On Tuesday, the office for the protection of residential premises checked private rental accommodation in the Pigalle district.
Private rental activity is on the rise again with the recovery in tourism since March.
The agents in charge of these controls fear an explosion in the use of Airbnb-type platforms, as the Paris 2024 Olympics approach.
“You come to cop us, right?
On the intercom, a neighbor, suspicious, refuses to open the door.
Insistent, Marlène finally manages to enter, followed by Corinne, her colleague controller of changes of use.
The three women knock on every door, on every floor.
"Agents of the City of Paris, we are here to talk about private rental accommodation, of the Airbnb type", warns Marlène, taking out her swearing-in card.
This Tuesday, eight pairs of public officers from the Residential Premises Protection Bureau are launching an operation to control private rental accommodation.
"At the moment, we are seeing a strong recovery in activity," says Amandine, the Office's study project manager.
Since March, every month, we have had 3,000 new requests for housing registration.
After a halt in controls during the health crisis, the first control campaign begins, near Pigalle.
The agents particularly monitor the tourist districts, around Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower, as well as the first four arrondissements.
The checks consist of verifying that the owners have registered their accommodation with the town hall, and that they do not rent their main residence for more than 120 days a year.
The regulations differ for secondary accommodation.
To rent them out, the owner must pay financial compensation because "they withdraw housing from the housing stock to make it a commercial property", explains Alice Veyrié, deputy director of housing for the City of Paris.
Many homeowners try to avoid it.
Field controls
A man, half awake, in baggy clothes that suggest pajamas, opens the door.
"It smells like a tourist," says Marlène.
At the explanations of the controllers, he frowns and answers in English.
Marlène and Corinne spotted a suspicious ad on Airbnb, which showed an abnormally high number of nights reserved for a main residence.
On site, she looks for evidence that the owner does not live there to build a legal case.
The three colleagues move on to rue des Martyrs, to check another accommodation.
They meet the building manager, who has come to repair a water leak in an apartment.
The one they come to control.
“The Airbnb tenants have just left,” they explain to him.
Annoyed, the manager rails against the owner.
"I won't even be able to reach him, he lives in Brazil," he blurted out during the discussion.
This is the confirmation she was waiting for.
Enough to start legal proceedings.
Anticipating the 2024 Paris Olympics
“We are really blocked by the need to prove that the apartment was already used as a home in 1970, says Amandine.
Many forms cannot be found, or are incorrectly filled out.
The Residential Premises Protection Bureau would like a range, between 1970 and 1990, to be granted.
A request already formulated with several amendments but "always rejected, in particular because the presidential majority is against", according to Amandine.
With the new composition of the National Assembly, she believes that "it's time to try again".
Especially since the service anticipates an explosion in the use of private rental platforms as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games approach. she.
As the Games take place during the summer, many Parisians might be tempted to rent out their accommodation during their holidays.
“We are thinking about creating a service, which would go through the Paris City Hall, to support this,” she adds, arguing that the city of Tokyo had put this in place for the 2024 Olympics. But it is not yet. what project.
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