Service · heading C.18.2
Setting, challenging or uncapping the rent of a French commercial lease
Renewal, three-yearly review, release from the rent cap (déplafonnement), rent between a company and its owner's SCI, occupation indemnity: the market rent demonstrated, for landlords, tenants and lawyers.
- Expert registered with the RENNES Court of Appeal
- Charte de l’expertise 2025
- EVS 2025 TEGOVA
- Professional indemnity insured
The rent of a French commercial lease is not a simple negotiation: it follows precise rules of the Commercial Code that the courts apply consistently. Whether the rent can be uncapped, and at what level the rental value should be set, is demonstrated with evidence and a method, not with convictions.
I act for landlords and tenants alike: beforehand to negotiate, during proceedings before the commercial rent judge, or on appointment by the court.
Your situation
- Your bail commercial (French commercial lease, 3-6-9) is coming to an end and the landlord claims an uncapped rent, citing a material change in local commercial factors.
- You are a landlord and want to know whether the conditions for uncapping (articles L. 145-33 and L. 145-34 of the French Commercial Code) are met, and at what level to set the rent.
- You need to quantify an occupation indemnity after termination or refusal of renewal.
- Your SCI (société civile immobilière, a French property-holding company) lets premises to your operating company and the tax authorities question an abnormal rent.
- You are letting or taking a lease on premises and want to know the market rent before signing.
What the report contains
- Analysis of the lease: permitted use, weighted floor area, onerous clauses, works, term, rent-free period
- Review of local commercial factors and how they changed over the period
- Rent evidence: renewals, new lettings, decisions of the commercial rent judge
- Rental value under article R. 145-7 and following of the Commercial Code, and market rent
- Calculation of the capped rent (ILC or ILAT index) and comparison with the rental value
- Reasoned position on uncapping and, where relevant, on the 10 % per year phasing of the increase
Methods used
- Comparison of weighted rents (weighted square metre, zoning)
- Analysis of local commercial factorsRead the method article
- Hotel rent and turnover rent (turnover, rent ratio)Read the method article
- Indexation and escalator clausesRead the method article
Frequently asked questions
What is déplafonnement?
As a rule, the renewal rent is capped by the change in the index (ILC or ILAT). It can be set at the rental value, that is uncapped, if a factor changed materially during the expired lease: characteristics of the premises, permitted use, obligations of the parties, local commercial factors, or if the lease ran for more than twelve years by tacit extension.
Does the commercial rent judge always appoint an expert?
Very often, yes. A well-built report from a party-appointed expert first helps to negotiate, then to shape the court expert's brief and to prepare the parties' written observations (dires). I can also be appointed directly by the judge.
How do you calculate the weighted floor area?
Using the weighting ranges recommended by the Charte de l'expertise en évaluation immobilière (6th edition, 2025, appendix on weighted commercial floor areas): the sales area on the street frontage carries a coefficient of 1, and back areas, storage, upper floors and basements receive decreasing coefficients. The coefficients used are justified in the report.
Can you act on a residential rent?
Yes, in particular for a rent dispute, an occupation indemnity between joint owners or after an eviction, or a rental value for a lender.
And for an agricultural lease?
No. Farm rents and rural leases fall under another heading of the national nomenclature of court experts (agriculture). I can refer you to a colleague.
Describe your situation, receive a free quote
By email or by phone, as you prefer. The quote sets out the assignment, the timeframe and the price.