Context
On 30 September 2022, the Government Council having regard to the inflationary pressures due to the current economic environment, which continues to weigh on households, including those with a lower income, gave its approval to the draft law No. 8076 (the "Draft Law"), which, once it will be definitively adopted, will temporarily suspend evictions for residential leases.
The objectives of the draft law
The Draft Law aims to protect the most vulnerable households. It aims to temporarily suspend the execution of evictions concerning housing leases for a determined period.
Entry into force
The current version of the Draft Law proposes to be effective until after the "winter break" which is set at 31 March 2023 inclusive.
Therefore, if the Draft Law should be adopted, it would mean that landlords would not be able to evict a defaulting tenant until 1 April 2023. The need to protect tenants who could find themselves without housing with the impossibility of rehousing under the current situation prevails and solidarity takes precedence.
This being said, some landlords could also find themselves in difficult situations taking into account potentially conflicting situations that will have to be analysed on a case-by-case basis.
Limitation of the scope of suspension
Nevertheless, the Draft Law includes precisions concerning its scope. In this respect, certain exceptions are provided such as eviction in divorce cases when the enjoyment of the lodging is attributed to one of the spouses, as well as in cases of domestic violence, situations that would not fall within the scope of the suspension of the evictions envisaged. The same applies to commercial leases, which are outside the scope of the Draft Law.
Towards the introduction of a winter break?
Finally, and in view of the difficult economic situation that is likely to persist in the years to come, would this Draft Law not be the initiator of a much more profound reform that would aim to put in place a real protection as regards evictions from residential leases by instituting, as already exists in France, a winter break period during which no evictions can be ordered.
