You do not send a letter with no effect
The most common case: a notification of increase on a home whose energy rating forbids it. The landlord believes for months that they have acted, and finds out at the first disagreement.
The rent
The market says one figure. The law says another.
Almost every tool gives you a market rent. None tells you whether you have the right to ask for it — on this tenancy, this year, with this energy rating. Yet it is the only one of the two answers you can act on without risk.
A market rent applied without the right to it does not become due.
It is the most expensive misunderstanding in amateur property management. An owner discovers that their home would let for a hundred euros more, notifies an increase, and considers the matter settled. Yet an increase is only possible in specific cases: at the annual review if the tenancy agreement provides for it and it is not time-barred, on re-letting within the limits of rent control, or at renewal on condition of demonstrating manifest undervaluation with comparable references. Outside these cases, the letter has no effect: the rent payable remains the old one, and any overpayment must be refunded. Pilot therefore always keeps the two figures apart, and shows next to the second the rule that limits it.
- Annual review: available, not yet due, frozen or time-barred — with the reason
- Re-letting: what rent control allows where it applies
- Renewal: the condition of manifest undervaluation, and what it requires
- The market rent remains displayed, but never as an authorisation
In practice.
Pilot establishes the contractual position
Type of tenancy agreement, effective date, review clause and its reference quarter, anniversary date. These elements decide the applicable regime before any figure comes into play.
It checks the absolute prohibitions
The energy performance certificate (EPC) rating first: for the lowest ratings, an increase is prohibited whatever the mechanism — review, renewal, re-letting. An absolute prohibition is read before any calculation, otherwise you calculate for nothing.
It examines each route separately
The annual review has its conditions and its limitation period. Re-letting opens a different window, bounded by rent control where it exists. Renewal requires showing undervaluation with comparable references. Three routes, three answers, never merged into a single figure.
It displays the verdict with its grounds
Allowed, and by how much; not yet due, and on what date; frozen, and by which text; time-barred, and since when. A refusal without grounds is a breakdown; a refusal with grounds is information you can act on — by renovating, or by waiting for the right date.
It keeps the gap to market alongside
The information remains useful: it is what tells you whether the property deserves works, or whether you should prepare a re-letting. It is simply presented for what it is — an observation, not a right.
What it changes
You know what can be lifted and what cannot
A time bar cannot be lifted; an energy rating can, by renovating. A reasoned refusal turns a constraint into an investment decision.
You prepare the re-letting at the right time
The re-letting window is often the only real opportunity to reposition a rent. Seeing it coming six months ahead changes the way you handle a tenant’s departure.
The law, and the pitfalls
Where a review clause is provided for, the review may only take place once a year on the agreed date, and must be requested within one year of its effective date.
art. 17-1 I of Law No. 89-462 of 6 July 1989
Without a review clause in the tenancy agreement, there is no annual review at all — and many older agreements have none. A missing clause cannot be added during the tenancy by a simple letter.
When re-letting in the areas concerned, the rent under the new contract may not exceed the last rent applied to the previous tenant, except in strictly defined cases — improvement works or a manifestly undervalued rent.
art. 18 of Law No. 89-462; annual decree capping re-letting rentsdisputed point
Re-letting is therefore not a reset. Believing that a change of tenant lets you set the rent freely is the most widespread mistake in high-pressure areas, and it is paid for with a refund.
At renewal, a landlord who considers the rent manifestly undervalued may propose an increase, provided it is justified by references to rents usually found in the neighbourhood, the minimum number of which is set by law.
art. 17-2 of Law No. 89-462
The proposal must be notified six months before the end of the term, with the supporting references. A proposal without references, or with too few, is irregular — and the increase falls away entirely, not partially.
The rent of a home rated F or G may not be increased at review, at renewal or on re-letting.
art. 159 of Law No. 2021-1104 of 22 August 2021
It is a prohibition that overrides all three routes at once. A landlord who reasons “I cannot review, so I will wait for re-letting” is wrong: re-letting is closed too.
What Pilot refuses to do
Pilot never merges the market rent and the permitted rent
These are two answers to two different questions, and presenting them as one figure produces a recommendation that is economically logical and legally impossible. Both are displayed, side by side, separately.
Pilot does not build your undervaluation file
An upward renewal requires references to neighbouring rents, in a minimum number set by law and presented in a precise form. We state the condition and what it requires; we do not manufacture the references.
art. 17-2 of the Law of 6 July 1989
Pilot does not suggest an increase the law refuses
Even when the gap to the market is considerable. Displaying an unreachable potential is not information, it is an invitation to make the mistake.
Availability
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Frequently asked questions
How is it different from a simple market rent?
The market rent tells you what the property would be worth if it were vacant. The permitted rent tells you what you can ask on THIS tenancy, this year, with this energy rating. The two can differ by several hundred euros, and only the second can be acted on without risk.
Can I raise the rent freely when re-letting?
Not in the areas where re-letting rents are capped: the new rent cannot in principle exceed that of the previous tenant, except for improvement works or manifest undervaluation. Believing that a change of tenant resets the counter is the most widespread mistake.
And if my tenancy agreement has no review clause?
Then there is no annual review, and one cannot be added by letter during the tenancy. Pilot flags it rather than calculating an index that does not apply.
My home has an EPC rating of G. What options do I have left?
None of the three: the increase is prohibited at review, at renewal and on re-letting. The only route is renovation, and that is precisely the useful information — it turns a constraint into an investment decision.
Does Pilot prepare the file for an upward renewal?
No. The law requires references to neighbouring rents, in a minimum number and in a specific form, notified six months before the end of the term. We state the condition; we do not manufacture the references, because an insufficient file brings down the whole increase.
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.
Deadlines and compliance
The legal cap, at the right granularity — or a refusal to conclude.
Eight municipalities and inter-municipal authorities, at district × period × rooms × furnished granularity. Where there is ambiguity, Pilot refuses to conclude rather than pick a cap at random.
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.
Performance
It does not just track: it spots what can be improved.
Rent below market, charges rising over twelve months, yield below the rest of the portfolio, EPC soon banned from letting, loan above market.
Content reviewed on 2026-08-06.
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