To rent an apartment in France as an English speaker, you need three things: a complete application file (the famous dossier) prepared as a single PDF before you start visiting, a solution for the French guarantor problem (Visale or GarantMe if you have no guarantor in France), and a few rehearsed French phrases — because even when the agency speaks English, the landlord who chooses between applicants usually doesn't.
I'm Caroline, a native French teacher. I help expats handle the real-life conversations of living in France, and apartment hunting is where many of them meet French bureaucracy for the first time. Here is what actually matters.
How renting works in France (the 2-minute version)
In France, desirable apartments receive many applications, and the landlord — not the agency — picks the winner by comparing dossiers. Your job is therefore not just to find apartments: it's to be the most reassuring file on the table. Reassuring means complete, organized, and solvent-looking. Foreign applicants start with a handicap (unfamiliar documents, no French guarantor) but can absolutely win — I've seen expat dossiers beat French ones simply because they were better prepared.
Where to search: SeLoger and Leboncoin carry most listings; PAP lists owner-direct rentals (no agency fee). Local agencies remain essential in smaller cities — and some, especially in expat-heavy areas, speak English.
The dossier: what landlords expect to see
Prepare one PDF containing, for each adult:
- Passport (and visa or residence permit / récépissé)
- Proof of income — landlords look for income around 3× the rent. Employment contract and last 3 payslips if employed; for retirees or remote workers, pension statements, bank statements, or an accountant's letter showing stable income
- Last tax return (your home country's return works, ideally with a simple translation of the key figures)
- Proof of current address and, if you've rented before, landlord references — a short "excellent tenant" letter translated into French is surprisingly effective
- Your guarantor solution (next section)
Have originals with you at visits, but send the PDF version when you first contact the agency or owner. Applying at the visit is already late; the strong candidates apply before.
The guarantor problem — and its two solutions
Most French landlords expect a garant: a person in France who legally commits to paying your rent if you don't. New arrivals rarely have one. Two workarounds landlords widely accept:
- Visale (visale.fr) — a free public rent-guarantee scheme run by Action Logement. Check eligibility first: it covers many but not all situations.
- GarantMe and similar paid services — a private company becomes your guarantor for a fee (typically a percentage of annual rent). Less charming than free, but available to almost everyone and well known to agencies.
Mention your guarantee in your very first message — it answers the landlord's biggest fear before they've asked.
The French phrases that win apartments
The agency may speak English. The landlord deciding between five dossiers usually doesn't — and a message or call in French, even imperfect, tells them "this tenant will be easy to communicate with for the next three years." That thought wins apartments.
🇫🇷 1. Bonjour, je vous contacte au sujet de l'annonce [référence]. Est-ce que le logement est toujours disponible ?
"Hello, I'm contacting you about listing [reference]. Is the apartment still available?"
🇫🇷 2. Nous avons un dossier complet, avec garantie Visale / GarantMe.
"We have a complete file, with a Visale / GarantMe guarantee."
The sentence that moves you to the top of the pile.
🇫🇷 3. Quand serait-il possible de visiter ?
"When would a visit be possible?"
🇫🇷 4. Pouvez-vous me l'écrire, s'il vous plaît ?
"Could you write that down for me, please?"
For anything you don't catch: dates, documents, addresses. Works on the phone too: "Pouvez-vous me l'envoyer par SMS ?" (Can you send it to me by text?)
🇫🇷 5. Est-ce que les charges sont comprises ?
"Are the charges included?" — at the visit
See vocabulary below; this one affects your real monthly cost.
Rental vocabulary worth knowing before you sign
- le bail — the lease (typically 3 years unfurnished, 1 year furnished)
- meublé / non meublé — furnished / unfurnished
- les charges (comprises) — building/utility charges ("CC" in listings means charges included in the advertised rent)
- le dépôt de garantie — security deposit (capped at 1 month's rent unfurnished, 2 months furnished)
- l'état des lieux — the walkthrough inspection at move-in and move-out; take photos of everything
- la quittance de loyer — rent receipt; ask for it monthly, you'll need it constantly as proof of address
- l'assurance habitation — renter's insurance, mandatory before you get the keys
Good news if you have a pet
French law (the 1970 rental law) prevents landlords from prohibiting ordinary household pets in standard long-term leases — a clause banning your cat or small dog in a classic residential lease is not enforceable (dangerous dog categories are the exception). You don't need to hide your Chihuahua; you also don't need to lead with it.
Rehearse the calls before you make them
Everything above is preparation you can do on paper — except the conversations. The first phone call to an agency, the visit, the questions to the landlord: these happen in real time, in French, and they decide outcomes. Before my students start their apartment hunt, we rehearse exactly these calls on Zoom — I play the agent, the owner, even the unhelpful one who talks too fast. By the real call, the sentences come out on autopilot.
If you're settling in France and want that kind of preparation for your real life here — the apartment hunt, the préfecture, the doctor — that's what my Real-Life French program is built for: twelve weeks around your actual situations, with a native teacher beside you. It starts with a free 30-minute French Diagnostic.
