Getting ready to move and changing address

You will need to send a letter to your landlord to terminate the “bail”. As a general rule, it needs to be signed by all tenants that appear on the lease. You can use this template to write the letter.

Before sending it, it is important to check the notice period that applies in your lease. This period is generally three months, but is reduced to one month if:

• you have filed a complaint against your ex-partner due to domestic abuse or violence towards a child living with you, and:
  • the legal proceedings are still ongoing
  • or they have been convicted
  • or they have received alternative penalties to prosecution
• you have a protection order issued by a French judge known as the “ordonnance de protection”
• the home you rent is furnished
• your home is located in a place known as a “zone tendue”, where demand for housing exceeds supply
• you have just got your first job, moved to another city, lost your job, or found a new job as a result of job loss
• your state of health requires a change of residence (you will need to provide a medical certificate to prove this)
• you are entitled to financial assistance known as “revenu de solidarité active (RSA)” or “allocation aux adultes handicapés (AAH)”
• you have been allocated social housing.

If you are in one of these situations, state the reason in the letter sent to your landlord, indicating the one-month notice period.

Send the letter by registered post with recorded delivery or “lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception”. This is the only way to prove your letter has been received. Keep the receipt as proof of postage.

If you are not in any of these situations, you can still try to negotiate a reduced notice period with your landlord if you want to leave quickly and don’t want to pay three months’ rent.

Take stock of all the contracts you currently have for your home and ask for them to be cancelled and/or transferred to your new address, including:

• electricity
• gas
• internet
• home insurance.

In France, you can ask the postal service, called “La Poste”, to automatically redirect your post to your new address for a period of 6 or 12 months.

You can apply for this online on this website.

This service is subject to a fee of around 6 euros per month for a transfer of post in France and 15 euros per month for an international transfer.

Once you have your new address, you will need to inform the various public and private organisations that need your contact details, for example:

• the organisation that manages your health insurance entitlements, known as the called the “Caisse d’assurance maladie”
• your private health insurance, known as the “mutuelle”
• the local government administration called the “préfecture” so they update your residence permit or “titre de séjour”
• the French tax service
• the national support service for people out of work, called the “Pôle emploi”, if you are registered there
• the body responsible for the payment of family allowances, called the “Caisse d’allocations familiales (Caf)”
• your children’s school
• the administrative authority of your town or city, called the “mairie” if you are registered on the electoral roll
• your bank
• any other organisation you can think of.

There is an online service that allows all public bodies to be notified in a single request.