The different sectors: free / protected / state-owned
To reside in Monaco, clients can turn to 3 sectors of rental and purchase:
Free sector housing:
This is the most significant sector of the Monegasque territory, referring to housing whose owners are individuals or legal entities not under the protected sector law. Owners are free to set the rent amount and the duration of the lease they wish. Any client can access it regardless of their arrival date in the Principality, their profession, family situation, or nationality. Housing under the “protected” laws: In the Principality, two laws govern “old buildings” constructed and delivered before September 1, 1947. These apartments, part of the so-called “protected” sector, provide more rights to tenants for a real estate park comprising about 2,500 apartments of different sizes. In case of a sale targeting one of these dwellings, a sale agreement is necessary, and the Princier government and the tenant can pre-empt and become buyers.
These two laws are:
– 1.291 of December 21, 2004 /modifying the law 1.235 of December 28, 2020 Law 1291, favoring Monegasques and native children, imposes several conditions on owners. Among these conditions, the owner is obliged to occupy the property themselves or rent it under the conditions defined by law 1291. A vacant dwelling must be notified in the Journal de Monaco, and the tenant must be chosen by priority order among:
- Candidates of Monegasque nationality
- People born of a Monegasque parent, spouses, widows or widowers of Monegasques, people divorced from Monegasques, and parents of Monegasque children
- People born in Monaco, residing since birth with one of their parents being a resident at the time of their birth
- People who have been residing in the Principality for at least 40 years without interruption
The rent price is set by the government, and the annual increase is regulated. The tenant choice is made by the priority order of eligible people for a lease term of 6 years, automatically renewable under the same conditions. The tenant can terminate it at any time with 3 months’ notice. For the owner, 6 months’ notice is required and only for occupying the housing themselves. In the event of a sale of a property subject to this law, the state can pre-empt within 4 weeks, as can the tenant if the State renounces its right.
– 887 of June 25, 1970 More flexible than the previous one, this text targets older premises of better quality or occupied by their owners. Rent prices are not regulated, however, the lease duration must be 6 years, with only the possibility for the tenant to be able to terminate during the lease. Unlike law 1.291, law 887 does not oblige the owner to publish in the Official Journal of Monaco the vacancy. The owner can end the lease at its expiry without justification. These accommodations can be rented to:
All tenants subject to law 1.291 and also:
- A tenant domiciled in Monaco for more than 5 years and working there for at least 6 months.
- A tenant exercising a professional activity for more than 5 years.
- Ascendants or descendants of the owner or their spouse
State-owned housing:
The state-owned sector concerns all housing owned by the state and is exclusively reserved for individuals of Monegasque nationality. As of January 1, 2023, this represented 3,826 dwellings with 35% of 2 rooms, 36% of 3 rooms, and 21.5% of 4 rooms. These dwellings are allocated according to a priority order based on points obtained according to various criteria defined by a ministerial decree. The properties offered by the state for rent or sale offer the most attractive prices in the Principality to allow Monegasques to remain in the Principality, regardless of the price variation in the free sector.
