The bail mobilité (French furnished mobility lease, 1 to 10 months) is one of the least understood, and most useful, options in furnished letting. Introduced by the ELAN Act (loi ELAN), it lets you rent out a furnished property to a tenant on a temporary move (an internship, training, a work-study programme, a work assignment or a period of higher education away from home) for a short term of 1 to 10 months, with no security deposit and no risk of the tenant staying on indefinitely. Don't confuse it with the 9-month student lease (bail étudiant), designed for students settling in for the whole academic year. For owners on the French Riviera, the mobility lease is the ideal way to earn from a property in the tourist low season, house people relocating to Nice or Sophia Antipolis, and keep control of your home. This article covers it all: length, conditions, guarantees, benefits, and how it fits into a hybrid strategy.
What is a bail mobilité, exactly?
A mobility lease is a short-term tenancy for a furnished property, open only to tenants who can show they are on a temporary move. Introduced by the 2018 ELAN Act, it meets a specific need: housing people who need somewhere to live for a few months, for their studies, an internship or a work assignment, without signing up to a standard one-year furnished lease.
It sits halfway between holiday letting and a long-term furnished lease. Steadier than nightly lets and more flexible than a one-year lease, it gives owners several months of visibility and hands the property back on a fixed date. That is exactly why it is a cornerstone of the hybrid strategy we run at Azur Hébergements.
Length: 1 to 10 months, non-renewable
Length is the defining feature of the mobility lease. The parties agree it freely, anywhere from 1 to 10 months. Three rules apply:
- Non-renewable: at the end of the term, the mobility lease cannot be extended or renewed with the same tenant for the same property. For owners, that is a strong safeguard: no risk of the tenant staying on indefinitely.
- Can be changed once: the original term can be extended by a written amendment, as long as the total never exceeds 10 months. So you can sign for 4 months and add 3 more if needed, without going over the cap.
- No binding minimum: a one-month lease is valid. That flexibility lets you match the tenant's real timetable.
If the tenant needs more than 10 months, a mobility lease is the wrong tool and you will need a standard furnished lease instead. But for a semester of study or a work assignment, the 1 to 10 month window covers the vast majority of cases.
Who can rent on a mobility lease?
Not everyone can sign a mobility lease. On the date the lease starts, the tenant must show they are on a temporary move for one of the following reasons:
- Vocational training
- Higher education (students, ideal for Nice's campuses)
- Apprenticeship or internship
- Volunteering on a civic service programme (service civique)
- Job transfer or a temporary work assignment
The reason for the move is written into the contract, and it is what entitles the lease to its special, favourable rules. On the French Riviera there is no shortage of such tenants: students at Université Côte d'Azur, SKEMA, EDHEC, Campus Valrose, IUT Nice or the Pôle Saint-Jean-d'Angély; engineers, researchers and interns at the Sophia Antipolis technology park, near Antibes and Valbonne. For Sophia Antipolis, our article on mobility lease demand in Sophia Antipolis looks at tenant profiles and seasonality in detail.
No security deposit: what stands out
This is the biggest difference from other leases: with a mobility lease, the owner cannot ask for a security deposit. No money can be requested from the tenant for this purpose when they move in.
At first glance that might worry an owner: without a deposit, how are you covered against damage or unpaid rent? The answer is two complementary safeguards, which make the mobility lease at least as secure as a standard lease.
A guarantor (caution)
A deposit is not allowed, but a guarantor is. You can ask for someone, such as a parent for a student, to commit to paying if the tenant defaults. It is the first and most common line of protection.
The Visale guarantee
Mobility leases qualify for the Visale guarantee, a free scheme run by Action Logement. Visale stands as guarantor for the tenant and covers unpaid rent and, within certain limits, damage to the property. Particularly well suited to students and young professionals, it more than makes up for the missing deposit. For owners, it is solid, cost-free cover backed by a public body.
With a guarantor and/or Visale in place, owners get the same level of protection as a standard deposit, if not better. So the lack of a deposit is not a risk; it is a selling point that attracts the right tenants.
What the lease and the property must include
Mobility leases must follow specific formalities. To be valid, the written contract must state, among other things:
- The identity of both parties and proof of the tenant's reason for moving
- The length of the lease and its start date
- The rent and how it is to be paid
- A description of the property, its floor area and the list of furniture
- The service charges (fixed amount or monthly provision)
The property itself must meet the usual rules for furnished lets: it must be decent (meeting French minimum housing standards) and adequately furnished so the tenant can live there normally (bed and bedding, hob, fridge, crockery, table, chairs, storage and so on). As with any lease, an inventory is carried out at move-in and move-out. Service charges can be a fixed amount, which keeps things simple over a short term.
