APL housing allowance in France: +1.15% on 1 October 2026, a proposed 2027 freeze and students — what the texts actually say

Since 1 October 2026, the scale of France's personal housing allowances has been uprated by 1.15%. The uprating order appeared in the Journal officiel on 30 September. The next day, the finance bill for 2027 was tabled in the National Assembly. Two of its articles affect these allowances: one would scrap the 2027 uprating, the other would exclude some students.

A lot has been written since, and not all of it is accurate. We have read that the second-quarter rent reference index stood at 146.22: that is the index for Corsica. We have read that "APL is frozen": it has just been uprated. We have read that students are about to lose their allowance: the text targets some of them, and it has not been voted.

APL on 1 October 2026: the legal framework of the uprating

An annual review pegged to the IRL for the 2nd quarter

The principle is laid down in article L. 823-4 of the French Construction and Housing Code (code de la construction et de l'habitation, CCH): "Le barème est révisé chaque année au 1^er octobre" (the scale is reviewed every year on 1 October). Several parameters follow the rent reference index (indice de référence des loyers, IRL), including rent ceilings and the flat-rate service-charge amount. The date of the index used "est celle du deuxième trimestre de l'année en cours" (is that of the second quarter of the current year).

"APL" is used here, as in everyday French, for the three allowances listed in article L. 821-1 of the CCH. They are the aide personnalisée au logement (personalised housing allowance, APL in the strict sense), the allocation de logement familiale (family housing allowance) and the allocation de logement sociale (social housing allowance). The uprating applies to all three.

INSEE (the French national statistics institute) published the Q2 index on 10 July 2026: 148.37, i.e. +1.15% year on year. INSEE also publishes an index for Corsica (146.22) and one for the overseas territories (146.94). All three rose by 1.15%. That is why a wrong value still gives the right percentage.

The ministerial order of 28 September 2026: what it changes

The uprating comes from the ministerial order (arrêté) of 28 September 2026, published in the Journal officiel of 30 September 2026. Its explanatory note announces an uprating of the housing-expenditure parameters in line with the IRL, "soit + 1,15 %". Under its article 3, it applies to "prestations dues à compter du 1^er octobre 2026" (benefits due from 1 October 2026).

Its article 1 amends the ministerial order of 27 September 2019, which carries every amount of the scale. For rentals, the rent ceilings in its article 7 become:

The left-hand values are those of the ministerial order of 5 September 2025, applicable since 1 October 2025. The service-charge allowance in article 9 rises from €60.59 to €61.29 for a single person or a couple with no dependants. It rises from €13.74 to €13.90 per additional dependant.

One last amount moves: the floor of the minimum contribution, called P0. This is the amount the household always keeps paying itself. Under article 13 of the order, that floor rises from €39.56 to €40.01.

What the order does not touch: the January 2026 freeze

Income parameters are not part of the October review. The main one is called R0: a flat-rate allowance deducted from household income. Under article D. 823-17, 5°, of the CCH, R0 is uprated every 1 January. The text ties it to "l'évolution de l'indice des prix à la consommation des ménages hors tabac" (consumer prices excluding tobacco).

Decree no. 2025-1401 of 28 December 2025 set this rule aside for this year. Its article 1 provides that the students' flat-rate income amount and "le paramètre « R0 » ne sont pas révisés pour l'année 2026" (the R0 parameter is not reviewed for 2026). A freeze therefore already applies, since 1 January 2026, but it concerns income, not rents.

How +1.15% translates into euros on your APL

The statutory formula

For a tenant, article D. 823-16 of the CCH calculates the monthly allowance as follows: Af = L + C − Pp. L is the rent taken into account, capped at the ceiling in the table. C is the service-charge allowance. Pp is the household's personal contribution.

Article D. 823-17 defines that contribution: Pp = P0 + Tp × (R − R0). R is household income and Tp a rate that depends on household composition and rent. P0 equals 8.5% of the rent taken into account plus the service-charge allowance, with a floor of €40.01 (ministerial order of 27 September 2019, article 13).

The rate Tp depends on the ratio between the rent taken into account and a reference rent. The order of 28 September 2026 uprated that reference rent by the same percentage. When the rent is above the ceiling, that ratio therefore does not move.

Why the allowance does not rise by 1.15%

The uprating acts on L, C and P0, not on the final amount. It has its full effect if your rent is above the ceiling for your zone. The rent taken into account is then the ceiling itself, and it rises with it. If your rent is below the ceiling, L remains your actual rent. Only the service-charge allowance, the minimum contribution and, very slightly, the rate Tp then move.

