Bordeaux STR Rules

Bordeaux wine city enforces France's STR framework with registration requirements. Secondary residences require change-of-use permits; primary residences are capped at 120 nights/year with mandatory registration.

Bordeaux Short-Term Rental Market Overview

Bordeaux, the world-renowned wine capital of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, has become one of France's most competitive short-term rental markets, drawing investors attracted by its UNESCO World Heritage designation, booming wine tourism, and strong year-round demand. However, Bordeaux Airbnb laws have grown increasingly restrictive as the city grapples with housing affordability pressures that have intensified since the mid-2010s. The city sits firmly in the restricted category under France's national STR framework, meaning investors must carefully structure their strategies before committing capital.

France's foundational STR legislation — notably Law No. 2018-1021 (the ELAN Act) — gave municipalities like Bordeaux powerful tools to regulate short-term rentals. Bordeaux has fully leveraged these powers, requiring mandatory registration for all STR listings and imposing a hard 120-night-per-year cap on primary residences. Secondary residences face an even steeper hurdle: operators must obtain a formal changement d'usage (change-of-use) permit before listing commercially, a process that is deliberately difficult to navigate in high-demand central arrondissements.

Recent Regulatory Shifts

As of 2024–2025, Bordeaux has intensified its enforcement posture, aligning with broader French national reforms that require Airbnb and VRBO to automatically deactivate listings that exceed the 120-night annual cap for primary residences. The city updated its registration portal and cross-references platform data with municipal records. Investors evaluating STR regulations in Bordeaux must factor in that the political climate strongly favors further restriction, with city council proposals circulating to reduce compensatory quotas in the most tourist-dense neighborhoods near the Garonne riverfront.

A is required to legally operate a short-term rental in Bordeaux. The annual cost is $.

How to Obtain a Bordeaux Short-Term Rental Permit

1. Determine Your Property Classification (Week 1): Establish whether the property is your primary residence (your main home for at least 8 months/year) or a secondary residence. This single distinction defines your entire regulatory pathway. Primary residence hosts face the 120-night cap but a simpler process; secondary residence investors require a change-of-use permit.
2. Obtain a Registration Number (Week 1–2): All operators — regardless of property type — must register via the Bordeaux Métropole online portal or at the Hôtel de Ville. Registration is mandatory before publishing any listing. The fee is nominal (typically €0–€30), but failure to display the registration number on all listings triggers immediate fines. Allow 5–10 business days for the number to be issued.
3. Apply for Change-of-Use Permit (Secondary Residences Only — 1–6 Months): Submit a demande d'autorisation de changement d'usage to the Direction de l'Urbanisme. Required documents include: proof of ownership (titre de propriété), a current floor plan, co-ownership rules (règlement de copropriété) confirming STR is permitted, and a completed Cerfa form. Approval timelines vary from 4 weeks to 6 months depending on the arrondissement and quota availability.
4. Collect and Remit the Taxe de Séjour (Ongoing): Register with Bordeaux Métropole's tourist tax system. As of 2025, the taxe de séjour for furnished tourist accommodations ranges from approximately €0.70 to €4.20 per person per night depending on property classification. Platforms like Airbnb collect this automatically, but owners renting via direct booking must remit quarterly.
5. Annual Renewal and Reporting: Registration must be renewed annually. Primary residence hosts should maintain a night log; platforms will auto-suspend listings at 120 nights. Pro tip: keep copies of all guest correspondence and payment records for at least 3 years — tax authorities and city inspectors can request audit trails retroactively.

Bordeaux currently has minimal active STR enforcement. However, regulations can change — always maintain compliance.

Bordeaux enforces its STR regulations with growing vigor, and investors should treat compliance as a non-negotiable operating cost rather than an optional formality. The city employs dedicated housing inspectors (agents assermentés) who actively monitor major platforms for listings lacking valid registration numbers. Fines for operating without a registration number start at €450 per infraction and can reach €5,000 for repeat offenses or willful non-compliance.

For secondary residence operators running an unlicensed change-of-use operation, penalties are far more severe. French law allows courts to impose fines of up to €50,000 per unit and mandate the property be returned to long-term residential use — a catastrophic outcome for investors. The city also has the authority to compel operators to provide compensatory housing (compensation en nature), requiring the conversion of equivalent commercial space to residential use at the investor's expense.

Platform cooperation is now deeply embedded in enforcement. Under French law, Airbnb and VRBO are legally required to share host data with municipalities upon request and to automatically deactivate primary residence listings that hit the 120-night annual threshold. Neighbors and tenant associations (particularly in the dense Saint-Michel, Chartrons, and Victoire neighborhoods) are highly active in reporting suspicious commercial activity, often through the city's anonymous complaint portal. HOA management boards (syndics) also routinely flag non-compliant units to municipal authorities. Investors should assume that any unlisted or mis-registered property in central Bordeaux will be identified within one to two rental seasons.

