Legal news

The Non-professional furnished rental  status is a simple and attractive investment solution for rental property, enabling landlords to rent out furnished accommodation and benefit from tax advantages.

• Preliminary formalities: 

a) Registration with the Registry of the Commercial Court : 

As a non-professional furnished rental company, you must register with a business formalities center.

This allows:

1. to obtain a Siret number,
2. to make known the existence of this activity,
3. indicate the tax regime chosen.

On the other hand, the status of non-professional furnished rental company does not require the creation of a company. Non-professional furnished rental rental can only complement a salaried activity.

b) Prior authorization for change of use: 

In certain municipalities, the lessor (professional or not) must submit a request for prior authorization for change of use to be able to rent it for short periods repeatedly to passing customers. 

This authorization does not apply when the rented accommodation remains the principal residence of the lessor.

c) Check-in in a furnished tourist accommodation or guest room: 

Any person (professional or not) who offers furnished tourist accommodation for rental must have previously made a declaration to the mayor of the municipality where it is located.

This prior declaration is not obligatory when the residential premises constitute the principal residence of the lessor except in municipalities where the change of use of premises intended for residential use is subject to prior authorization and if the municipal council in decided otherwise.

The rule is the same if you rent rooms at your home, breakfast included, (bed and breakfast) for one or more nights to tourists.

• The different categories of furnished rental:

Furnished rentals can be used as principal residences, occasional rentals, or seasonal and tourist rentals. In these cases, the Furnished leases as the tenant’s principal residence.

a) Furnished leases for principal residences are governed by articles 25-3 till 25-11 of the French Civil code (Code civil):

Indeed, the article 25-3 of the French Civil Code specifies that: 

“The provisions of this title are a matter of public policy and apply to rental contracts for furnished accommodation as defined in article 25-4, where such accommodation constitutes the tenant’s principal residence within the meaning of article 2.

Articles 1, 3, 3-2, 3-3, 4, with the exception of l, 5, 6, 7, 7-1, 8, 8-1, 18, 20-1, 21, 22, 22-1, 22-2, 24 and 24-1 apply to furnished accommodation.

The present title does not apply to “logements-foyers” or to housing covered by an agreement with the State concerning occupancy conditions and allocation procedures.

The present title does not apply to housing allocated or rented because of the exercise of a function or the occupation of a job, nor to rentals granted to seasonal workers”.

The lease must be concluded for a minimum renewable term of one year. This period is reduced to 9 months for students, with no automatic renewal. 

b) Furnished mobility leases are governed by articles 25-12 till 25-18 of the French Civil code (Code civil):

Indeed, the article 25-18 of the French Civil Code specifies that: 

“Rental charges ancillary to the main rent are recovered by the lessor in the form of a lump sum paid at the same time as the rent, the amount and payment frequency of which are defined in the contract, and which may not give rise to any subsequent supplement or adjustment. The amount of the flat-rate service charge is set according to the amounts payable by the lessor in application of article 23. This amount must not be manifestly disproportionate in relation to the last statement of charges by type, in relation to the frequency of payment of the flat-rate charge”.

This is a short-term lease of furnished accommodation to a tenant who can prove, on the date the lease takes effect, that he or she is on vocational training, higher education, an apprenticeship contract, an internship, a voluntary commitment as part of a civic service, a professional transfer or a temporary assignment as part of his or her professional activity. 

 The mobility lease is concluded for a minimum of one month and a maximum of ten months and is non-renewable and non-renewable on-professional rental.

• Tax planning:

For tax purposes to qualify for non-professional furnished rental status, and not be considered a professional lessor, your rental income must:

a) be less than 23.000 EUR per year (for all members of the tax household), or not exceed the total income of the tax household subject to income tax in the following categories: salaries and wages, industrial and commercial profits, agricultural profits, non-commercial profits.

For many years, furnished rental of residential property has been a favored tax-efficient option.

Over time, however, legislators have increasingly tightened the conditions of application, both in terms of tax law and legal regulations.

b) annual revenues in excess of 23.000 EUR, revenues exceeding the total professional income of the tax household.

Regarding the Tax benefits, the concerned has the choice between two tax regimes, the micro-BIC regime, also called flat-rate regime and the real regime. The goal is to choose the best tax regime for your situation, we therefore advise you to carry out simulations.

