Short-Term Rental Registration Number: 2025 Guide

1 – Who Needs to Obtain a Registration Number and Why

The registration number is not an option reserved for large cities. Its scope is expanding, and many managers discover too late that they are affected. Here is what you need to know.

1.1: The Legal Framework, Straight to the Point

The requirement to register a short-term rental property with the local town hall has been in place since the ALUR Act (2014) and was strengthened by the ELAN Act (2018). The Le Meur Act, passed at the end of 2024, goes further: it makes registration mandatory across the entire country, including in municipalities that had not previously implemented it.

In practical terms, any property offered for short-term rental (furnished tourist accommodation) must be declared to the local town hall to obtain a unique registration number. This number must be displayed on every listing published, regardless of the platform.

Previously, some municipalities did not require anything. That is no longer the case. The national online procedure, established by decree, standardizes the process. There are no more excuses like "my town doesn't have a form." To fully understand all the obligations resulting from this law, you can check out our complete guide to the 2026 Le Meur Act: obligations, fines, and compliance checklist.

1.2: Primary Residence, Secondary Residence: The Rules Are Not the Same

Once you have the number, it must appear on every online listing. Not in the fine print of the description, but in the dedicated field provided by the platform.

Airbnb, Booking, and Abritel each have a specific field for the registration number. On Airbnb, you enter it in the listing settings under the "Local laws" section. On Booking, it’s in the "Compliance" tab of your extranet dashboard. On Abritel, it’s the same process, located in the property's legal information.

The trap when managing 30 properties across 3 platforms is forgetting a number on just one listing. Or worse, copy-pasting the wrong number onto the wrong property. It happens more often than you’d think.

This is exactly the type of repetitive, high-risk task that a centralized PMS handles for you. With Biloki, each property’s registration number is entered just once. It then automatically propagates to all connected platforms via the channel manager. No re-entry, no oversights.

1.3: What It Costs to Be Non-Compliant

Let's talk numbers, because this is where it hurts. Renting without a registration number: up to €10,000 fine per property. False or invalid number: same penalty. Exceeding the 120-day cap (or 90 days depending on the municipality): up to €15,000. For platforms that publish listings without a valid number: up to €50,000 per listing. That last point changes everything. Airbnb, Booking and Abritel don't want to pay. As a result, they are starting to automatically suspend non-compliant listings. Not a warning email. A suspension. In the middle of the season, on a property at €150 per night, one week of suspension costs you more than €1,000. And you lose your position in the platform's algorithm. A manager in Montpellier told us they lost three weeks of visibility on Booking after a suspension for a missing number. By the time they regularised, the high season was over. This kind of scenario is becoming more and more common.

2 – How to Obtain the Registration Number, Step by Step

The procedure is being standardised at the national level. But depending on your municipality, you may still encounter variations. Here is the common framework and the key points to watch out for.

2.1: The National Online Procedure and Town Hall Processes

The implementing decree of the Le Meur law provides for a single online procedure accessible via a national portal. The objective: an online form, a number automatically issued after verification, valid throughout the entire territory. While waiting for full deployment (planned during 2025), the process often remains local. You submit a file to the town hall of the municipality where the property is located. The CERFA 14004 form is the reference document for declaring furnished tourist accommodation. Documents generally required: declarant's identity, property address, status (primary or secondary residence), number of rooms and capacity, planned rental periods. Some town halls add additional documents: proof of insurance, energy performance certificate (the EPC becomes a criterion under the Le Meur law), proof of address. Practical tip: when you manage multiple properties in different municipalities, prepare a standard file with all possible documents. This saves you from redoing the work each time. And keep a copy of every receipt. It is your proof of compliance in the event of an inspection.

2.2: Where to Display the Number and How to Submit It to Platforms

Once you have the number, it must appear on every online listing. Not in the fine print of the description, but in the dedicated field provided by the platform.

2.3: EPC, Classification and New Requirements Linked to Registration

The Le Meur law does more than just mandate a registration number. It progressively ties the ability to rent out a property to energy performance standards.