Worked example: unfurnished rental, rent above the ceiling, income unchanged between September and October

In all four cases, 8.5% of L + C stays below the floor: €33.85 for the single person in zone I. P0 therefore equals the floor, which rises from €39.56 to €40.01. The increase in the allowance equals the increase in L, plus that in C, minus that in P0. In zone II: 3.34 + 0.70 − 0.45 = €3.59. The term Tp × (R − R0) does not change, since R0 is frozen and Tp stable.

Then comes rounding. Under article D. 823-16, the amount paid is rounded down to the euro after deduction of social contributions. In practice, this means the CRDS (contribution to the repayment of the social debt), at a rate of 0.5%. The visible increase is therefore a step of a whole number of euros. Expect €3 or €4 in zones II and III, and €4 or €5 in zone I, as for the couple in zone II.

The rules that weigh more than the uprating

Taper above a high rent. Under article D. 823-16, the calculated amount "est diminué lorsque le loyer principal dépasse un plafond de dégressivité" (is reduced when the basic rent exceeds a taper ceiling). It then decreases until it reaches zero at a cut-off ceiling. Article 10 of the 2019 order sets these ceilings by multiplying the rent ceiling by 3.4 and 4 in zone I, and by 2.5 and 3.1 in zones II and III. For a single person in zone II, the allowance falls above a basic rent of about €734. It reaches zero at about €910. In zone I, the two thresholds are about €1,146 and €1,348. The rule does not apply if the claimant or their spouse receives the disabled adult allowance or the disabled child education allowance.

The €5 deduction and the payment threshold. The result is then reduced by €5 (article 11 of the 2019 order). Below a threshold, the allowance is not paid. Article 12 sets that threshold, before CRDS, "à 10 euros pour les allocations de logement et à 0 euro pour l'aide personnalisée au logement" (€10 for the housing allowances, €0 for the personalised housing allowance). The often-quoted €10 rule therefore only applies to the allocations de logement.

Assets above €30,000. Assets enter the calculation above a threshold (article L. 822-5 of the CCH). Article R. 822-22 sets that threshold at €30,000, excluding the main residence and business assets. Above it, only assets that have produced no taxable income count, but they count in full. They are deemed to yield, for example, 50% of their rental value for a built property and 3% for capital. So €40,000 of capital producing no taxable income adds €1,200 a year to the income used. Assets are not taken into account if the claimant or their spouse receives the disabled adult allowance or the disabled child education allowance. Nor are they for a resident of a care home for dependent elderly people (EHPAD) or a résidence autonomie (article L. 822-5, paragraphs 2 and 3).

APL in 2027: what the finance bill proposes, and what has not been voted

The finance bill for 2027 (projet de loi de finances, PLF) was registered with the National Assembly on 1 October 2026 as bill no. 3210. Two of its articles concern APL. They are Government proposals. Parliament may adopt, amend or delete them. None will apply before the law is enacted.

Article 74: no review on 1 October 2027

Its first paragraph covers the review under article L. 823-4 of the CCH and the uprating of the prime d'activité (in-work benefit): they "ne sont pas appliquées en 2027" (are not applied in 2027). The second adds: "Un décret peut toutefois rétablir leur application" (a decree may nevertheless restore them).

If adopted as drafted, rent ceilings, the service-charge allowance and the floor of P0 would stay at their October 2026 level in 2027. The explanatory memorandum puts the saving at €101 million for the State in 2027. Article 74 does not cover income parameters. Unless a new decree freezes it, R0 will be uprated on 1 January 2027.

Article 78: students from a well-off tax household

Article 78 would create an article L. 822-8-1 in the CCH. Two groups of students would lose the allowance. The first is those counted in a tax household's family quotient, i.e. dependants or attached children. The second is those receiving from it a maintenance payment deducted from its taxable income. In both cases, the test uses the taxation of income of the year before last.

The exclusion would only apply to a well-off household. Its reference taxable income per share would have to exceed "la limite supérieure de la deuxième tranche du barème de l'impôt sur le revenu" (the upper limit of the second income-tax band). The number of shares depends on the family: a married couple with one dependent child has 2.5 shares (articles 194 et seq. of the French General Tax Code, CGI).

That limit currently stands at €29,579 per share (article 197 of the same code). Article 2 of the bill proposes raising it to €30,200. For 2.5 shares, the threshold would be €73,947.50 of reference taxable income with the current limit. It would be €75,500 with the one in the bill. The text would come into force on 1 September 2027, based on 2026 income. The explanatory memorandum puts the saving at €72 million for 2027.