• Advantages:

This particular rental status is becoming increasingly popular with property owners, as it offers a number of advantages. Indeed, this type of rental offers advantages for both the owner and the tenant. The best-known benefit is the tax advantage. 

a) A rental facility

Furnished accommodation is, most often, rented more quickly. Indeed, this type of rental can allow owners to avoid rental vacancies. This is due to the fact that people looking for furnished rentals are, most of the time, students or people changing professionally or personally. 

They will therefore tend to stay in the accommodation for a rather short time. They therefore necessarily have an easier time choosing an apartment. Unlike people who are looking for empty rentals whose aim is to settle in for the long term. They therefore think more about getting an apartment.

b) Flexibility of status

Moreover, this type of rental is a status which has more flexible rental criteria. Indeed, there are differences between empty accommodation and furnished accommodation in terms of the rental contract. If you want to know more about the rental contract for a furnished apartment, click here. The differences are for example the duration of this contract, the duration of the notice period for the tenant and the owner or the amount of security deposit authorized.

 All these elements which differ between the two types of accommodation make furnished rental more flexible and therefore more attractive for tenants and owners alike. For example, if we are interested in the length of notice. It is shorter for furnished accommodation for both the owner and the tenant. This allows the tenant to quickly change apartments and it allows the owner to end the contract if things do not go well with the existing tenant.

c) Advantageous rents

This type of rental status allows you to rent your apartment at a higher rent. Obviously, an apartment that has furniture can be rented with a higher rent than an empty apartment. Quite simply because you have invested more, but also because the tenants are ready to pay more for a furnished apartment because they will not have the additional costs of furnishing the accommodation and they will not have to make the move at their arrival and departure. 

A furnished apartment rents at a rent 12% higher on average than if it were empty. Of course, thanks to this advantage, you will obtain higher income, but you must not forget that the furniture will wear out and that tenants can also damage it. You will therefore receive higher income, but additional expenses are to be expected.

d) Resale

It is also very interesting to have this type of rental status for the resale of your property. You can, of course, invest in real estate in order to carry out classic furnished rentals and decide to change its function a few years later. You can choose to use your accommodation as a primary or secondary base. When you are an expatriate, this can be interesting if you want to come back from time to time to see your family or if you want to return to France in part of your future life. But you can also choose to resell your property. 

A furnished property can sell for a higher price than an empty property. In fact, you can choose to sell your furnished property. You can therefore increase your price. In addition, if you have carried out renovation work in addition to the furnishing, your property may sell for more. This advantage is really one in heritage cities. In heritage towns, the important thing in a real estate investment is resale, unlike in yield towns. In general, when an owner invests in heritage towns, he aims to resell his property at the maximum price.

• Disadvantages: 

Now, we will tell you about the disadvantages of this type of rental status:

a) Tax risk

This status is very popular for its many advantages but in particular for its tax advantage. We have explained it to you in more detail just above, but when you are this type of rental your income must be declared in the Industrial and Commercial Profits (“BIC”) (bank identification code) category.

You can then choose between the micro-BIC category and the real category. However, we must still be vigilant regarding the risks that owners may face regarding the tax side. Tax changes and regulatory changes may occur from time to time. These changes can be negative for owners in certain situations. We therefore advise you to be vigilant regarding all changes.

b) Limited depreciation

Depreciation is a significant advantage of this type of rental. However, this is an advantage limited in time. In fact, you can amortize your entire investment over approximately 30 years and the purchase of your furniture over approximately 7 years. But when the depreciation period for your investment is over, you cannot start depreciating again. 

The possibility of depreciation is therefore a fleeting advantage. When this benefit ends, your taxable share of your income will therefore necessarily be higher. We therefore advise you to do the calculations carefully to find out if the actual regime is the tax regime that suits you and to find out if this type of rental status corresponds to you.

c) To face of  the concurrence

This type of rental status is a very popular status. Indeed, we spoke to you about it a little above, but it is a status which interests more and more owners. This is because it brings many benefits. We talked to you about these advantages in the first part of this article. They are numerous and very interesting for owners. However, due to its success, the number of furnished apartments is constantly increasing in many cities in France.