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Why owners like the mobility lease
Why should a Riviera owner offer mobility leases? The benefits are many, and practical.
1. You stay in control of your property
This is arguably the clincher. Because the mobility lease is non-renewable and has a set term, you get your property back on a date you know in advance, with no legal process or notice period to deal with. You can then move straight into the tourist season, use the property yourself, or sign a new mobility lease with another tenant.
2. Steady income in the low season
For a property normally let to holidaymakers, the mobility lease fills the quiet months from September to May with a guaranteed monthly rent. No more unsold nights from November to February: winter vacancy becomes regular income.
3. Less to manage
Unlike holiday letting, there is no weekly turnover, no cleaning between stays and no daily pricing to manage. One tenant for several months is far less work. At Azur Hébergements, that is also why our commission is lower: from 8% excl. VAT for mobility / student leases, compared with 20% excl. VAT (24% incl. VAT) for holiday letting.
4. Unpaid rent risk under control
With a guarantor and the Visale guarantee, the risk is well covered. And the tenants themselves, students backed by their families or professionals on assignment with an employer behind them, rarely default.
5. Favourable furnished-letting tax rules
As a mobility lease covers a furnished property, it comes under LMNP status (loueur meublé non professionnel, non-professional furnished letting status). Under the régime réel (actual-expenses regime), you can depreciate the property and reduce the tax on your rental income. As always, the details depend on your situation and thresholds change: check the best regime with your chartered accountant.
Mobility lease vs student lease vs holiday let
To see where the mobility lease sits among other short and medium-term options, here is a summary table.
| Criterion | Mobility lease | Furnished student lease | Holiday letting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 1 to 10 months | 9 months | By the night / week |
| Renewal | Non-renewable | No automatic renewal | Not applicable |
| Tenant | On a temporary move (studies, internship, assignment) | Student | Short-stay guests |
| Security deposit | Not allowed | Allowed | Deposit / card hold possible |
| Visale guarantee | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
| Management | Light | Light | Intensive |
| Income | Monthly rent | Monthly rent | High but seasonal |
The mobility lease stands out for its flexible length and the absence of a deposit, which Visale makes up for. The standard student lease (9 months) suits a full academic year. Holiday letting earns the most, but means heavy management and strong seasonality. These three options are not rivals: they work best together.
The mobility lease at the heart of the hybrid model
This is where the mobility lease really comes into its own on the French Riviera. Our speciality at Azur Hébergements is the hybrid model: making the same property earn across two seasons.
- June to August (or July to September): holiday letting in the peak tourist season, when nightly rates are highest. This is when each night earns the most: an average of €165 across our portfolio in summer 2026.
- September to May: a mobility or student lease, housing a student in Nice or a professional on the move, with a steady monthly income and little to manage.
In Nice, this mixed letting model (9 months to students, then 3 summer months to tourists) is expressly allowed for in the regulations, subject to the agreements signed with the City and the Métropole. It means your property earns all year round while you stay comfortably within the law. Bear in mind that short-term letting rules change and differ from one town to the next. Always check with the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and your chartered accountant.
The mobility lease is what makes the hybrid model run smoothly: its fixed term and the fact that it cannot be renewed mean you get the property back in time for summer, without a hitch. It is the ideal way to make sure a property never sits idle.
How to get started with a mobility lease
On paper the mobility lease is simple, but how much it earns depends on how well it is run: choosing the right tenants, drawing up a compliant contract, setting up Visale, handling inventories and switching cleanly into the tourist season. That is exactly what we take care of.
At Azur Hébergements, founded by Anthony and Laura, we run the hybrid model end to end: finding students and tenants on the move, secure contracts, and the switch to holiday letting in summer. Our commission starts at 8% on the mobility / student lease part. See how it all works on our student lets and mobility leases page, and for the summer months, our turnkey holiday letting management.
Conclusion: flexible, secure and profitable
For a Riviera owner, the mobility lease ticks every box: a flexible term of 1 to 10 months, non-renewable, so you get the property back on a fixed date; no security deposit, but a guarantor and the Visale guarantee more than make up for it; light management and favourable furnished-letting tax rules. Paired with holiday letting in a hybrid strategy, it turns a seasonal property into an asset that earns all year round.
Curious how much your property could earn with the hybrid model, a mobility lease in winter and holiday letting in summer? Ask for a free, personalised estimate, or try our income simulator first. We will give you an honest projection, backed by figures, with no obligation.
To find out more, see our mobility leases in Nice and our student lets in Antibes and Sophia Antipolis.
