Short-term rental registration number: the 2026 owner's guide
Since the Loi Le Meur, the registration number is no longer a formality reserved for big cities. In 2026 it becomes the cornerstone of any compliant short-term rental. Here is what you, as a property owner, absolutely need to know to let with peace of mind.
Who needs a registration number in 2026?
The law of 19 November 2024 extended mandatory declaration-with-registration to every commune that opts in, via a national online service rolled out in 2026. In practice, any town can now require prior registration to let a furnished tourist rental, whether a primary or secondary residence. Across the Alps, as in Lyon or Annecy, nearly all resorts and high-demand zones already enforce it. For a primary residence, registration comes with the 90-night annual cap. For a secondary residence in a high-demand zone, you usually also need a change-of-use authorisation, sometimes subject to compensation. First rule: check your commune's exact regime before publishing anything, because obligations vary widely from one area to another.
The step-by-step procedure
The process is online, through your commune's service or the national platform. Have ready your exact address, the property's identification number (cadastral or tax reference), your occupancy status and the floor area. You instantly receive a thirteen-digit registration number, valid for that specific property. This number must appear on every listing — Airbnb, Booking or otherwise. In high-demand zones, and for a secondary residence, plan the change-of-use request to the town hall well ahead: processing takes several weeks and conditions the validity of your rental. Keep your supporting documents safe: in the event of a check, a missing or incorrect number is enough to trigger liability. Anticipate — the summer high season won't wait for administrative processing to finish.
Display, checks and penalties
The registration number must appear visibly on all your listings. Since 2025, platforms are required to verify it, remove non-compliant listings and report the number of nights let to communes. Cross-checking data makes any breach of the 90-night cap instantly detectable. Penalties are deterrent: up to €10,000 in civil fines for failure to register, up to €20,000 for a false declaration or a proven cap breach, on top of change-of-use fines. Beyond the financial risk, a listing delisted in peak season is pure lost revenue. Compliance is therefore not just a legal duty: it is a condition for the durability of your rental activity and the value of your property.
How SmartStay secures your compliance
Handling these obligations alone quickly becomes time-consuming and risky. At SmartStay, regulatory compliance is built into our service. We identify the regime that applies to your commune, carry out the registration, follow any change-of-use request and ensure the number is correctly displayed on every platform. Our system counts nights in real time and automatically blocks the calendar as the legal cap approaches, preventing any breach. Each month you receive clear reporting that includes compliance tracking. The result: you let with complete peace of mind, free from the fear of a check or a delisting, while we optimise your revenue across the authorised windows. Regulation becomes a managed framework rather than a source of worry.
Check your property's compliance →