A similar exclusion already exists. Article L. 822-8 of the CCH denies any allowance to people attached to the tax household of parents liable to the Real Estate Wealth Tax (IFI). For students only, article 78 would add an income test and also cover deducted maintenance payments. A student whose household stays below the threshold is not affected. Nor is a student who is neither attached nor supported by a deducted maintenance payment.

APL and landlords: direct payment, arrears and the 2027 rules

The uprating does not change the rent you receive. But if the allowance is paid to you, the share paid by the paying body rises by a few euros. Your tenant's remaining share falls by the same amount. The paying body is the family allowance fund (caisse d'allocations familiales, CAF), or the agricultural social insurance fund (MSA) for people under the farming scheme (article R. 823-1 of the CCH).

Who receives the allowance: landlord or tenant

It depends on the allowance. For a rental, the aide personnalisée au logement is in principle paid "au bailleur du logement" (to the landlord; article L. 832-1, 1°, of the CCH). Regulations allow it to be paid to the tenant in some cases. The allocation de logement is paid "sur leur demande, au prêteur ou au bailleur" (at their request, to the lender or the landlord; article L. 842-1). The landlord then deducts it from the rent and service charges and informs the tenant. It can only be paid to the landlord if the dwelling meets the requirements of articles L. 822-9 (decency) and L. 822-10 (occupancy).

Arrears today, until 31 December 2026

If the tenant does not pay their share, the landlord receiving the allowance reports the default to the paying body (article L. 824-1). Until 31 December 2026, article R. 824-1 establishes arrears once the debt reaches twice the monthly rent, service charges included. That rent is gross if the allowance goes to the tenant, and net of the allowance if it goes to the landlord. The landlord receiving the allowance has two months to report the arrears (article R. 824-4).

What changes on 1 January 2027

Decree no. 2026-84 of 12 February 2026 rewrites these rules. Unlike the finance bill, it is a published text. Its article 5 makes it applicable "à compter du 1^er janvier 2027 aux situations d'impayés de dépense de logement signalées à cette date" (from 1 January 2027, to arrears situations reported at that date). The new article R. 824-2 provides for two cases. First: three months after a first missed payment, "quel que soit son montant" (whatever its amount), the household has still not paid. Second: "le montant de l'impayé dépasse 450 euros" (the arrears exceed €450).

Example: rent of €650, €50 of service charges, €200 of allowance paid to the landlord. The net rent is €500. Under the current rule, arrears are only established at €1,000 of debt. From 2027, they are established above €450, or after three months without payment.

The landlord still has two months to report the arrears (new article R. 824-3). In the event of arrears, the allowance is maintained, even after termination of the lease if the occupant pays the occupancy compensation and charges set by the court (new article R. 824-6). The only exception is a suspension decision by the departmental eviction-prevention commission (CCAPEX). Finally, the new article R. 824-9 covers a tenant who receives the allowance and falls into arrears. The paying body must then ask the landlord whether they wish to receive the allowance instead. It need not do so if the dwelling does not meet the requirements of articles L. 822-9 and L. 822-10 (article L. 842-1, paragraph 3).

The APL uprating and the annual rent review follow the same index. Our article on the rent review based on the IRL explains the method. For a lease indexed on the second quarter of 2026, the national index is 148.37. Corsica (146.22) and the overseas territories (146.94) have their own index.

Two common mistakes about APL in 2026

Taking Corsica's IRL for the national index

146.22 is the Q2 2026 IRL applicable in Corsica. The national index is 148.37. If you review a rent outside Corsica using 146.22, your calculation is wrong, even if the announced percentage looks right.

Forgetting assets and the taper

Assets above €30,000 or a rent well above the ceiling can cut the allowance far more than the uprating raises it. Before signing an expensive lease on the strength of APL, check where the rent sits against the taper thresholds for your zone. For landlords, the allowance changes nothing in the property's gross and net rental yield. It does, however, weigh on the risk of arrears.

Conclusion

On 1 October 2026, APL was neither frozen nor abolished. Its rent parameters were uprated by 1.15%, i.e. €3 to €5 a month for a single person. The October 2027 freeze and the reform of student allowances are only articles of a bill. The R0 freeze, however, has applied since January. For landlords, the real dated change is 1 January 2027: arrears established above €450.

To estimate a tenant's allowance with the October scale, use the Mon Simulateur Immobilier APL calculator. To place the 2027 bill in the sequence of budget texts, read what the 2026 finance act changed for property.