In Spain, Portugal and Italy, an energy certificate is paperwork. In France it decides what you're allowed to do with the property.
A G-rated French home cannot be newly let. From 2028 the same applies to F, and from 2034 to E. If you're buying to let, the letter on the DPE isn't a running-cost footnote, it's the first thing to check.
The DPE carries two labels, not one. An energy label measuring primary energy consumption in kWh/m² a year, and a climate label measuring greenhouse gas emissions in kg CO2eq/m² a year.
The published class is the worse of the two. A house that scores C on energy and E on emissions is an E. That catches out buyers looking at oil or LPG heating, who assume the fuel is a bills question. It isn't. It can cost you two letters and, in the wrong band, the right to let the property.
| Class | Energy (kWh/m²/yr) | Emissions (kg CO2eq/m²/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| A | under 70 | under 6 |
| B | 70 to 110 | 6 to 11 |
| C | 110 to 180 | 11 to 30 |
| D | 180 to 250 | 30 to 50 |
| E | 250 to 330 | 50 to 70 |
| F | 330 to 420 | 70 to 100 |
| G | 420 and above | 100 and above |
Two variants worth knowing, because international buyers often buy into exactly these categories. Properties above 800 metres or in the colder climate zones get 
relaxed E, F and G thresholds. And dwellings under 40 m² have had sliding thresholds since July 2024, which materially helps small city flats.
The letting calendar, set by the loi Climat et Résilience:
Existing leases aren't torn up. The rule bites on new lettings, renewals and tacit renewals, so an inherited sitting tenant isn't an immediate problem, but the first time that tenancy turns over it becomes one.
There's a second restriction people forget. Since August 2022, an F or G property can't have its rent increased at all: not on a new letting above what the previous tenant paid, not by the annual IRL revision, and not on renewal. So a poorly rated property you already let is frozen in nominal terms while costs rise.
One thing that might change this
A government bill, the projet de loi "relance et décentralisation du logement", would let owners re-let F and G properties where they contractually commit to renovation works, or where works are genuinely impossible, for instance because a copropriété has refused them.
It was adopted by the Sénat on 8 July 2026 and passed to the Assemblée nationale the following day, where it remains in committee. It is not law.
Worth knowing about, not worth planning around. If you're weighing a purchase, price it on the rules as they stand.
A DPE lasts ten years, but there was a transition and it has already happened.
So anything dated before July 2021 is now invalid, whatever it says on it. A DPE without its 13-character ADEME identification number isn't valid either.
One myth worth killing: renovation works don't automatically void a DPE. Owners choose to redo it after works because the old one understates the property, which is a commercial decision rather than a legal requirement.
This is the most useful thing to know if you're looking at an electrically heated home.
On 1 January 2026 France changed how the DPE converts electricity into primary energy, cutting the coefficient from 2.3 to 1.9. Roughly 850,000 homes came out of F and G overnight, with no work done to any of them. A further cut, to 1.7, takes effect on 1 January 2027 under an arrêté published in August 2026, moving around 300,000 more.
Two things the ministry has confirmed, and both are in your favour as a buyer:
Put those together. If you're looking at an electrically heated property whose DPE predates 2026, the letter on the listing may already be out of date in a direction that favours the property. It costs nothing to have it regenerated. On a property sitting at F or G, that's not a presentational question, it's whether it can be let.
It also means a French home can legitimately change class twice in two years without anyone touching the building. Always check the date on a DPE, not just the letter.
Since 1 July 2021 the DPE has been opposable, meaning it carries contractual value rather than being purely informative. That's a real change, and stronger than the purely informational certificates most countries issue.
Be realistic about what it gets you. In practice the workable claim is against the diagnostiqueur who prepared the report and their professional insurer, not against the seller. And what French courts award is perte de chance: the value of the negotiation you lost, or the chance to walk away. Not the cost of the insulation works needed to reach the advertised rating, and not your excess energy bills.
An erroneous DPE also doesn't annul the sale by itself. Recent first-instance awards have run to tens of thousands of euros, which is not nothing, but it isn't "make the house right at the seller's expense" either.
