What documents do you need to rent a flat in France?

To rent a flat in France, prepare your rental application file, known as the dossier de location, with proof of identity, address, current activity, and financial resources. Most landlords also require a guarantor, so include that if needed. The law defines which documents owners may request, so they cannot ask for additional items. As an international student, you may replace missing documents with accepted foreign equivalents.

The French rental market is competitive, and landlords are selective, so prepare your documents in advance. The winter eviction ban (trêve hivernale), from 1 November to 31 March, makes property recovery challenging, so owners prioritise tenants with complete, well-prepared files. A complete file gives you the best chance.

The French rental dossier, explained

A dossier de location is the set of supporting documents a landlord uses to assess whether you can pay the rent. In a competitive city, a clean and complete file is often what separates the application that is accepted from the one that is ignored.

The benchmark landlords apply is straightforward: the income of the tenant, or of the guarantor standing behind them, should be at least three times the monthly rent including charges. International students rarely meet this on their own income, which is why the guarantor question matters so much, and why this guide treats it as the centre of the process rather than a footnote.

It helps to know the French terms you will see on listings and application forms: justificatif d'identité (proof of identity), justificatif de domicile (proof of address), attestation de scolarité (certificate of enrolment), justificatif de ressources (proof of resources) and caution or garant (guarantor).

Just as important is what a landlord cannot ask for. The list of documents an owner may request is fixed by decree (décret n° 2015-1437 of 5 November 2015), and it is exhaustive. Requests for a copy of your bank account balance, a medical record, a criminal record, a photo ID, or a sworn statement that you hold no outstanding loans are not permitted, and you are within your rights to decline them. SKEMA sets out the practical side of finding a home in its accommodation guidance, campus by campus.

The core documents every tenant prepares

Most files are built from four pillars. For a student profile, they break down as follows.

• Proof of identity: A valid passport is the primary document for an international applicant. Non-EU students also provide their student visa, the long-stay visa acting as a residence permit (VLS-TS, mention étudiant), or their residence permit. Supply a clear, readable copy.
• Proof of address: A rent receipt, a utility bill, or, if you live with your parents, a sworn statement of accommodation (attestation d'hébergement) together with a copy of the host's ID. If you have just arrived and have no French address yet, say so and use your current address abroad.
• Proof of activity: Instead of an employment contract, a student provides the certificate of enrolment (attestation de scolarité) issued by the school. This is the document that proves your status, and it carries real weight with landlords.
• Proof of resources: Without French payslips, you rely on alternatives: a scholarship certificate (attestation de bourse) stating the amount, bank statements from a foreign account showing sufficient savings, or the income of your guarantor. Have any document that is not in French or English officially translated.

Keep the file scannable. Group the core documents above, then add only the profile-specific items a given landlord requests, rather than sending everything at once.

Renting before you arrive: closing the document gap

Incoming students run into a familiar administrative loop: you need a French address to open a French bank account, and a French bank account to secure a French address. French law accepts foreign equivalents precisely so that you can break out of it.

In practice, this means assembling a digital file before you leave home: your passport, your student visa, your certificate of enrolment, your scholarship certificate or bank statements, and, if a parent stands as guarantor, their ID and proof of income. With that ready, you can apply the moment a suitable flat appears instead of losing it while you gather paperwork. SKEMA runs pre-arrival support for international students that covers these first steps, and its financial support and scholarships pages help you document your resources.

The guarantor problem: renting without a French guarantor

Here is the obstacle that stops most international students. Landlords want a guarantor who is a French tax resident, someone they can pursue if the rent goes unpaid. You almost certainly do not have one. Two routes solve this.

Visale: the free, state-backed guarantor

The best option for students is Visale, a free rental guarantee provided by Action Logement. The state body acts as your guarantor at no cost to you or the landlord, reassuring the owner and removing the need for a paid service.

• Who qualifies: Anyone aged 18 to 30, of any nationality, who holds a valid student visa (VLS-TS, mention étudiant) or residence permit. EU and EEA students simply provide a student card and a valid passport.
• 2026 rent ceilings: Since 6 January 2026, the student guarantee covers rent, including charges up to a fixed ceiling by zone: 1,000 € in the Île-de-France region, which covers the Grand Paris campus in Suresnes; 840 € in cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants, which covers Lille; and 680 € across the rest of the country, which is where Sophia Antipolis is likely to fall depending on local zoning.
• The cut-off rule: The ceilings are absolute. If the rent is even one euro above your zone's limit, Visale will not cover the lease at all, and there is no partial cover. Choose a flat that sits under the ceiling.
• What it covers: Up to 36 monthly payments, the first three years of the lease, plus rental damage of up to two months' rent.
• How to get it: Open an account on visale.fr well before you sign or arrive, upload your passport, visa and certificate of enrolment, and wait for your Visale certificate, usually issued within two to fifteen working days. Add that certificate to your dossier as proof that the French state backs you.

Image

Private guarantor services

If your rent is above the Visale ceilings, or a landlord declines Visale, paid services step in.

• Garantme and SmartGarant act as private guarantors for roughly 2.9% to 4.5% of the annual rent, against proof of international savings or a parental guarantor abroad.
• The Studapart guarantee costs around 3.5% of the rent plus 50 €, with a minimum of about 249 €, and suits students who book through the Studapart platform from abroad.
• A bank guarantee (garantie bancaire) means freezing six to twelve months of rent in a blocked account, plus annual fees of roughly 300 € to 400 €. It is a last resort for those with significant savings and no other route.

Where the dossier applies: housing options for students

The documents change little from one option to the next, but who you deal with does.

• CROUS university residences are the most affordable choice, with limited places and priority for scholarship holders.
• Private student residences simplify the file, and many include their own guarantee.
• The private market splits between unfurnished lets (deposit of one month) and furnished lets (deposit of two months), with flat-shares (colocation) a common way to cut costs.
• A mobility lease (bail mobilité), lasting one to ten months, is well suited to a single semester, and the law forbids the landlord from asking for any deposit.

Each campus page sets out local housing options: the Grand Paris campus, the Lille campus and the Sophia Antipolis campus.

Budgeting: deposits, fees and the 2026 change to housing aid

Plan for the upfront costs you pay on signing, and for one important change to state aid.

• Security deposit: Capped by law at one month's rent excluding charges for an unfurnished flat, and two months for a furnished one. A mobility lease carries no deposit.
• On signing: Expect the deposit and the first month's rent, plus any agency fees, which are themselves capped by law and vary by area.
• Visa validation: Validating your VLS-TS on arrival costs 150 € since 1 May 2026, paid online.
• Housing aid (APL): This is the change that matters most for your budget. Since 1 July 2026, under law no. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026, non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss students who do not hold a means-tested scholarship are no longer eligible for the APL housing benefit. EU, EEA and Swiss students keep it, as do non-EU students with a recognised means-tested scholarship. Most incoming international students should therefore budget for the full rent, with no subsidy.

Building a realistic budget is part of preparing your move, alongside your application to SKEMA.

How to prepare and send a strong file, and avoid scams

Scan and clearly name each document, combine them into a single PDF, and prepare the guarantor file in parallel so you can apply quickly when a listing appears.

Stay alert to fraud. Never pay anything, whether a deposit or a first month's rent, before you have visited the property and signed the lease. Listings that look too good for the price are a warning sign, and no genuine landlord asks for a transfer to "reserve" a flat sight unseen.