 You must therefore find out carefully about the location of your property. In some cities, it may be better to rent your property empty. Indeed, if there are too many furnished accommodations in a city and therefore too much competition, you may have difficulty finding tenants. You could therefore face long rental vacancies and therefore a significant loss of profitability. Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like support during your real estate investment project in France.

Bibliography:

1. https://www.impots.gouv.fr/particulier/les-locations-meublees
2. https://www.notaires.fr/fr/immobilier-fiscalite/fiscalite-et-gestion-du-patrimoine/location-meublee-non-professionnelle-lmnp
3. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F32744
4. https://www.lmnp-gouv.org/
5. https://www.pap.fr/bailleur/choisir-investissement/lmnp-fiscalite-avantages-inconvenients/a23423

A rental is considered to be “professionally furnished” (“Location meublée professionnelle”) if it includes sufficient furniture for a tenant to live comfortably in it. When the tenant takes possession of the property, he or she does not, in principle, need to add any new items for the entire duration of the lease. 

The furniture provided by the landlord must meet the requirements of everyday life, described in article 25-4 of the French Civil code (Code civil) defines:

“Furnished accommodation as decent housing equipped with furniture in sufficient number and quality to enable the tenant to sleep, eat and live suitably with regard to the requirements of everyday life.

The decree of July 31, 2015, set the list of furniture items that must be included in rented accommodation at a minimum:

bedding including a comforter or blanket, a device for blocking out windows in rooms intended to be used as bedrooms, cooking hobs, oven or microwave, refrigerator and freezer (or at least a freezer), crockery and cutlery for meals, kitchen utensils, table and seating, storage shelves, light fittings, cleaning equipment adapted to the characteristics of the dwelling”.

Furnished professional rental differs from unfurnished professional rental, also known as “bare rental”, which allows the lessor to rent a property without furniture. In the latter case, it’s up to the tenant to furnish the accommodation themselves and empty it when they leave.

• Tax planning: 

While the purchase price of the rental property is not a tax-deductible expense in itself, it can be amortized over the actual period of ownership,2% to 3% of the purchase price can be deducted from rental income each year. 

A capital gains exemption may also be considered, provided that rental income is less than €90,000 per year over the two years preceding the sale, and only for any active rental activity carried out for more than five years. Above this threshold, the lessor can take advantage of a partial exemption of up to 126.000 EUR. 

People who qualify for this type of rental status are those who meet two conditions. On the one hand, total income from rental activities must exceed 23.000 EUR per year. This sum considers all rents, including charges and taxes. It is calculated for the calendar year and for a single tax household.

On the other hand, the income generated by this rental activity must exceed the amounts earned through other activities. For example, the rents received must exceed any salaries or other industrial and commercial profits.

In short, furnished rental is considered a professional activity as long as it generates a certain income and is carried out on a regular basis.

• Professional and non-professional furnished rental: what are the differences?

The main difference between a professional and a non-professional lessor lies in the income generated by the rental activity. If the rental income received by the tax household is less than 23.000 EUR a year, the lessor is not considered to be a professional. The same applies if rental income is lower than income from other sources, such as salaries.

This difference affects tax regimes. Income from a non-professional furnished rental business must be declared under the income tax or micro-BIC regime. In other words, a non-professional furnished rental are not subject to the corporation tax.

Finally, some professionals do not fall into the category of professional furnished-rental operators. These are those whose activity does not solely involve the rental of furnished property. They include, for example, hotel activities such as bed and breakfast. These establishments also provide other services, such as cleaning, meal service, reception.

• Advantages:

There are many advantages to being a professional furnished landlord. These include the security provided by signing a 9-year commercial lease with a property manager. The operator will manage your property and pay you the rent, whether your property is rented out. 

Another significant advantage is that depreciation of the property means that income from this activity can be tax-free: the deduction of deficits from overall income means that other income deducted from the taxpayer’s household can be tax-free.

a) Expense deduction and depreciation: tax relief: 

If the expenses to be deducted are greater than the rental income, a deficit arises. This deficit can be carried forward to the next ten years’ rental income, with no limit on the amount. If this deficit exists, you cannot depreciate. Depreciation is then stored for an unlimited period. In other words, you start by deducting as many expenses as possible to reduce your tax base.