Starting in 2034 (with a phased schedule depending on the category), short-term rentals will be required to have a minimum energy performance rating (DPE) of class D to be eligible for rent. Properties rated F or G will be prohibited from short-term rental before this deadline, according to a schedule yet to be defined by decree.

The DPE is already a required document for registration in an increasing number of municipalities, and platforms are beginning to display it on listings.

For property managers, this means one thing: plan ahead. If you have properties in your portfolio rated E or below, you need to discuss this with the owners now—not in two years when the listing gets blocked.

While the star-rating system for furnished tourist accommodation remains voluntary, it offers tax benefits for the owner. If you want to stand out and attract more travelers, it is a practical tool. Our article on 5 strategies to capture tourist demand in France details how perceived quality directly impacts occupancy rates.

3 – Managing Compliance on a Daily Basis When You Have a Property Portfolio

Obtaining the number is one step. Keeping it valid, tracking renewals, and proving your compliance in the event of an inspection — that is the real operational challenge.

3.1: The Multi-Property Tracking Headache

A manager with 40 properties spread across 3 municipalities potentially faces 3 different procedures, 40 numbers to track, separate validity dates, and local obligations that vary (change of use required here, not there). The Excel spreadsheet reflex doesn't hold up. An expired number goes unnoticed. A property added to the portfolio mid-year misses registration. A landlord changes their tax status and doesn't inform you. The risk is not theoretical. Inspections are increasingly carried out through automatic cross-referencing between platform data and municipal records. If your number doesn't match, or if it has expired, the platform receives an alert. And the listing gets taken down. The only reliable way to manage this is to have a centralised system that stores each number, its validity date, the associated municipality, and alerts you before expiry. That is what Biloki does in each property's file, with automatic alerts.

3.2: What Inspections Actually Involve

Inspections are no longer conducted solely by the town hall. Since the Le Meur law, agents from the DGCCRF (General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) are also authorized to intervene.

In practice, inspections take three forms. First: online monitoring. An agent checks listings on platforms. No number displayed or an invalid number results in a formal report. Second: inspections based on reports. A neighbor, a property manager, or a competitor reports an undeclared rental, which the town hall then verifies. Third: data cross-referencing. Each year, platforms provide municipalities with a list of rented properties and the number of nights booked. If a property appears without a corresponding registration number, it flags an anomaly.

For you as a manager, the best defense is traceability. Every property must have a complete file: declaration receipt, registration number, energy performance certificate (DPE), and change-of-use authorization if applicable. If you want to establish a solid organization, our article on the 5 workflows to automate your concierge business shows you how to structure these processes.

3.3: Turning a Constraint into a Competitive Advantage

Nobody enjoys regulatory paperwork. But here is the market reality: managers who are compliant will find themselves facing less competition. Every non-compliant listing removed from platforms is one fewer competing property. In cities where quotas apply (Paris, Nice, Bordeaux and soon others), the number of authorised short-term rentals is capped. Being already registered and compliant means occupying a slot that others will no longer have access to. Landlords are also becoming more sensitive to this issue. A landlord hesitating between two concierge services will choose the one that guarantees compliance. "Your property is declared, your number is active on all platforms, your EPC is up to date": that is a commercial argument, not just an obligation. Compliance is not a cost. It is a filter that eliminates the amateurs. And when you manage it properly, with a tool that centralises regulations in the same way as bookings and cleaning, you spend less time on it than those who cobble things together with Post-it notes and phone reminders.

Compliance Won't Wait: Act Now or Face the Consequences

The registration number is no longer an administrative detail you deal with "when you have time". It is an operating condition. Without it, no online listing. No listing, no booking. No booking, no income.

Platforms are tightening their checks. Municipalities are cross-referencing data. Fines are real and being enforced. Every week a property remains without a valid number is a week of risk.

You manage multiple properties? The question is not whether you will be inspected, but when. And on that day, you want a clean file for every property, accessible in two clicks.

Biloki centralises registration numbers, validity dates, compliance documents and automatic distribution across all platforms. Try it free for 14 days, and bring your portfolio into compliance before the platforms do it for you.

Mandatory Registration Number: What Actually Changes for Short-Term Rentals