Find a short- or medium-term rental in Montpellier: contracts, rents and neighbourhoods

Finding a home for a few weeks or a few months in Montpellier means choosing your contract carefully before choosing your apartment. Three options exist: the mobility lease, from 1 to 10 months, reserved for certain situations (studies, internship, assignment, job transfer); the standard furnished lease, for one year or 9 months for a student; and the furnished tourist rental, designed for short stays, which the Métropole regulates ever more strictly. Each has its own rules on duration, security deposit and notice.

The market is tight. According to Insee, Montpellier had 310,240 inhabitants in 2023 and 67.1% of main residences were occupied by tenants. Students and young professionals compete for small units, especially between July and September, and most landlords prefer to let by the year.

Montpellier has one advantage for tenants: rents are capped, including for a mobility lease. Here is how each contract works, what a furnished rental costs in 2026 and how to go about landing a short- or medium-term place.

The legal framework for a rental of a few months

The mobility lease: from 1 to 10 months, with no security deposit

The mobility lease is the contract best suited to a stay of a few months. It covers a furnished property and lasts from 1 to 10 months. It can be neither renewed nor extended; its duration can be changed only once by amendment, without exceeding 10 months in total.

It is reserved for tenants who, at the start of the lease, are in one of these situations: vocational training, higher education, an apprenticeship contract, an internship, civic service, a job transfer or a temporary work assignment. Proof is required (internship agreement, apprenticeship contract, training certificate).

• No security deposit: the landlord has no right to ask for one. They may, however, require a guarantor, and the Visale guarantee is accepted, including for a student.
• Flat-fee charges, paid with the rent and written into the lease.
• Early departure possible at any time, with one month's notice.
• Capped rent: in Montpellier, the mobility lease is subject to reference rents, like a standard lease.

The standard furnished lease: one year, or 9 months for a student

If you do not meet the conditions for the mobility lease, the furnished main-residence lease remains the normal route. It lasts one year and renews automatically, or 9 months with no renewal if it is signed with a student. The tenant can leave at any time with one month's notice, even on a 9-month lease. The security deposit is capped at two months' rent excluding charges and must be returned within one month if the move-out condition report matches the move-in one, two months otherwise.

Tourist rentals: for a few nights, not for settling in

Seasonal rentals fall outside the 1989 law: no rent control, no tenant protection as a main residence. They help out for the first weeks, but supply is shrinking. At the start of 2025, Montpellier had 5,728 registered tourist rentals. In October 2025, the Métropole tightened its rules: L'Écusson, which holds 52% of these rentals, became a quota zone, limited to 770 properties, a ceiling already reached. New authorisations there are therefore becoming rare.

Rent control in Montpellier

Since 1 July 2022, rents for properties let unfurnished or furnished as a main residence, as well as those under mobility leases, have been capped across the Métropole. Each year, the prefect sets by order a reference rent per m², a maximum rent (reference plus 20%) and a minimum rent (reference minus 30%), according to five geographic zones, the number of rooms, the period of construction and whether the property is unfurnished or furnished. Furnished properties benefit from a supplement.

The order of 9 June 2026 sets the values applicable from 1 July to 23 November 2026. The national experiment is indeed due to end on 24 November 2026; a two-year extension is being discussed in Parliament in autumn 2026. Check the rule in force on the date you sign.

The scheme is fairly well respected. In its barometer published in September 2026, covering more than 10,000 listings posted between August 2025 and August 2026, the Fondation pour le Logement finds that 12% of rents offered in Montpellier exceed the cap, against 37% across all the cities studied. In Montpellier, the lease must state the reference rent and the maximum reference rent: if it does not, or if the rent exceeds the cap, the ADIL of the Hérault can advise you free of charge.