In Saint-Malo, housing remains a battle despite the ramparts against Airbnb.

"From the beginning of our term in 2020, we wanted to regulate a very strong inflation of short-term rentals" when "entire buildings" were being converted into tourist accommodations, explains Mayor (DVD) Gilles Lurton, candidate for re-election in the March municipal elections, to AFP.

In 2021, it implemented one of the strictest regulations in France. The seaside resort imposed mandatory registration for renting to tourists and limited this activity to only one property per owner.

In addition, it sets quotas by geographical area. Thus, in the famous ramparts district, only 12,5% ​​of dwellings can become tourist rentals.

Challenged in court by property owners, the measure was validated by the administrative court in 2024.

It inspired the "Le Meur law" which has regulated tourist accommodation at the national level since last year, boasts Mr. Lurton.

Is it a success? "It has stabilized the situation. Without it, the increase would have been very sharp," the mayor believes, while acknowledging that he cannot quantify the number of homes returned to permanent housing.

"I don't have any more properties to rent out on a yearly basis today," says Jérôme Lebrun, manager of a large real estate firm in Saint-Malo and president of the Fnaim chamber for Brittany.

He points to the "pernicious effect" of a regulation that has "penalized everyone a little", especially owners "who rented to cover their expenses", as well as the seasonal rental ecosystem which "has taken a hit".

Nationally, Airbnb maintains that it has "not observed any significant recent changes in the volume of listings" since the Le Meur law. The platform acknowledges, however, that "quotas by neighborhood are a suitable solution" for cities like Saint-Malo.

"A very fragile balance"

A fishmonger for thirty years in the fortified historic center and a pillar of the merchants' association, Claire Guinemer denounces the "negative impact" of the regulation.

"With the quotas, business dropped almost immediately," she said. "I'm a local business, and people who rent Airbnbs are always very good customers," she said, echoing other shopkeepers in the neighboring market.

"We couldn't survive year-round" without this tourist clientele. "We must be careful when legislating not to break this very fragile balance," she warns.

The fishmonger, who herself lives in the old town, asserts that many furnished apartments not having received municipal approval, often secondary residences, "remain empty" for a large part of the year.

There is no longer a butcher shop in the historic center, no post office, and "out of five pharmacies, only one remains," notes 92-year-old Simone Josselin. A resident since 1957, she is now the only permanent occupant of her small building.

Christian Bertheau, 75, a permanent resident, laments a "city that is emptying out" and where too many shutters remain closed. In his building, "five or six" of the eight apartments are Airbnb rentals, he says, adding that he doesn't experience any disturbances, one of the reasons that prompted the city to regulate them.

"But we suffer because it's empty" all week in winter and the shops are disappearing, he quickly adds. This issue, "the candidates in the municipal elections will have to address. It will factor into the vote," he believes.

For Véronique Descamps, a pioneer in the fight against Airbnb who succeeded in banning short-term rentals in her building after years of legal proceedings, housing must be at the heart of the municipal election campaign.

"Saint-Malo must remain a city to live in," insists the hairdresser, refusing a transformation "for the benefit of those who do not live there" and comparing the situation to that of Venice.

The municipality decided at the end of 2025 to amend its local urban development plan to prohibit any construction intended for a secondary residence in new or redeveloped areas.

Currently, "when you build 500 homes, about 300 are not used to house permanent residents," notes Mayor Gilles Lurton.