Furnished Rentals in Monaco: How Temporary Housing Really Works

What "furnished" means in Monaco

Furnished flats are the minority of what is let in the Principality. Most owners let bare, and the furnished stock that does exist is concentrated in newer buildings, in flats owned by investors who let them between their own stays, and in a few purpose-run residences aimed at corporate tenants. That scarcity is the first thing to understand: a furnished search in Monaco is a search within a small pool, and the right flat often goes to whoever has a complete file ready on the day it appears.

The second thing to understand is that furnishing changes nothing legally. Monaco's housing law sorts dwellings by the year the building was completed, not by what is in them:

In practice every furnished offer you will see from an agency is in the open sector. The rent-controlled and liberalised buildings are let to eligible tenants through the Direction de l'Habitat, almost always unfurnished, and the State sector is closed to foreigners altogether. The detail of each regime is in the guide to renting in Monaco and, for State housing, the domanial housing guide.

Who takes a furnished flat

• Newcomers waiting for a residence permit. The Residency Section (9 rue Suffren-Reymond, +377 93 15 30 15) accepts a registered tenancy agreement as proof of accommodation. A hotel does not count, and a certificate of free accommodation requires a host who is themselves owner or tenant. A furnished one-year lease is the usual way to have an address on file before your own furniture arrives — see the residence permit procedure.
• Employees on assignment, whose company signs or guarantees the lease.
• Owners between two flats, or during works on their own property.
• Seasonal tenants around the Grand Prix weekend, the Monaco Yacht Show in late September, and the summer months — a different market with its own prices.

The lease

In the open sector the contract is what the parties agree, and there is no equivalent of the French "bail meublé" with its statutory one-year term. What the market has settled on:

• Term: one year, renewing by tacit agreement, with three months' notice before the anniversary date on either side. Shorter terms exist but are priced as seasonal lets.
• Rent: usually payable quarterly in advance, often by standing order to the agency's account. Indexation, if any, is written into the contract.
• Deposit: no more than three months' principal rent, adjustable when the rent is revised, and returned within two months of handing back the keys, less duly justified sums owed. Agencies routinely ask for the full three months.
• Inventory of fixtures (état des lieux): drawn up jointly at handover, or failing that by a bailiff at the parties' shared cost, and annexed to the lease. For a furnished flat this is the document that matters most, because it should also carry the inventory of furniture and equipment — count and photograph everything on the day you take the keys.
• Language: leases are drafted in French. If you do not read French, have the contract explained before signing; the exit clauses and the charges clause are where disputes arise.
• Insurance: the lease will require you to hold home insurance covering rental risks — see home insurance in Monaco.

Monaco has no statutory list of what a furnished flat must contain. The inventory annexed to the lease defines the furnished standard, which is why two "furnished" flats at similar rents can differ from a bed and a hob to fully equipped with linen, crockery and a television.

What it costs beyond the rent

Agency fee. Agencies that are members of the Chambre Immobilière Monégasque apply its scale: 10% of the first year's rent plus 20% VAT, payable by the tenant once, at signature. Almost all furnished stock is handled by agencies; direct lettings by owners are rare.

Leasehold duty (droit de bail). Every lease, furnished or not, must be registered within three months of signature, under pain of penalties. The duty is 1% of the rent and charges for the entire occupancy period and is paid by the tenant. For a lease longer than three years the first three years are paid at registration and the rest on later notices. Registration is at the Department of Tax Services' Duty Division, which since 2 July 2026 receives the public at Terrasses de Fontvieille, 24/26 rue du Gabian (Monday to Friday 9:30–17:00, +377 98 98 81 21 or 98 98 81 22). Bring three signed originals and the digital lease extract; the agency usually handles the filing. Keep the registration receipt — it is the document the Residency Section asks for.

Charges and utilities. Building charges are either included in the rent or itemised; check which. Electricity is contracted with SMEG and, unless the lease says otherwise, a furnished tenant still opens their own account — see electricity and water. Internet and television run through Monaco Telecom. Some furnished leases bundle utilities into a flat monthly charge; if so, ask how it is reconciled.

Parking. A space is rarely included and is let separately, often through a different agency. Public car parks offer monthly subscriptions as an alternative — see parking in Monaco.

Prices: what is known and what is not

There is no official index of open-sector rents. The IMSEE property observatory covers sales only (an average of €57,569 per m² in 2025), and the only rent figure published by the State is the one set each February by ministerial decree for the rent-controlled sector: for leases registered in 2025, €66.52 per m² per month for pre-1947 buildings let outside Law 1.235, and €39.93 for new Law 1.235 lettings.

Open-sector buildings are dearer than either. Agency market reports put asking rents at roughly €80 per m² per month in Les Moneghetti and Jardin Exotique, €100–140 in Fontvieille and La Condamine, and €150–190 around the Casino. Read those as listing averages, not a guarantee. What they mean for a furnished search:

• a studio of 30–40 m² is rarely offered below €3,000–3,500 a month;
• a two-bedroom in a modern building generally starts in the €7,000–8,000 range and rises quickly with a sea view;
• the furnished premium over the same flat let bare is real but not codified — it is priced into the rent rather than shown separately;
• seasonal lets around the Grand Prix and the Yacht Show are a different product, quoted by the night or the week and often several times the monthly rate pro rata.

For the wider picture by district, see Monaco real estate prices and the cost of living guide.

Finding one

1. Register with several agencies. Listings are widely shared between the Principality's agencies, but the agent who calls you first wins. State clearly: furnished, budget, earliest date, minimum term, and whether you need a registered lease for a residence application.
2. Have the file ready. Passport, proof of current address, proof of income or employment (or the company's commitment if it is signing), a bank reference. Landlords of furnished flats screen as hard as for bare ones; a guarantee from a Monaco bank speeds things up.
3. Visit with the inventory in mind. Test appliances, check the condition of mattresses and soft furnishings, and ask what stays and what the owner removes before handover.
4. Sign, pay, register. Deposit and agency fee at signature; the agency files the lease for registration; the receipt and the lease go into your residence-permit file.
5. Under a month? Monaco has no dedicated short-let regulation, but co-ownership rules exclude most buildings from platform rentals and the pool is tiny — see Airbnb and short-term rentals. For a few nights, a hotel is usually simpler and no dearer.

Relocation agencies can run the search and the paperwork for a fee, which is worth it for an arrival organised from abroad — see relocation agents in Monaco.

Moving out

Give notice in writing, by registered letter, within the period the lease sets — three months before the anniversary date on the standard contract. Book the exit inventory with the agency, return the flat in the state recorded at entry allowing for normal wear, and settle the final utility readings. The deposit is due back within two months of the keys being returned, minus any sum the landlord can justify against the two inventories. If the two inventories disagree, the annexed furniture list decides.

Related reading

• Renting in Monaco: sectors, leases and tenant rights
• Airbnb and short-term rentals
• Finding and renting a flat: the practical route
• Domanial (State) housing
• Applying for a residence permit
• Home insurance
• Relocation agents