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Launching in Lyon

If you can see it here,
you can actually rent it.

Renting in France shouldn't depend on a French guarantor, a CDI, and three years of tax returns you can't possibly have yet. Cajou lists only homes that accept who you really are: guarantee-backed and able to afford the rent.

Get early access See how it works
Filter listings by what they accept
GarantMe Visale Non-CDI No French tax return
A sunlit, furnished apartment with a window looking onto a classic Lyon street, the kind of home Cajou helps you reach.

€980/mo

Furnished 2-room · Croix-Rousse, Lyon · 44 m²

Applications open · 6 days left

This landlord accepts

GarantMe Visale Non-CDI No French tax return

The rejection roulette

You can afford it. The paperwork says no anyway.

Expats spend weeks firing sensitive documents at listings they were never eligible for, and the rejections are opaque. Four blockers do most of the damage:

  • No French guarantor

    Agents demand a flesh-and-blood French guarantor and wave away Visale or GarantMe, something you can't produce after just arriving.

  • No CDI

    Freelance, self-employed, or on a foreign contract? You're filtered out before anyone reads your file, even when you clearly earn enough.

  • No French tax history

    Your avis d'imposition is a standard dossier item. As a first-time filer you simply don't have one, regardless of your income.

  • The landlord's insurer decides

    Many landlords are bound by unpaid-rent insurance (GLI). Its rules (CDI, tenure, tax history) quietly lock even a willing owner out.

The Cajou promise

Eligibility certainty, before you spend a single evening applying.

Every Cajou listing declares what it accepts, set by the landlord, up front. So a rejection, if it ever comes, is a landlord's choice, never bureaucratic filtering. You apply knowing the door is open.

  • Browse a market that's actually open to you
  • Judged on merit and affordability, not contract type
  • Plain-English rules, so you sign with eyes open

€980/mo

Furnished 2-room · Croix-Rousse, Lyon · 44 m²

Applications open · 6 days left

This landlord accepts

GarantMe Visale Non-CDI No French tax return

Real listings carry these tags. Filter to the ones that fit your situation.

How it works

A calmer, fairer way to find a home, built around your privacy.

We invert today's scramble. Interest is proven before your data is shared, in four deliberate steps.

  1. Browse only homes you can rent

    Every listing is tagged with what it actually accepts. No more applying to places you were never eligible for.

  2. Apply with your guarantee card

    Landlords first see verified affordability: your Visale or GarantMe ceiling and a state-verified file, not a pile of personal documents.

  3. View before you reveal

    Shortlisted? Book a viewing, in person or by video from abroad, before you hand over a single sensitive document.

  4. Share your full file only if you both want to

    Release your DossierFacile link with one tap, and revoke it the moment you've signed elsewhere. You stay in control.

A warm, lived-in kitchen with plants and wooden stools, a home let by someone who's been an expat too.

For landlords

Expats helping expats. The person renting to you gets you.

Our first homes come from people who settled here and now let a place of their own. They lived the paperwork struggle, so they're open to a guarantee-backed, non-CDI tenant. You reach a motivated, under-served, often higher-income pool your agent filters out.

  • Tenants arrive guarantee-backed, with affordability already checked
  • A fair-rent assistant prices you within Lyon's legal ceiling
  • Compliance guardrails (DPE, deposit caps) baked into listing
List your home

Know before you sign

French rental rules, in plain English.

The market's pain is opacity. We translate it, debunking the myths that cost newcomers money and standing.

Myth

“I'll pay a year upfront to skip the guarantor.”

In France a landlord can't demand rent far in advance, and paying ahead can even read as a red flag. The fix is the right guarantee, not more cash.

Rule

Notice: 1 month furnished, 3 unfurnished

And the 3 months drops to 1 in a zone tendue, on job loss, a new job, or RSA. We show the rule right on the listing.

Good to know

Your deposit goes straight to the landlord

France has no deposit-protection scheme. Capped at 1 month unfurnished, 2 furnished, and returned within a month of handing back the keys.

Read the full guide