 Meanwhile, you keep the depreciation. Once the deficit linked to the expenses has been absorbed, you amortize them. This system allows you to reduce your rental income for years. In some cases, these same rental revenues can legally escape taxation for twenty to twenty-five years. A great way to build up a tax-free income over the long term.

b) Carrying forward previous losses:

If your income is less than the amount of your deductible expenses, including interest on loans but excluding depreciation of the property, the deficit can be deducted from your overall income for 6 years, whereas in the case of non-professional activities, the deficit can only be deducted from income in the same category.

c) The special case of real estate capital gains: 

In the event of the sale of a property, any capital gains are taxed as business capital gains. This can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your situation. Note that under this particular rental status, a gift or the death of the owner is considered a transfer, in the same way as a sale. In the most common case, if you’ve been running your furnished-rental business for more than 5 years, you’ll benefit from a total tax exemption on the amount of capital gains realized, if your revenues are less than 90,000 EUR. 

• Disadvantages:

The disadvantages of this type of rental status are linked to the strict conditions for obtaining it. Minimum rental income must exceed 23.000 EUR per year, and the taxpayer’s share of household income must be at least 50%. 

Where applicable, professional furnished rental status can be lost during the first 3 years. The direct consequence of this is the loss of the ability to offset losses incurred prior to the purchase of the property. A lack of tenants can have major repercussions on retaining the status. A lack of rental income could make it difficult to meet the thresholds imposed by the professional furnished rental status.

More changes of tenants therefore mean if you manage your property alone, more time to plan to take care of tenant searches and entry and exit inventories. Inventories which will also take longer to carry out given that it will be necessary to take an inventory of all the furniture.

If management is delegated, this generally results in more costs. But the risk is also to have more rental vacancies with more frequent rent-free latency periods between 2 tenants, which will ultimately impact the rental yield.

On the other hand, renting a furnished property also requires planning for maintenance, or even regular renewal, of furniture and equipment. Costs to take into account therefore, but also more presence necessary in the event of a breakdown on this or that device.

Finally, who says furnished, says additional initial investment, a few thousand euros to add to the acquisition price.

These few negative points should not dissuade you from trying furnished rentals, which today remain one of the most profitable types of real estate investment. You will always be able to return to empty rental after a few months or a few years if this rental method does not suit you.

Bibliography:

1. https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F32805
2. https://www.impots.gouv.fr/particulier/les-locations-meublees
3. https://www.bouygues-immobilier.com/investir-dans-le-neuf/les-dispositifs-dinvestissement-dans-le-neuf/lmnp/fiscalite-lmp-les-avantages-fiscaux-du-loueur-en-meuble-professionnel
4. https://www.pap.fr/bailleur/choisir-investissement/qu-est-ce-que-le-statut-lmp/a23574
5. https://www.gererseul.com/les-sujets-fiscaux-et-legaux/loueur-en-meuble-professionnel-lmp/

A fact that we can all agree, it’s that technology is developing rapidly. Technology broke in the fields of law and has affected all the legal procedures. The omnipresence of technology law brought innovations. The rise of IT contracts is now a well-established legal procedure.
However, there are different types of IT contracts. With the rise of Cloud services, a lot has changed in the world of IT contracts. Cloud contracts can be seen as a form of IT contracts but are different from traditional IT contracts.

A mere and simple definition of both:

Traditional IT contracts

IT Contracts means all material agreements or arrangements under which any third party provides or will provide any element of, or services relating to, the IT Systems, including leasing, hire purchase, licensing, maintenance, website hosting, outsourcing, security, back-up, disaster recovery, insurance, cloud computing and other types of services agreements.

Cloud contracts
However, the introduction of Cloud services has changed a lot. Through the Cloud, data is no longer stored on the hardware of the receiving party, but on the Internet. The provider of the Cloud service offers space in a data center, which the receiving party can use, for a fee or not.
In general, Cloud services can be assigned some specific characteristics. Cloud contracts are often non-negotiable, as there is a fixed “package” that the recipients of the service use. The large number of users is related to this: it is not possible to draw up a different contract for each user.
The standard character of the Cloud services also ties in with this. In contrast to traditional IT projects, Cloud often only offers a service. A final feature of Cloud contracts is the fact that no data processing and storage takes place at the customer, but at the provider of the Cloud service.
Although cloud service agreements have superficial similarities to software license agreements, there is a fundamental difference in the legal rights being granted to the customer.

