Art. R. 145-11
Offices in exclusive use: rent fixed by comparables only — no Art. L. 145-33 five criteria and no Art. L. 145-34 cap; parties can contractually disapply
Exclusive use
Assessed by lease clause, not actual use; "all activities" clause or wide assignment/subletting clause destroys exclusivity — rent can then go up or down at renewal
Art. L. 145-36 al. 2
Cinemas: sector-practice method only since Law of 30 Sept. 2010 — no metric component; CNC authorisation required; not mandatory (parties can agree different method)
3 theatre methods
Jauge (capacity), per seat, and unit price (weighted area) — courts cross-check all three; Covid adjustments required for renewals spanning closure periods

Part I — Offices: Definition and Exclusive Use (Art. R. 145-11)

Article R. 145-11 of the Code de commerce provides that the rent for premises in exclusive office use is fixed by reference to prices for equivalent premises, corrected for differences. The standard five-criterion market-value assessment (Art. L. 145-33) and the capping rule (Art. L. 145-34) do not apply. The parties can contractually disapply Article R. 145-11. The rent can increase or decrease at renewal — there is no floor and no ceiling.

What Is an Office?

A premise is used as an office where it is dedicated to intellectual work of an administrative, accounting, or legal character. Receiving clients or suppliers is not incompatible with office classification, provided the premises are not used for goods storage or delivery. Bureaux-boutiques (street-level premises used exclusively for office activities) also qualify (Cass. 3e civ., 8 January 1997).

Recognised as offices ✓
Activities That Qualify
  • Travel agencies and ticketing services (tickets are not goods)
  • Real estate agencies and property management firms
  • Insurance brokers
  • Bank branches — banking is fundamentally administrative/accounting/legal (Cass. 3e civ., 31 Oct. 1989)
  • Lawyers' and notaries' offices
  • Accounting and audit firms
Not recognised as offices ✗
Activities That Do Not Qualify
  • Publishing and press offices (manual work on physical materials)
  • Transport companies (goods storage at the premises)
  • Post offices (sale of stamps and physical items)
  • Marketing consultancies with product showrooms
  • Any premises with goods storage or delivery regardless of the primary activity

Exclusive Use and the Drafting Trap

The "exclusive" requirement is assessed by reference to the lease clauses, not the actual use (CA Paris, pôle 5, ch. 3, 2 June 2021). An "all activities" clause excludes office classification (Cass. 3e civ., 25 June 2008). A broad permitted use or an assignment/subletting clause allowing all activities can also destroy exclusivity, even where the main destination clause clearly refers to offices (Cass. 3e civ., 18 February 1998). Living accommodation attached to the premises does not prevent office classification.

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Drafting Advice — Protect the Office Classification

To preserve the Art. R. 145-11 derogation, the lease clause should expressly exclude any storage or delivery of goods and specifically reference Art. R. 145-11. Any clause that authorises assignment or subletting for all activities risks destroying the exclusivity requirement. The permitted use and the assignment/subletting clauses must be aligned consistently.

How the Office Rent Is Fixed

For upper-floor office space, no surface weighting is applied — useful area is used directly. For bureaux-boutiques (street-level), surface weighting is applied in the same way as for retail premises. Comparables must be matched correctly: office comparables for pure offices; bank branch rents use other bank branch references (CA Paris, 25 March 1997); retail boutique rents are not applicable comparators for pure offices. The "headline rent" (loyer facial) and the "economic rent" (net of incentives) may diverge significantly in large office markets, and the choice of reference type affects the valuation.

Part II — Cinemas, Theatres, and Performance Venues

Cinemas, theatres, and performance venues are treated as single-use premises under Articles R. 145-10 and L. 145-36 of the Code de commerce, exempt from the standard five-criterion and capping framework. Theatre and performance space leases require the prior authorisation of the Ministry of Culture (Ord. n° 45-2339 of 13 October 1945); cinema premises require prior authorisation from the CNC.

Cinema Rent: Sector Custom Only Since 2010

Before 2010, courts had allowed a composite method adding a portion of the retail rental value of the premises to the sector-practice calculation. The Law of 30 September 2010 (Art. L. 145-36, al. 2) ended this: the rent for cinema premises must now be determined exclusively by reference to the practices of the sector, without any metric component. This provision is not mandatory — parties can agree on a different method in the lease.

The traditional sector method proceeds in four steps: (1) theoretical box-office revenue at 100% occupancy for 365 days (nombre de fauteuils × prix moyen billet HT × séances/jour × 365); (2) application of an attendance coefficient (typically 18–26% for Île-de-France cinemas) to produce the restated box-office figure; (3) application of a rent-to-revenue ratio of 7–10% to produce the estimated rent; (4) addition of an apportioned share of ancillary revenues (confectionery, advertising).

Venue typeValuation method(s)Key notes
CinemaSector-practice only (Art. L. 145-36 al. 2): theoretical box-office × attendance coefficient (18–26%) × rent/revenue ratio (7–10%) + ancillary revenuesNo metric component since 2010 Law; revenues taken net of VAT and TSA (supplemental cinema tax). CNC authorisation required to operate.
Theatre / performance venueThree methods used alone or in combination: (1) Jauge/capacity method: theoretical annual revenue × coefficient 4–10; (2) Per-seat method: capacity × comparable per-seat rents; (3) Unit price method: weighted area × unit price from comparable premisesCourts cross-check all three methods in practice. Covid-19 closure periods require adjustments to capacity-based calculations for affected renewals. Ministry of Culture authorisation required.
Multi-purpose entertainment venueUnit price method only (weighted area × unit price from comparables) — the only method available where diversity of use prevents capacity methods from being appliedDiversity of activities prevents the jauge and per-seat methods from producing a coherent result; the unit price method provides the only consistent reference.
Offices and Entertainment Venues: Key Points
  • Offices (Art. R. 145-11): comparables-only method; no Art. L. 145-33 five criteria and no Art. L. 145-34 cap; parties can disapply. Rent can go up or down at renewal. Exclusivity assessed by lease clause, not actual use.
  • Office definition: intellectual, administrative, accounting, or legal work; client reception permitted if no goods storage or delivery. Bureaux-boutiques (street-level) qualify — surface weighting applied; comparables must be other street-level offices, not retail.
  • Exclusivity trap: "all activities" clause or wide assignment/subletting clause destroys exclusivity (Cass. 3e civ., 25 June 2008; 18 Feb. 1998). The permitted use and assignment/subletting clauses must be aligned and must expressly exclude goods storage/delivery. Reference Art. R. 145-11 explicitly in the lease.
  • Cinemas (Art. L. 145-36 al. 2): sector-practice method only since 2010 — no metric component. Theoretical box-office × attendance coefficient (18–26%) × rent/revenue ratio (7–10%) + ancillary revenues. Not mandatory — parties can agree a different method. CNC authorisation required to operate.
  • Theatres and performance venues: three methods — jauge/capacity (coefficient 4–10), per seat, and unit price (weighted area). Courts cross-check all three. Covid-19 adjustments required for renewals spanning closure periods. Ministry of Culture authorisation required.
Renewing an Office or Entertainment Venue Lease?

The derogatory rent rules for offices and entertainment venues require specific expertise in comparables selection, sector methodology, and the definition of the applicable regime. We advise on the correct method and on the drafting needed to preserve or establish the applicable classification.

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This article is for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Laws and regulations may have changed since publication. Always seek qualified French legal advice on office and entertainment venue lease rent in France.