrears.

This is the most common reason a landlord ends up delegating: the annual adjustment is simple to do each year, and tiresome to catch up on.

Read the guide to the management mandate