Key terms in a cloud service contract may include:
• Rights to use the service;
• Payement obligations;
• Acceptable use policies;
• Maintenance, availability, support and service credits;
• Service upgrades;
• Right of termination;
• Customer access to data, including upon termination;
• Customisations ;
• Application licensing.

One area of law that has a significant effect upon cloud service agreements is data protection.
In the typical case, the cloud service provider will be a “data processor” in respect of customer data stored in and processed by the service, while the customer will be “data controller”.
However, with increasing competition, providers of platforms or online services offer significant rebate on certain conditions: committing for at least two, three or five years. This commitment can present an issue.
The price of Cloud services rose sharply in 2022, and the trend is not reversing this year. Nevertheless, to qualify for discounts, customers must agree to a multi-year commitment.
Legally, these are multi-year contracts, in which the customer can feel locked in.
As with cybersecurity-antivirus, anti-malware, etc.-Cloud providers offer discounts if you commit to a minimum of 2 or 3 years.

So, after all it is a complex service or not?

For less complex services, such as data storage, a security backup on a drive or an online application, the decision is easy. If you wish to change supplier, you have to retrieve all of your personal data.
On the other hand, when it comes to more complex applications such as sales management or IT platform compatibility such us Python, Java, Ruby etc. or even on big sites such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft etc. better prepare to negotiate the exit conditions!
Thus, the complexity lies to the volume of the platform and the type of the agreement.

The expertise “FinOps”

If the contract is financially onerous and if the volume of data processed and placed on the Cloud is significant, it is necessary to resort to “FinOps” expertise. But it’s better to call on a specialized service provider, an integrator who knows the ins and outs of contracts.
In general, cloud operators are more flexible, and their commercial offers can be very complex. To juggle all these negotiable clauses, it’s best to have a minimum of expertise. It’s all about understanding invoicing methods and controlling discrepancies a posteriori.
After six months or one year of scalability. The bill can swell, or even explode, without even seeing it coming. This could be an opportunity to take a closer look at the number of licenses actually in use, and the number of active virtual machines.

The art of negotiations

A multi-year Cloud contract allows you to budget without the risk of financial derives with the lump-sum payment per month or per 3 months et now for a whole year.
In principle, higher service levels can be achieved, with guaranteed performance and greater responsiveness in the event of an incident. In return, you have to accept a certain “lock-in” by the supplier.
Thus, it is always advisable to opt for the exit clause before signing a Cloud service contract.

A new European Regulation 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and the Council concerning digital services, known as the Digital Service Act (hereafter DSA), came into force on Friday, August 25, 2023.

This regulation can be characterized as revolutionary in the world of digital services.

In fact, the first DSA regulation of October 19, 2022, together with the Digital Market Regulation (DMA), are both considered to be major digital projects for the European Union.

The obligations set out in these texts are due to come into force on February 17, 2024.

The very large online platforms and search engines are affected earlier, from August 25, 2023.

The aim is to protect EU citizens against counterfeiting, manipulation, hate, harassment, scams and other online nonsense.

Furthermore, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, commented that:
“Europe is now the first jurisdiction in the world where online platforms no longer enjoy a ‘free pass’ and set their own rules”.

The “Digital Services Act” provides for numerous measures, graduated according to the nature of online players’ services and their size.

Very large platforms and search engines are subject to stricter requirements.

All online players will have to designate a single point of contact or, if established outside the EU, a legal representative, and cooperate with national authorities in the event of an injunction.

Similarly, online platforms will have to offer users a tool enabling them to easily report illegal content.

Once reported, they must promptly remove or block access to illegal content.

This status is awarded in each country to entities or organizations on the basis of their expertise and skills.

Platforms must also make their content moderation decisions more transparent.

They must provide for an internal complaints handling system enabling users whose accounts have been suspended or terminated to contest this decision.

To settle disputes, users can also turn to independent, certified bodies in European countries, or appeal to their national judges.

Platforms must also explain the algorithms they use to recommend certain advertising content based on user profiles.

Very large platforms and search engines must offer a content recommendation system that is not based on profiling and provide the public with a register of advertisements containing various types of information.

