Invest in an apartment in France near Geneva.
New builds less than 30 minutes from Geneva, let to cross-border workers paid in francs. The right tax scheme depends mainly on your status and your time horizon.
Why the French side of Geneva
- Record rental demand: Geneva issued 24,835 new cross-border work permits in 2024, the highest since 1989.
- Young tenants paid in francs: six in ten new cross-border workers are aged 20 to 34.
- Prices two to three times lower than in Geneva, and 2–3% notary fees on new builds.
Which scheme for you
Three questions decide: how long you keep the property, where you pay tax, and whether you accept owning through a company.
| Scheme | Commitment | Ownership | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMNP | No legal minimum | Personal name | Small units, flexible horizon |
| Jeanbrun | 9 years minimum | Personal name or company | French tax residents, higher bracket |
| LLI | 15 years minimum | Company required | Long-term wealth building |
| LLI + Jeanbrun | 15 years | Company required | 15 years and more |
LMNP: furnished letting
You let furnished and, under the real regime, depreciate the property and furniture: tax on the rent is wiped out for ten to fifteen years. No commitment period, no rent cap, no tenant income cap.
Ideal for studios and one-bedroom flats near the Léman Express. Note: since 2025, depreciation is added back into the capital gain on resale. Very effective while you hold, less so on exit.
Jeanbrun: the private landlord status
It replaced the Pinel scheme on 21 February 2026. You let unfurnished, as the tenant's main home, for at least nine years, under rent and income caps. In return, you depreciate 80% of the price excluding land, at 3.5% a year for intermediate rents (4.5% social, 5.5% very social).
Available across France on new builds, for purchases until 31 December 2028. Taking the apartment back before nine years cancels the benefit.
LLI: intermediate rental housing
The purchase must go through a company (SCI, family SARL), in a high-demand area: the French Genevois is in zone A. Rent is capped for at least fifteen years.
Two benefits: VAT at 10% instead of 20% (around 8% of the price saved at purchase) and a tax credit equal to the property tax for twenty years.
Warning: the company must exist before the reservation. The other way round, the scheme does not work.
LLI and Jeanbrun combined
If the property meets both sets of conditions, the benefits add up: reduced VAT and property tax relief from LLI, depreciation from Jeanbrun, with a single rent scale to respect. The most efficient set-up over fifteen years and more, provided you accept a company with at least two partners.
Your status changes the maths
Your rent is taxed in France, at the progressive rate, together with your other income. The higher your bracket, the more Jeanbrun pays off.
Cross-border worker: your canton changes the result
Depending on your canton of work, your salary is taxed at source in Switzerland or in France. This does not change how the rent is taxed, but it changes your bracket, and so the real value of Jeanbrun: a Geneva and a Vaud cross-border worker on the same salary end up with different results. To be calculated with a Franco-Swiss tax adviser.
The French tax relief cap
If you already reach the €10,000 cap on tax reliefs (donations, home help…), Jeanbrun depreciation comes on top without being capped, which the Pinel scheme did not allow.
You can buy and let in France without restriction. Your rent is taxed in France, at a minimum of 20%. LMNP is often the best starting point: most of the Jeanbrun benefit is out of your reach.
Your taxation in detail
Minimum rate of 20% up to a threshold, 30% above, unless your household's average rate on worldwide income is lower. If you are covered by Swiss social security, you pay a 7.5% solidarity levy instead of 17.2% social charges. In Switzerland, the property and its rent are exempt but count towards your rate, on income and on wealth. Above €1.3 million of property in France, the French real estate wealth tax (IFI) applies.
Why Jeanbrun benefits you less
Depreciation does reduce your taxable rent. But the scheme's real lever, offsetting the deficit against total income up to €10,700 a year, requires French total income, which you do not have. The deficit can only be carried forward against other unfurnished rent in France. Jeanbrun is therefore mainly worthwhile if you hold several unfurnished lets in France.
Buy now, move in later
Letting the apartment during your transition and then taking it back to live in is first and foremost an investment. Under Jeanbrun, taking it back before nine years cancels the benefit, retroactively. LMNP leaves the door open at any time, with depreciation added back on resale. It is the default choice for this plan: tell us your real moving date before reserving.
Investing through a company
Jeanbrun and LLI are open to companies taxed under income tax (SCI, family SARL), not to those subject to corporation tax (IS). An IS company depreciates the property in its accounts, with no rent cap or commitment period, but without reduced VAT or Jeanbrun. For a Swiss resident, SCI shares count towards cantonal wealth tax. Decide before setting up the company, with a tax adviser.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell before the end of the commitment?
Under Jeanbrun, selling or taking the apartment back before nine years cancels the benefit. Under LMNP nothing holds you, but depreciation is added back into the capital gain. Under LLI, the fifteen-year commitment applies to the company. Choose according to your real horizon first.
What if the tenant does not pay?
Rent guarantee insurance covers unpaid rent and legal costs, provided the tenant's file meets its criteria. In new builds in a high-demand area, vacancy is low.
Who manages the letting if I live in Switzerland?
A local letting agent: finding tenants, check-in and check-out, receipts, repairs. Expect 6–10% of the rent.
Can I buy with others or through a company from Switzerland?
Yes. An SCI is open to non-residents, and it is even the condition for LLI.
What if construction is delayed?
Off-plan sales are regulated: completion guarantee, payments in step with the works, delays covered by the contract. See the guarantees.
General information, accurate at the date of publication. Rent and income caps are revised every year. Have your set-up checked by a tax adviser before committing.
Tell us where you stand
Give us your status, budget and horizon: the developer of the development concerned contacts you directly. Free of charge.