“My friends, help… A woman has just frozen to death, last night at 3 o’clock, on the sidewalk of Boulevard Sébastopol [in Paris], clutching the paper with which, the day before yesterday, she had been expelled…” . On February 1, 1954, Abbé Pierre launched his famous appeal while a particularly harsh winter caused the death of many people on the streets. This appeal facilitated the establishment, in 1956, of the winter truce, which prohibited most expulsions during the five coldest months of the year. A law that still applies almost seventy years later.

The winter break applies every year, from November 1st to March 31st. During this period, tenants cannot be evicted from their accommodation. If legal proceedings continue, evictions are paused.

The law, however, provides for a series of exceptions, which still make certain expulsions possible during these five months:

The situation is particular overseas: tenants are not protected by a winter break but by hurricane or rain breaks, the dates of which are different.

Gas and electricity cuts are prohibited from November 1 to March 31. Since 2021, EDF customers have benefited from additional protection, since it is no longer possible to cut off their electricity in the event of unpaid bills – instead, their electrical power is restricted.

For their part, water distributors do not have the right to cut off the water to a main residence, whatever the time of year.

Nearly 38,000 people, or 17,500 households, were evicted by the police in 2022, according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation. And “two to three times more households leave before the police arrive,” adds Christophe Robert, the general delegate of the organization. According to him, while evictions are theoretically impossible, pressure from landlords sometimes leads some tenants to pack up during the winter break.

During the Covid-19 years, in 2020 and 2021, evictions fell sharply, before recovering sharply in 2022.

The Abbé Pierre Foundation fears that the increase will continue in 2023, particularly due to inflation, with Christophe Robert recalling that “the majority of evictions are linked to problems paying”.

In the absence of an amicable solution between the tenant and the lessor, the owner may ask a court commissioner to send the occupant an order to pay. The tenant benefits from a period of six weeks to regularize his situation.

If the tenant is not able to repay his or her dues, the lessor can take him to court. At the end of the hearing, the judge decides to grant a payment period without terminating the lease or orders the eviction of the occupant.

The eviction procedure takes the form of an order to leave the premises within two months. The most precarious tenants may, depending on their situation and that of the lessor, benefit from a grace period. After this period, the justice commissioner comes to the home so that the tenant leaves the premises. If the occupant still refuses to comply, the prefect can involve the police.