Why Investors Target — and Avoid — Bordeaux

Bordeaux commands strong short-term rental demand driven by wine tourism (Cité du Vin draws 400,000+ visitors annually), business travel to a growing tech corridor, and European city-break tourism. Average daily rates in prime neighborhoods like the Triangle d'Or and Chartrons range from €120 to €280/night, generating attractive gross yields for compliant operators. However, the change-of-use permit bottleneck for secondary residences is a genuine barrier to entry. Investors purchasing specifically to operate a second-home STR in a high-demand zone may find permit quotas exhausted in their target arrondissement, effectively stranding capital in a property that cannot legally be listed. The risk-adjusted return calculation for Bordeaux short-term rental investment requires conservative underwriting that accounts for possible denial of change-of-use approval.

Tax Obligations for STR Investors in Bordeaux

French tax obligations for STR income are layered and consequential. Rental income from furnished tourist lettings (meublés de tourisme) is classified under the Bénéfices Industriels et Commerciaux (BIC) regime. Under the micro-BIC regime, hosts with annual gross receipts below €77,700 receive a 50% flat abatement; revenues above this threshold fall under the régime réel, allowing deduction of actual expenses. Non-EU investors face additional withholding requirements and should engage a French expert-comptable. The taxe de séjour (collected per guest per night) adds an operational layer, even when platforms remit on your behalf. Altogether, effective tax rates on net STR income can reach 30–45% when social charges are included.

HOA and Condominium Considerations

Bordeaux's historic building stock means most investment-grade properties are governed by co-ownership rules (règlement de copropriété). A significant share of copropriétés in central Bordeaux include clauses restricting commercial or touristic use — and courts have consistently upheld these restrictions against STR operators. Before any acquisition, investors must obtain and review the full règlement de copropriété and the last three years of assemblée générale minutes. Any ambiguity should be resolved with a French notaire before signing the compromis de vente. Attempting to amend a restrictive co-ownership clause requires a supermajority vote of all co-owners — practically impossible in most buildings.

Nearby Market Alternatives

Investors unable to secure Bordeaux change-of-use permits have several viable alternatives within the region. Arcachon and the Cap Ferret peninsula (40–60 minutes from Bordeaux) operate under looser STR frameworks and benefit from strong seasonal beach and oyster-tourism demand, with peak-season daily rates often exceeding Bordeaux. Saint-Émilion, while a smaller market, serves ultra-premium wine tourism with limited supply of compliant STR properties. Within Bordeaux Métropole itself, suburban communes like Mérignac and Pessac may offer less saturated change-of-use quota availability while still capturing airport and university demand.

• Run a quota check before making an offer: Contact the Direction de l'Urbanisme to verify whether change-of-use permits (autorisation de changement d'usage) are still available in your target arrondissement. In popular neighborhoods, quotas can be fully allocated — making the property legally unlettable as a secondary-residence STR regardless of your investment.
• Budget €3,000–€8,000 for the permit and legal process: Between notaire fees for reviewing the co-ownership docs, an urbanisme lawyer to prepare and submit your changement d'usage dossier, and registration fees, a compliant secondary-residence STR launch in Bordeaux requires meaningful upfront legal spend — model this into your acquisition pro forma.
• Never list without your registration number displayed: The €450–€5,000 fine for missing registration numbers is the easiest enforcement action the city takes. Registration costs almost nothing and takes days — there is no financial justification for skipping this step.
• Model the 120-night cap conservatively for primary residences: If structuring a primary-residence STR, build your financial model around 100 nights maximum to create a compliance buffer. Platforms auto-suspend at 120 nights with no grace period — hitting the cap in October leaves two peak shoulder-season months unlisted.
• Engage a French expert-comptable specializing in meublé tourisme: The BIC tax regime and social charge structure for STR income is complex enough that a specialist accountant typically saves 2–3x their annual fee in optimized deductions. Fees run approximately €800–€2,000/year for a straightforward STR operation.
• Review the règlement de copropriété before the compromis de vente: Restrictive co-ownership clauses are the single most common deal-killer for Bordeaux STR investors. Pay a notaire €300–€500 to review the full document and provide a written opinion before you are contractually committed to the purchase.
• Consider Arcachon or Cap Ferret for a better risk-adjusted return: If the Bordeaux change-of-use process proves unworkable in your target zone, the Bassin d'Arcachon market offers strong seasonal demand, fewer permit obstacles, and acquisition prices that — while rising — remain below central Bordeaux for comparable income-generating properties.
• Monitor French national STR reform legislation actively: France's parliament has signaled intent to give municipalities even broader powers to restrict STRs, potentially lowering the 120-night national cap. Investors with 5–10 year hold horizons should stress-test their models against a 60- or 90-night primary residence scenario.