The right granularity, not the city average
Free comparison sites often give an average rent for the town, which has no legal value. Here the value is the one in the prefectoral grid, in the cell where your home sits.
Deadlines and compliance
The legal cap, at the right granularity — or a refusal to conclude.
An increased reference rent is not read at city level: it depends on the district, the construction period, the number of rooms and whether the home is furnished. Getting one cell wrong means displaying a cap that is not yours — and exceeding the cap exposes you to a fine.
- 8rent-controlled municipalities and inter-municipal authorities coveredpilot/services/encadrement_loyers.py::VILLES_ENCADREMENT
- 4criteria cross-referenced to find the capdistrict × construction period × number of rooms × furnished
A rent above the cap exposes you to a fine of €5,000, and to repayment.
Rent control is not a recommendation: in the areas concerned, the base rent may not exceed the upper reference rent, and the prefect may order the landlord to regularise and then impose an administrative fine. The tenant, for their part, may seek a reduction of the rent and the refund of any overpayment. The difficulty is almost never bad faith: it is that the right cap depends on four intersecting criteria, published by prefectoral order, revised every year, and a landlord who owns one unit in one of these towns has no reason to follow that news. It is exactly the kind of work software should do, and do completely or not at all.
- Eight municipalities and inter-municipal authorities covered, named — not “the high-pressure areas”
- Real granularity: district × construction period × rooms × furnished
- Prefectoral grids are refreshed every month
- Ambiguous zoning ⇒ Pilot does not conclude, and says so
In practice.
Pilot first checks whether your property is affected
Rent control only applies in the areas that have introduced it. A property located elsewhere has no regulatory cap, and Pilot says so rather than displaying a decorative figure.
It resolves the district, not the town
The orders divide cities into sectors — Paris has several dozen. A home’s cap depends on its sector, and two buildings separated by a street can fall under two different values.
It cross-checks the other three criteria
Construction period, number of main rooms, furnished or not. These four inputs give a single cell in the grid, with its reference rent, its increased rent and its reduced rent.
It compares with your rent, and flags the gap
Above the upper cap, the gap is quantified. Below the lower cap, the information counts too: it is room for an increase on re-letting, subject to what the law otherwise allows.
If the zoning is ambiguous, it stops
An address on a sector boundary, missing data on the construction period: in these cases Pilot shows that it cannot conclude, instead of choosing the most likely cell. A wrong cap is more dangerous than no cap, because people rely on it.
What it changes
The grids are refreshed without you
They change by order, every year. A cap memorised once is a wrong cap the following year — and that is the one you would have copied into a tenancy agreement.
Rent control has a say in the review
The cap is not an isolated piece of information: it bounds what the annual review and re-letting allow you. Both subjects are read in the same place, which avoids applying an index beyond a limit.
The law, and the pitfalls
In areas that apply rent control, the base rent set in the contract may not exceed the upper reference rent, set by prefectoral order.
art. 140 of Law No. 2018-1021 of 23 November 2018 (ELAN); art. 17 of Law No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989
The prefect may order the landlord to regularise, then impose an administrative fine of up to €5,000 for a natural person and €15,000 for a legal entity. The tenant may also seek a reduction of the rent and the refund of any overpayment.
A rent supplement may be applied above the increased reference rent, on account of exceptional, decisive location or comfort features not taken into account in the grid.
art. 140 III of the loi ELANdisputed point
It must be justified, stated separately in the tenancy agreement, and the tenant can challenge it within a short period. A terrace or a view that is “exceptional” but not so by the standards of the sector brings the supplement down — and the landlord pays it back. So we do not calculate any supplement for you.
The upper reference rent is set by category of home and by geographical sector, as defined by the annual prefectoral order.
art. 17 I of Law No. 89-462
Those two inputs — category and sector — are what give it value. A town-wide average, a price per m² observed on listings or a “market rent” are not reference rents, and confusing them in a tenancy agreement gives a cap that does not exist.
What Pilot refuses to do
Pilot does not conclude on ambiguous zoning
Address on a sector boundary, construction period unknown: the engine shows that it cannot decide, instead of picking the most likely cell. A wrong cap is worse than no cap, because it inspires confidence.
Pilot does not calculate a rent supplement
It presupposes a qualitative assessment against the sector, which the tenant can challenge and which is sanctioned by repayment. We flag that it exists; we do not produce its amount.
art. 140 III of the loi ELAN
We do not write “all the high-pressure areas”
Eight municipalities and inter-municipal authorities are covered, and they are named. “Zone tendue” (high-pressure housing area) refers to another, much wider perimeter where other rules apply — confusing the two suggests coverage that does not exist.
Availability
Included from the Essentiel tier.
- 7-day trial at launch, card required
- No commitment
Frequently asked questions
Which municipalities are covered?
Eight municipalities and inter-municipal authorities, named in the product. We never say “all the high-pressure areas”: that is a different and much wider perimeter, where other rules apply. An automated check recounts the covered areas at every release.
Can I check a cap without creating an account?
Yes. A public tool lets you look up the applicable cap by district and property type, free of charge and without signing up.
What happens if my rent exceeds the cap?
The prefect may order you to regularise, then impose an administrative fine — up to €5,000 for a private individual. The tenant may seek a reduction of the rent and the refund of any overpayment.
And the rent supplement?
It exists, for exceptional and decisive features not taken into account by the grid. We flag that it is possible, but we do not calculate its amount: the tenant can challenge it, and an unjustified supplement must be paid back.
Why sometimes refuse to answer?
Because an address on a sector boundary or an unknown construction period makes the grid cell indeterminate. Picking the most likely one would produce a figure that looks right, and on which you would set a rent.
Right next to it.
Deadlines and compliance
The rent review, calculated — and refused when the law forbids it.
Index fetched from INSEE — IRL, or ILC, ILAT and ICC for a commercial lease — with the reference quarter taken from the LEASE. Pilot refuses to index when the law forbids it.
The rent
The market says one figure. The law says another.
Whether a review is available or not, the date of the next one, the constraints detected with their legal grounds, and what becomes possible on re-letting. It is the distinction missing everywhere else.
Tenancy agreements and documents
The tenancy agreement fills itself in from the file, not from a blank page.
Unfurnished, furnished, student, mobility, seasonal, flat-share, mixed-use, garage, commercial 3/6/9 and professional, pre-filled from the property’s data — one lease per unit in a building. You never start from a blank page.
The rent
A range, its sample — or an admission of disagreement.
Cross-referenced across several sources, with its range and its sample. When the sources contradict each other, Pilot says so rather than deciding.
Content reviewed on 2026-08-06.
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