The Constitutional Council validates the "anti-squat" law, with the exception of an article

The "Wise Men" have only censured article 7 which releases the owner of a squatted property from his maintenance obligation and exempts him in the event of damage resulting from a lack of maintenance.

Under this article, a victim should indeed seek to obtain compensation only against the squatter occupant, "who does not present the same guarantees as the owner, in particular in terms of insurance", notes the Council in its decision.

The presidents of the LFI, Socialists and Democratic and Republican Left groups (Nupes left alliance) had seized the Constitutional Council to obtain censorship of the law "aiming to protect housing against illegal occupation" of deputy Guillaume Kasbarian (Renaissance, presidential party), adopted in Parliament on June 14.

The text, which triples the penalties incurred by squatters – up to three years in prison and a fine of 45.000 euros – will be able to come into force once promulgated, excluding article 7.

It "will be promulgated by President Emmanuel Macron in a few days", wrote Mr. Kasbarian on Twitter, renamed "X".

The Council validated the new offense punishing with a maximum fine of 3.750 euros "propaganda or advertising" in favor of methods facilitating or encouraging the violation of a home. The left felt that its "unclear" wording could undermine the "freedom of expression" of associations which publish guides for the poorly housed.

Under this new law, can be considered as "domiciles" all residential premises containing movable property, including secondary residences. On this point, the Constitutional Council introduces a “reservation of interpretation”, specifying that it “will be up to the judge to assess whether the presence of this furniture makes it possible to consider” that the person “has the right to call himself at home there”.

The text increases the penalties to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45.000 euros against people posing as owners in order to rent property that does not belong to them.

For unpaid rent, the text speeds up legal proceedings in rental disputes, and in particular systematically includes in lease contracts a "automatic termination clause".

In a statement to AFP, the National Real Estate Federation (Fnaim) welcomed a "rebalancing of rights and duties between tenants and owners" which "can only have a beneficial effect in a context of growing tension on the rental market".

The association for the defense of the homeless Right to Housing estimated for its part that the text reinforced "the right of ownership and that of leaving one's property vacant, to the detriment of the right to housing which every human being should benefit from in order to be protected".