France’s 2026 Finance Act (loi de finances pour 2026) will replace the country’s two existing vacant-housing levies — the annual tax on vacant housing and the housing tax on vacant housing — with a single tax on vacant residential properties, French outlet Entrevue reported. The change applies to taxes assessed from 2027 onward.
In municipalities officially classified as high-tension housing markets, the base rate is fixed at 17% for the first year of taxation and 34% from the second year, but municipalities have discretion to raise those rates — up to 30% in year one and as high as 60% from year two onward. Municipalities outside the high-tension zones may also introduce the tax, at a rate of up to 50%.
The tax is calculated on a property’s cadastral rental value — the theoretical rental income set by French tax authorities — rather than its actual market rent. Entrevue gave the example of a property with an annual cadastral rental value of €10,000: at a municipality’s maximum 60% rate, that would generate a €6,000 annual tax bill from the second year of taxation. Liability falls on the owner, the usufructuary, or certain other holders of real rights over the property.
Vacancy thresholds differ by area: in high-tension zones, a property becomes taxable once it has been vacant for at least one year as of January 1 of the tax year; elsewhere, the minimum is two years. Exemptions apply to properties occupied more than 90 consecutive days during the reference period, or left vacant for reasons beyond the owner’s control — such as active efforts to rent or sell the property, or major renovation work that makes it temporarily uninhabitable. Entrevue said the practical impact will depend on how many municipalities actually choose to apply the maximum rate, a question the reform leaves open.
References
Entrevue – Logements vacants : la taxe pourra grimper jusqu’à 60 % à partir de 2027