Targeted advertising to minors will be banned on all platforms, as will advertising based on sensitive data such as political opinions, religion, or sexual orientation (unless explicit consent is given).

Deceptive interfaces known as “user traps” and practices designed to mislead users are prohibited.

Services concerned

The services concerned are the very large platforms designated by the European Commission on April 25, 2023, on the basis of the user data they were required to publish.

In addition, they include Internet service providers, cloud computing services, online platforms such as marketplaces, app stores, social networks, content sharing platforms, travel and accommodation platforms and very large online platforms and search engines, used by over 45 million Europeans per month, designated by the European Commission.

The nineteen biggest social networks, marketplaces and other Internet search engines (AliExpress, Amazon Store, AppStore, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Microsoft Bing, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Wikipedia, X – formerly Twitter -, YouTube, Zalando) must comply with this European legislation on digital services, forcing them to better regulate their content.

Objectives of the DSA

The overall intention of the DSA is to make digital platforms more accountable and combat the distribution of illegal or harmful content, better protect European Internet users and their fundamental rights, help small businesses to develop, strengthen democratic control and oversight of very large platforms, and mitigate their systemic risks.

The legislation on digital services aims to put into practice the principle that what is illegal offline is illegal online.

The regulation lays down a set of rules to make digital platforms more accountable and combat the dissemination of illicit or harmful content or illegal products: racist attacks, child pornography images, disinformation, the sale of drugs or counterfeit goods.

DSA measures

Online platforms must offer Internet users a tool that makes it easy to report illegal content.

Platforms must set up an internal complaint handling system, explain how their algorithms work and prohibit targeted advertising to minors.

They must also analyze every year the systemic risks they generate (on online hate and violence, fundamental rights, civic discourse, electoral processes, public health, etc.) and take the necessary measures to mitigate them.

These platforms will also be required to carry out independent risk reduction audits every year, under the supervision of the European Commission.

Sanctions

The 27 coordinators (from the member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the DSA regulation in their countries, and for receiving complaints against online intermediaries.

They will cooperate within a “European Digital Services Committee”, which will provide analyses, conduct joint investigations in several countries and issue recommendations on the application of the new regulation.

In particular, the committee will recommend that the Commission activate the crisis response mechanism.

The very large online platforms and search engines will be monitored by the European Commission.

To finance this monitoring, they will be charged a “supervision fee” of up to 0.05% of their annual worldwide sales.

Failure to comply with the DSA may result in penalty payments and sanctions.

For very large platforms and search engines, the Commission may impose fines of up to 6% of their worldwide sales.

In the event of serious and repeated breaches of the regulation, platforms could be banned from operating on the European market.

The European legislation on digital services, which aims to create a safe and responsible online environment, came into force on 16 November 2022.

It applies to all digital services that connect consumers to goods, services or content.

It creates new obligations for online platforms to reduce damages and tackle online risks, introduces strong protections for online users’ rights and places digital platforms in a new single framework for transparency and responsibility.

Designed as a single, uniform set of rules for the EU, they will provide new protections for users and legal certainty for businesses throughout the single market.

The digital services legislation is a pioneering regulatory toolkit on a global scale and sets an international benchmark for a regulatory approach to online intermediaries.

The Digital Services legislation introduces a comprehensive new set of rules for online intermediary services on how they should design their services and procedures.

The new rules include new responsibilities to limit the distribution of illegal content and products online, to strengthen the protection of minors, to give users more choice and to improve information.

The obligations of the different online actors correspond to their role, size and impact in the online ecosystem.

All online intermediaries will have to comply with extensive new transparency obligations to increase accountability and control, for example a new reporting mechanism for illegal content.

A special regime is foreseen for platforms with more than 45 million users.

For these very large online platforms or search engines, additional obligations apply, including thorough annual assessments of the risks of online harm to their services, for example in relation to exposure to illegal goods or content or the spread of misinformation.

As part of the legislation on digital services, appropriate risk mitigation measures will need to be put in place and subject to independent audit of their services and mitigation measures.

Smaller platforms and start-ups will benefit from a reduced set of obligations, special derogations from certain rules and greater clarity and legal certainty, which is essential for the whole EU single market.

The new rules also protect the fundamental rights of users in the EU online environment.

