Owners, your property sits empty off-season

The first month's rent is collected before the keys are handed over and held by our payment provider (Stripe): it is paid to you on move-in day. Later payments are taken automatically on a fixed date, so you have nothing to chase.

Under a civil lease, the security deposit is set by default at two months' rent, and you can change it. Unpaid-rent cover can be taken out as an option.

It's the number one fear, and the lease is what deals with it. A civil lease falls under the French Civil Code, not the Act of 6 July 1989 that protects main residences: the move-out date is the one you wrote in the lease.

The tenant declares and proves that they keep their main residence elsewhere, and the property cannot be used as their tax address. An anti-squatting option can complement your insurance.

Move-in and move-out inventories drawn up together, with photos of every room, meter readings and online signature: that's your proof, and it is time-stamped.

Routine upkeep of the home and garden is the tenant's responsibility, in black and white in the lease. The security deposit covers minor damage; insurance takes over beyond that.

Under a civil lease, the property remains your second home: you insure it, with a non-occupying owner policy that includes your tenant's public liability. Often a simple extension of your current policy is enough — we check it with you before suggesting anything.

Under a bail mobilité, the tenant must provide their home insurance certificate. In both cases: no certificate, no keys.

You do. No booking is automatic. Each request reaches you with the applicant's file and the reason for their stay, and you can message them to ask for any missing documents before accepting.

On our side, we talk to tenants on the phone before passing their request on to you.

Your account, your listing and publishing it are free. We only get paid if you rent: 12% incl. VAT in service fees, plus around 3% in bank charges, i.e. 15% incl. VAT deducted from each rent payment.

No subscription, no application fees, no exclusivity: your property can stay listed elsewhere. By comparison, a short-term concierge service often costs 30 to 40% of the rent once cleaning and linen are included.

The first month's rent is released on move-in day. Later payments are taken automatically on the anniversary date and transferred to your account, minus service fees.

A rule of thumb that works well: what you charge per week in high season often matches the monthly rent in low season.

Our estimate is based on the actual rental market in your area, but the rent is yours to set: you can change it at any time. A tip: build the 15% fees into the advertised rent, and keep a single price for the whole low season, it's clearer for tenants.

No. It's not the same season, the same guests or the same product: a house rented for four months in winter doesn't compare with a week in August with the pool open.

Medium-term rental fills the months when your property would be empty. You keep the summer for weekly lets — or for yourself.

The utility contracts stay in your name: subscriptions are never transferred to the tenant.

Under a civil lease, you choose a flat charge, or a monthly provision reconciled at move-out based on meter readings. Under a bail mobilité, it's a flat fee that cannot be reconciled — so don't underestimate it, especially for a heated winter.

Yes, and that's the case for many of our owners. There are only two moments when someone needs to be on site: the move-in and the move-out inventory. Everything else happens online.

A neighbour, a relative or one of our partner concierge services can handle it — à la carte, with no package or commitment.

Nobody between tenants, since there's no turnover: a stay of several months means a single clean at the end of the lease, as with a standard rental. No sheets to change, no check-ins to organise.

If you wish, the lease can require regular cleaning, included in the rent.

No: the property is rented, the tenant is at home. That's why you only open for booking the periods you don't need.

You can split your year into several periods (30 consecutive days minimum) and keep your family weeks.

The property is let furnished and equipped, just as it already is for the season. You can keep a cupboard or a locked room for your own use: simply state it in the listing and the lease, and note it in the inventory.

Never. Your property can stay on your other platforms: you simply block the periods already booked. Nothing is charged until a rental is signed with us.

Civil lease if the property is not your main residence — the most common case, and the most flexible: term, security deposit and upkeep clauses are set freely, and charges are reconciled at the end of the stay.

Bail mobilité if your tenant has a work or study reason to prove. It's also the only lease that lets you rent out your main residence while you're away, beyond the 120 days of holiday letting. In return: no security deposit, and flat-rate charges.

Not sure? Open your listing to both, and decide when a request comes in.

Renting under a lease is not holiday letting: no 120-day cap, no tourist tax to collect, and you don't fall under the furnished tourist accommodation rules.

Some municipalities do have their own change-of-use rules, and co-ownership bylaws may restrict furnished letting. If in doubt, call us: we'll look at your situation with you.

This is furnished rental income, taxed under the micro-BIC or the actual-expenses (réel) regime, as with a holiday let. The right choice depends on your expenses: an accountant can help you decide.

You remain liable for property tax and, where applicable, second-home council tax — costs that these few months of rent help absorb. For your exact situation, your accountant remains the right person to ask.

LesVacantes has been online since March 2026 — which is exactly why we pick up the phone, review every listing and call every tenant before passing their request on to you.

We are a French company, supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and the Unitec incubator. Payments are handled by Stripe, insurance by our partner Mila, and we are registered with ORIAS as an insurance intermediary's agent.

Job transfers and work assignments, healthcare workers and teachers on temporary posts, remote workers, retirees escaping winter, owners with building work, families between two moves, separations, people displaced by a disaster: these are people looking for several months, not a weekend.

Today they fall through the cracks, because neither market — seasonal lets or year-round rentals — is designed for them.