“I own a villa in the south of France and let it to holiday guests: do I need a registration number?” It is one of the questions we hear most from owners who live abroad. In short: yes, in France every holiday let is moving towards a registration number, to be shown on every listing. Here is what it is, where things stand and what we do for you, from the official sources.
What is a registration number?
In French law, a villa let furnished to guests who are passing through, without making it their home, is a meublé de tourisme (a tourist furnished let). Each one is declared in advance, and the declaration gives a registration number (numéro d’enregistrement). One number per villa: an owner of two villas obtains two. It must appear on every listing, including on platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo (Service-Public, in French).
It is not a permit. Having a number does not replace other rules, such as the change-of-use authorisation some communes require. If you are unsure about the term itself, our article on tourist furnished lets and seasonal lets explains it.
Do not confuse it with:
- The declaration at the town hall (mairie). In communes without a registration procedure, it is made on a form (Cerfa no. 14004) and does not give a registration number. It is due to disappear as registration becomes general.
- The local number, issued by some communes, of 13 characters.
- The national number, which the State’s online service will issue. Its format is still being defined: the letters FRA, the commune’s Insee code, then a random part.
- The Siret and the star rating. The Siret, issued by the French statistics office, identifies the letting party for the tax authorities. The star rating is voluntary, explained in our article on the star rating. Neither replaces the registration number.
When does the national service open?
The French law of 19 November 2024 (the “Le Meur law”) extends registration to every commune, through one national online service, by 20 May 2026 at the latest. That date has passed without the service opening: the authority in charge, the Directorate-General for Enterprises (DGE), now announces the fourth quarter of 2026 (DGE, in French).
Alongside, a European regulation applies since 20 May 2026: where a country sets up registration, platforms must display the number and check it.
As of 3 October 2026, the national service is not open. Until it is, the commune’s own rules apply: the registration procedure where there is one, otherwise the declaration at the town hall. Once the service is open, registration will be compulsory in every commune and will no longer go through the town hall. Owners who already hold a local number will have several months to renew it (Service-Public, in French); after that, old numbers will cease to be valid.
Until the DGE publishes the address of the service, be wary of websites promising the national number: it does not exist yet.
What will the declaration ask for?
The declaration will cover the villa’s exact address, its type, its number of beds, whether it is a main home, any change-of-use authorisation, and the identity and contact details of the person letting it. Supporting documents will be required; the list is still being settled. The DGE mentions an identity document and, for a main home, the tax notice. The number is issued as soon as the file is complete. The commune then checks the documents and may ask for more, and if need be suspend or withdraw the number. The owner updates the declaration with every change.
Whose name does the number carry?
The law provides that the person letting the property makes the declaration in person: the number is the owner’s, declared in the owner’s name. An intermediary, for its part, must inform the owner of the steps to take and obtain a sworn statement before publishing a listing.
We work within that framework. Under a mandate, we already file the villa’s declaration at the town hall, and we collect the tourist tax (taxe de séjour) from our guests and pay it over. For national registration, we prepare the file with you and gather the documents; the number is then added to each of your listings, on our website and on the platforms. To see who may act for an owner in France, read our article on the carte G.
What if a listing has no number?
Where the number is compulsory, a listing without it can be removed: platforms must display and check it, and the authorities can ask for non-compliant listings to be taken down. For national registration, the law also provides an administrative fine, imposed by the commune, which may reach €10,000 for failing to register and €20,000 for a false declaration or a false number.
In Agde, Béziers and Sérignan
Agde. For a tourist furnished let, the commune’s platform points to filing the Cerfa form at the town hall, and describes national registration as postponed to the last quarter of 2026.
Béziers and Sérignan. The tourist office of the Béziers Méditerranée area, to which both communes belong, points to the town hall declaration by Cerfa no. 14004.
Each town hall remains the reference for its own procedure. Our pages for Agde, Béziers and Sérignan bring together the steps specific to each commune. Registration is one item among others in the yearly routine: see our tax calendar and our note on the energy rating (DPE).
Join our collection
Each villa in our collection is chosen one by one. Villa Camarines, Villa Juxta Maré and Villa Andria give the spirit. If your villa shares that standard, you are welcome to join our collection. Each villa is studied personally; we then discover it with you on site, with nothing for you to prepare. Entrusting your villa to a property manager sets out the steps, and our guide to renting out your villa in France gives the overall picture.
Information checked on 3 October 2026. This article will be updated when the national service opens.