New freedom of expression protections will limit arbitrary content moderation decisions by platforms and provide users with new means to take informed action against the platform when their content is moderated : for example, users of online platforms will now have multiple ways to challenge content moderation decisions, including when these decisions are based on the platforms’ terms and conditions.

Users can lodge a complaint directly with the platform, choose an alternative dispute resolution body, or seek reparation in court.

The new rules also require that platforms’ terms and conditions are presented in a clear and concise manner and respect users’ fundamental rights.

Very large online platforms and search engines will also have to carry out a full risk assessment of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, protection of personal data, freedom and pluralism of online media and the rights of the child.

The digital services legislation creates an unprecedented level of public control of online platforms across the Union, both at national and EU level.

The Commission has the power to directly monitor very large online platforms and search engines, which individually affect more than 10% of the EU’s population, or around 45 million people.

In addition, each Member State will have to appoint a Digital Services Coordinator, who will oversee other entities falling within the scope of the digital services legislation as well as very large online platforms and search engines on non-systemic issues.

The national coordinators and the European Commission will cooperate through a European Digital Services Committee.

This EU-wide cooperation mechanism will be set up between the Commission’s national regulators.

The Commission is setting up a European Centre for Algorithm Transparency (ECAT) to support its supervisory rôle with internal and external multidisciplinary expertise.

Following the entry into force of the digital services legislation, online platforms will have 3 months to report the number of active end-users (17 February 2023) on their websites.

The Commission also invites all online platforms to notify it of the published numbers.

On the basis of these user numbers, the Commission will assess whether a platform should be designated as a very large online platform or a very large search engine.

EU Member States will have to empower their digital services coordinators by 17 February 2024, the general date of application of the digital services legislation, which will then be fully applicable to all entities falling within its scope.

Rising interest rates are squeezing buyers’ budgets as they try to bring prices down.

The party is over.

The post-Covid boom, which saw house prices soar from record to record, is behind us. The rise in the cost of property loans from an average of 1% over twenty years in January to 2.2% today) and the climate of anxiety (war in Ukraine, inflation, fears of recession, etc.) have brought down the euphoria that has reigned for the past two years.

And if the need for housing remains a powerful spring, sales are no longer made in a snap of the fingers. Agencies have stock, sales times are getting longer and negotiations are once again difficult between buyers and sellers. We are no longer in a situation where buyers have to hurry. Today, negotiations are taking place everywhere.

Of course, the figures do not yet reflect this phenomenon. In September, over one year, the value of flats rose by 4% (+8.2% for houses), according to the French notaries .

The preliminary sales agreements signed in the autumn point to almost identical increases in January (4% for flats, 7% for houses). 1,133,000 homes changed from January to the end of September, not far from the record of 1,20. 000 in 2021.

However, since the autumn, the tone has changed. In Paris and Lyon, negotiations in relation to the posted price are frequently of the order of 3 to 5%. This phenomenon can also be seen in medium-sized cities that had benefited fully from the French people’s desire for space during the Covid.

Negotiations were rare.

They are coming back. The euphoria also seems to have subsided for second homes inland, a few dozen kilometres from the coast.

We are no longer in the situation where people were buying houses in villages they knew nothing about six months earlier. Prices have to adjust. The rise in interest rates has a direct impact on the amount of money households  can afford to pay.

With a constant monthly payment, the current increase in the cost of credit is almost equivalent to 10% less purchasing capacity. Banks are lending less, but buyers have the same project. In order not to lose space, they are negotiating more.

After years of increases, the average property purchasing power calculated according to market prices and the borrowing capacity of buyers – has fallen from 84m2 to 80m2 between 2021 and 2022, according to the “Notaires de FRANCE”.

The difficulties of access linked to the usury rate (the maximum rate at which banks can lend) are also forcing buyers who have little money to borrow less.  But the cost of credit or access to it are not the only factors responsible for the return of negotiations. The constraints that weigh on the most energy-intensive housing, rated f or g on the energy label, are now well taken into account in the price.

This is understandable. From 2023 onwards, the worst thermal flats will be banned from being rented. In 2025, it will be the turn of all G properties, and then, in 2028, F properties.

These discussions are particularly strong for houses, where, unlike flats, all expenses are borne by one owner.