Housing market: to buy or to rent?
Weigh up the pros and cons to help decide whether to buy or rent a property in France
Renting in France
Choosing to rent can be a good way to get a feel for life in France without committing to buying a property. Tenants here enjoy strong legal protection - for example, it is illegal to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent between November and March - but this can make some landlords cautious about taking on tenants without extensive documentation (pièces justificatives) and a sizeable deposit (dépôt de garantie).
According to Numbeo, the Price to Rent Ratio - a metric that helps determine whether it is more financially advantageous to buy or rent in a specific area - for a city-centre apartment in France is 32.7, compared to 16.2 in the UK. A higher ratio suggests renting is more favourable than buying, whereas a lower ratio suggests the opposite.
Bear in mind that rental prices vary widely depending on location - tourist hotspots and major urban centres are far more expensive than smaller towns or rural areas.
Search for a rental by region
Use national maps provided by estate agents, such as the one available on Seloger.com, to research property rental prices - these are usually calculated per square metre.
Weighing up the pros and cons
The proportion of people renting in France stands at 40% (Insee, September 2024). Of these, 23% rent privately, while the remaining 17% occupy social housing.
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Unfurnished rentals (location vide) are far more common and typically come with a minimum three-year lease, automatically renewed unless a six-month notice period is given.
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Furnished rentals (location meublée) are more common in larger cities and university towns, catering to students and international residents. Lease terms are usually one year (or nine months for students), with a three-month notice period.
If tenants do not comply with the notice period, landlords must follow a rigorous legal eviction process, which can sometimes take months or even years.
Rents are usually regulated: increases must follow the Indice de Référence des Loyers (IRL), and deposits are capped (one month for unfurnished, two months for furnished). This means landlords carefully vet tenants and require thorough paperwork, references, and identity checks (dossier de location). Tenants are legally required to have their own household insurance, which varies by property type, location, and features.
Rental agencies and property websites are the best places to find properties, often supplemented by interactive maps from the French Ministry of Housing (Observatoires des Loyers).
Buying property in France
While housing costs vary regionally, a commonly cited guideline is that French property is on average around 25–35% cheaper than in the UK (depending on location).
Mortgage affordability is also relatively high in France. Numbeo’s Property Loan Affordability Index - which measures mortgage payments as a percentage of income (lower is less affordable) - is 1.4 in France versus 2.8 in the UK, indicating that French property is generally easier to finance relative to income.
For regional price breakdowns, the Notaires de France publishes quarterly property market reports, covering both sales and rental prices.
Average apartment and house prices in France (Q3 2025).
| Place | Median apartment price (€/m²) | Apartment change (%) | Median house price (€) | House change (%) |
| Amiens | €2,510 | -2.1 % | €185,000 | 8.7 % |
| Angers | €310,000 | 0 % | ||
| Bayonne | €4,060 | -1 % | ||
| Besançon | €2,180 | 7.7 % | ||
| Bordeaux | €4,240 | -1 % | €345,000 | 0.4 % |
| Bourges | €1,630 | 3.7 % | ||
| Brest | €240,000 | 0 % | ||
| Caen | €2,960 | 6.5 % | €282,500 | 4.6 % |
| Chartres | €223,000 | 2.4 % | ||
| Châteauroux | €130,000 | 1.1 % | ||
| Clermont-Ferrand | €2,120 | 5.2 % | ||
| Corse-du-Sud | €4,000 | 4.4 % | €455,600 | 2.4 % |
| Dijon | €2,610 | 1.5 % | €275,000 | 5.9 % |
| Grenoble | €2,500 | 4.3 % | €361,000 | -1.3 % |
| Guadeloupe | €3,340 | -2.1 % | €294,800 | 19.8 % |
| Haute-Corse | €3,040 | -4 % | €294,000 | -0.7 % |
| Île-de-France | €330,800 | -1.3 % | ||
| La Réunion | €2,820 | 6.1 % | €255,700 | 5.7 % |
| Le Havre | €205,500 | 0.7 % | ||
| Lille | €3,810 | 1 % | €237,900 | 3.4 % |
| Limoges | €1,410 | -1.6 % | €180,000 | 2.9 % |
| Lyon | €4,520 | -0.8 % | €400,000 | -0.7 % |
| Marseille | €3,410 | 2.9 % | ||
| Marseille / Aix-en-Provence | €400,000 | 3.5 % | ||
| Martinique | €2,990 | 2.1 % | ||
| Metz | €2,260 | -4.2 % | €241,000 | 0.8 % |
| Montpellier | €3,260 | 0.6 % | €403,100 | -6 % |
| Montauban | €217,000 | -2.3 % | ||
| Mulhouse | €1,280 | 5.6 % | ||
| Nancy | €2,290 | 2.5 % | €218,500 | 4 % |
| Nantes | €3,440 | -1.1 % | €330,000 | 0 % |
| Nice | €4,810 | 1.5 % | ||
| Nîmes | €2,120 | 1.9 % | €250,000 | -0.3 % |
| Orléans | €2,730 | 8.5 % | €229,400 | 1.9 % |
| Paris | €9,700 | 1.9 % | ||
| Poitiers | €2,130 | -2.2 % | €195,000 | 1 % |
| Reims | €2,600 | 1.7 % | €248,000 | 3.6 % |
| Rennes | €3,640 | -1.6 % | ||
| Rouen | €2,760 | 3 % | €195,000 | 0.5 % |
| Saint-Étienne | €1,160 | 0.1 % | €211,900 | -1.4 % |
| Strasbourg | €3,410 | -0.1 % | ||
| Toulon | €2,720 | 5.6 % | €466,900 | 2.8 % |
| Toulouse | €3,040 | -4 % | €314,700 | 1.5 % |
| Tours | €2,940 | 7.1 % | €250,000 | -2.7 % |
| Troyes | €176,200 | -1.8 % |
Source: Notaires de France. Note that incomplete entries reflect missing data. Changes compare Q3 2025 to Q3 2024.
How to buy
For a full guide to buying property in France, see Chapter 7.