Half of Real Estate Agencies in France Agree to Rent Only to ‘European’ Tenants

Rabat – Nearly one out of every two real estate agencies in France accepts or helps racial discrimination concerning access to housing, according to a new report released on Sunday by the anti-racism group SOS Racisme.

According to the report, 48.48% of agencies accepted or facilitated discrimination. Half of those directly agreed to select tenants based on race, while the other half encouraged or allowed the owner to do so. 

By contrast, 51.52% clearly refused and stated that discrimination based on origin is illegal.

The findings come from a nationwide testing campaign carried out in 2025. During the operation, SOS Racisme contacted 198 real estate agencies linked to major real estate brands and to the National Federation of Real Estate (Fnaim). 

Activists pretended to be property owners looking to rent out apartments and asked agencies to accept only “European” tenants, claiming this would avoid “neighborhood problems.”

SOS Racisme described the results as alarming. It said the study shows the “worrying persistence of discriminatory practices,” even though such actions are prohibited under criminal law in France.

Reacting to the report, Aurore Bergé, the minister delegate for fighting discrimination, said that “discrimination is illegal” and admitted that “there is still a long way to go.” Speaking to Le Parisien, she announced that the government will introduce mandatory training on discrimination for all real estate agents.

Currently, only agents who hold a professional license are required to receive training, which represents less than half of those working in the sector, according to French media.

Bergé said a new decree will be signed in the coming weeks with Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun to make the training compulsory for everyone in the profession. 

The president of Fnaim, Loïc Cantin, said the report confirms past trends, and condemned the continued discriminatory practices. He described discrimination in housing as “a real plague” and stressed the need for both training and sanctions to ensure the profession meets its legal responsibilities.

This is the third housing discrimination testing campaign SOS Racisme has conducted, following similar studies in 2019 and 2022. The situation has not improved since the last report, as in 2022, nearly the same share of agencies, 48.5%, accepted or facilitated discrimination.