Winter truce: dates and protections in force for winter 2024-2025

In 1956, following an appeal byAbbé Pierre, and in response to a particularly cold and deadly winter, a new law was passed: the winter truce. For a period of several months, tenants cannot be evicted from their homes, even in the event of unpaid rent. The truce also prevents gas and electricity cuts in households during this period.

The 2014 Alur law sets the dates for this truce: it is therefore implemented from November 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. Five months of protection for tenants, a reprieve for people struggling to pay their bills.

It should be noted, however, that the winter truce has exceptions, and does not apply in certain situations. The official website service-public.fr details the situations in which the truce does not apply:

• "people benefiting from rehousing in line with their family needs;
• residents of a dwelling in a building affected by a security order;
• squatters occupying a home, whether a primary or secondary residence;
• squatters occupying a garage or plot of land. In this case, the judge ordering eviction may decide to cancel or shorten the winter truce;
• spouses whose eviction from the marital home has been ordered by a family court judge as part of a non-conciliation order in divorce proceedings;
• spouses, partners or cohabitants who are violent within the couple or towards a child, and whose eviction from the family home has been ordered by the family affairs judge as part of a protection order".

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The winter truce has sometimes been extended for exceptional reasons: this was the case in 2020 and 2021, during the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic, when the French population was confined.

Also worth knowing: in the French overseas territories, a cyclone truce can be put in place. It operates in the same way as the winter truce, and is implemented from December 1, during the cyclone season.

At the end of these truces, an increase in evictions is often noted, alarming associations helping people in difficulty.