Selling a poorly rated French property can require a full energy audit on top of the DPE. The scope is the part most guides get wrong.
It applies to individual houses, and apartment buildings owned in their entirety by one owner. A flat in a normal copropriété is not covered.
The audit sets out at least two renovation routes, one staged and one done in a single pass, each costed, with the class the property would reach and the grants available. It's valid five years rather than ten, and the seller pays. UFC-Que Choisir put the average cost at €754.
If you're buying an E, F or G house, ask for the audit. It is an independently prepared, costed plan for the works you're about to inherit, and you're entitled to it.
The seller pays, always. Never the buyer or the tenant.
Prices aren't regulated, and the government itself recommends getting several quotes. Indicatively, expect somewhere between €100 and €250 depending on size and region. Unlike the audit, the DPE itself attracts no subsidy.
This is market practice rather than regulation. No rule requires French banks to price on the DPE, and the national lending norms contain no DPE condition. But banks are doing it anyway, and consistently enough to plan around.
What buyers are reporting in 2026:
That last one is the one that kills deals. It doesn't make the property more expensive, it makes the sums fail.
There's a counterweight. Several banks offer rate reductions of 0.10 to 0.30 points where the borrower commits contractually to completing energy works within roughly two to three years, evidenced by an updated DPE afterwards.
The practical advice follows from that: take the renovation plan and its quotes to your first meeting with the bank. Don't present the purchase and the works as two separate conversations.
Here's the part that matters most to international buyers, and it's bad news.
MaPrimeRénov' requires the property to be a principal residence, whether the applicant's own or one they let. A non-resident buying a French holiday home does not qualify. Neither does the éco-PTZ, which also requires the borrower's principal residence.
If you're buying a second home in France, plan the renovation on the basis that you are paying for all of it.
For completeness, if you are moving to France properly:
The two are cumulative where you qualify for both.
Apartment buildings permitted before 1 January 2013 now need a building-level DPE: over 200 lots since January 2024, 50 to 200 since January 2025, and up to 50 lots from January 2026.
It does not replace your flat's own DPE, and it's the individual DPE that determines the letting ban and the rent freeze. If the two disagree there's no statutory rule on which prevails, and the French notaries' own guidance says as much while recommending you rely on the individual one.
France is transposing the EU's recast buildings directive through a bill adopted by the Sénat in February 2026 and still before the Assemblée nationale. The transposition deadline was 29 May 2026, every member state missed it, and the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against all 27 on 15 July 2026.
The direction of travel is towards more disclosure, not less.
Can I buy a G-rated property in France? Yes. Buying is unrestricted. Letting is what's banned.
Can I still use it myself? Yes. The restrictions apply to letting, not to occupation.
Is the 2028 ban on F definitely happening? It's the law today. A bill that would allow F and G letting subject to a works commitment passed the Sénat in July 2026 and is pending before the Assemblée nationale. Don't assume it will pass.
The DPE I've been shown is from 2020. Is it valid? No. Anything issued before 1 July 2021 expired at the end of 2024.
Can I get French renovation grants on a holiday home? No. MaPrimeRénov' and the éco-PTZ both require a principal residence.
The property is electrically heated and the DPE is from 2024. Should I ask for a new one? Yes, and it's free. Any DPE from 2025 or earlier can be regenerated through the ADEME observatory with no new site visit, and the calculation change may have improved the class.
Is it the same as the certificate I'm used to at home? No. Few countries ban letting outright the way France does, and the French class is the worse of two separate scores.
Written by
Nick StoreyNick Storey is the Operations Director at tumaklata.sbs, where he leads platform operations, product delivery, and commercial strategy.
Having lived and worked in Spain for 14 years, Nick began his career as an estate agent on the south coast of Granada and brings first-hand market experience to his work.
He joined Kyero in 2007 and has since played a central role in scaling the business, shaping its product direction, and strengthening how international buyers connect with agents across Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy
Receive property recommendations, inspiration and tips on moving abroad.
