Nice quota districts: the filing suspension ends on 31 August 2026

Change-of-use applications are suspended in Nice's four quota districts from 1 February to 31 August 2026. This follows directly from an order of the Nice administrative court dated 29 January 2026, which suspended part of the regulation the city had adopted two months earlier. After 31 August, nothing is automatic: no new filing window has been announced, and the case is awaiting the Conseil d'État.

News article, updated 22 August 2026. For the underlying rules — registration, the 90-day cap, change of use, co-ownership — see our guide to short-term rental regulation in Nice.

The timeline, in four dates

• 5 December 2025 — the City of Nice adopts a new change-of-use regulation. From 1 January 2026 it caps the number of temporary authorisations issued each year in four districts: 671 in total.
• 1 January 2026 — the regulation takes effect.
• 29 January 2026 — following an application by associations representing furnished-rental professionals, the interim relief judge at the Nice administrative court partially suspends the regulation.
• 1 February 2026 — the Métropole was due to open filing in the quota districts. It freezes it instead, until 31 August 2026, pending the Conseil d'État's decision.

What the judge actually suspended

This is the most misunderstood part of the case, and it matters: the judge did not suspend the quotas in principle. The suspension concerns a point of method — the regulation counted only main homes when calculating the temporary-authorisation quotas for the four districts.

The distinction is far from theoretical. The calculation method determines how many authorisations are actually available in each zone. Depending on how the housing stock is counted, a district's allocation can vary significantly. That calculation base is what the Conseil d'État has to settle — not whether the scheme exists at all.

In practice: the quotas are unlikely to disappear. Their volumes may well be revised.

The four districts and their quotas

• Zone 1 — Vieux-Nice: 38 authorisations a year. By far the most constrained district in the city.
• Zone 2 — Riquier, Port, Mont-Boron: 277 authorisations a year.
• Zone 3 — City centre: 298 authorisations a year. The largest allocation, over the most sought-after area.
• Zone 4 — West: 108 authorisations a year.

Mind the boundaries: they do not match the neighbourhoods as people name them. An address everyone places "in the city centre" may sit in zone 3 or in zone 2. That check is done on the official map, not by intuition.

If your property sits outside these four districts, the suspension does not concern you: a change-of-use application follows the usual route and the timetable is not constrained by a quota.

Will filing reopen on 1 September?

That is the question everyone is asking, and it deserves an honest answer: the suspension is set to end on 31 August 2026, but no reopening date has been announced. Those are two different things, and confusing them can cost you an application.

Three outcomes are possible.

• The Conseil d'État rules before the end of August and the Métropole reopens filing, possibly with the calculation method corrected.
• The decision takes longer and the suspension is extended, as it already has been since February.
• The regulation is amended, changing the number of authorisations available per district — upwards or downwards.

One marker to calibrate expectations: under the normal regime, first applications in quota districts can only be filed in February, from the 1st to the 28th or 29th. A reopening in September would therefore be an exceptional window — possible, but not a given. A straightforward postponement to the following February is just as plausible.

Worth noting: renewals, mixed-use applications and compensation files can still be submitted all year round, including during the suspension.

What to prepare now

There is nothing to file before 31 August. There is everything to prepare, because these windows are short and quotas fill in order of arrival. A file assembled on the day filing opens starts at a disadvantage.

1. Identify exactly which zone your address falls into on the regulation's official map, not from the neighbourhood name.
2. Confirm the status of the property — main home or second home. Only second homes are concerned by change of use.
3. Read your co-ownership rules. A residential-use clause would make the whole process pointless, quota or no quota.
4. Gather the documents: title deed, floor plans, surface area, proof of occupancy.
5. Register with the city and obtain your registration number, which is mandatory regardless of change of use.
6. Watch for the reopening announcement. It is the one thing you cannot anticipate.

Reviewing your property

At Yellow we follow this case for the owners we work with in Nice, district by district: Vieux-Nice, the Port, Jean-Médecin and the rest of the centre. If you are not sure which zone your address falls into, or what your property actually allows, get in touch — we will look at it together before the window opens.

Sources: City of Nice change-of-use regulation of 5 December 2025; order of the interim relief judge of the Nice administrative court, 29 January 2026; Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur pages on change-of-use authorisations and furnished tourist rentals, consulted on 22 August 2026.