Charente-Maritime: Oléron Island introduces quotas to regulate furnished tourist accommodation

As of January 1 ^, 2026, the island's eight municipalities require that all furnished tourist rentals be declared and authorized by each town hall.

The island of Oléron is calling time on playtime. Faced with the explosion in seasonal rentals, the territory's eight mayors have chosen to regulate the phenomenon by establishing a global quota of 4,000 furnished tourist accommodations across the island, with an additional 10% tolerance, depending on the municipality. This margin of error should allow all those who rented without declaring it or paying the tourist tax to regularize their situation. Between September 9 and 11, three public meetings in Saint-Georges, Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, and Grand-Village-Plage presented this new system.

For Michel Parent, president of the Community of Communes (CdC), "we can no longer accommodate seasonal workers in the summer, let alone year-round accommodation on the island. This means that no business can recruit, nor local authorities, nor retirement homes. If we let this continue, there will then be closures of classes and schools."

The housing challenge on this island territory is facing the full force of the surge in furnished tourist accommodation. According to figures from the CdC, the island has gone from fewer than 500 furnished rentals in 2016 to nearly 4,000 in 2024. Thanks to the Le Meur law, municipalities now have the leverage to curb these rentals on major online platforms.

From January ^1, 2026, in Oléron, owners wishing to rent out their property (except for rooms in private homes and guest rooms) will need to obtain prior authorization for a change of use. Those already registered with the town halls – and paying the tourist tax – will have priority. However, newcomers or those who have previously rented without registering will have to meet a series of criteria.

Among those considered were the quality of the accommodation (any classification, online reviews, existing amenities), energy performance, and compliance with a ceiling of four dwellings per owner per municipality. "So I can't rent six dwellings in Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, but I can rent 32 across the entire island," joked one frustrated Oléron resident.

Other new owners currently under construction sought to stir up pity among the assembly by evoking the complications and financial losses if they could not rent out their real estate projects. These complaints did not find favor with the elected officials, who reminded them that they would be better off renting out their property year-round.

The issued authorization will be valid for four years, renewable. At the meetings, those speaking were keen to discuss their particular cases or exorcise their anxieties.

The real estate issue seemed the most difficult to accept for some. Indeed, if the property is sold, the new owner will have no guarantee of being able to rent it out in turn. They will be placed on a waiting list. The topic of inheritance also stirred up a lot of discussion at the meetings because the authorization is indeed "temporary, nominative, and non-transferable." The mayors present tried to reassure people by reminding them that the quotas defined by each municipality can be reviewed by decision of the municipal council.

At the meeting at the Eldorado in Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, participants feared "that permits would be granted at the client's discretion" or, as one landlord put it, a little abruptly, the feeling of "no longer being the master of one's own house." That day, the final word went to a resident of Saint-Georges-d'Oléron who testified with great emotion "that this was probably not the right way to encourage landlords to rent out year-round."

The mayor of Dolus, Thibault Brechkoff, aware of the necessary educational work, emphasizes that "no one at the meeting questioned the very idea of ​​quotas" but understands the concern linked to administrative hassles.

"Those who rent today and have been doing so for a long time will be protected by the system in place. There will be no additional competition from furnished tourist accommodation that will never see the light of day," insists Michel Parent. This is a way of saying that the time for speculation on the island of Oléron is over and that a ceiling of between 4,000 and 5,000 furnished tourist accommodations is more than sufficient.