Working on a self-employed basis as part of a partnership on State-owned property: invoicing a supplementary housing fee

Where a self-employed individual entitled to occupy State-owned property wishes to conduct business in partnership with another professional, they are charged a supplementary housing fee. Technically, the State Property Authority, acting in the context of a private contractual relationship, is within its rights to demand a supplementary rental fee in exchange for granting an exemption from the contract terms. However, this practice appears not to sufficiently reflect the specific situation of self-employed individuals, and in particular doctors and certain other healthcare professionals, who are permitted by law to practise in partnership with others, including with foreign professionals. The law also stipulates the various rules applicable to such arrangements. In light of this, the High Commissioner called upon the Government to consider no longer treating partnerships between self-employed professionals, especially in the medical and paramedical sector, in the same way as tenants who house a person or activity unconnected with that carried out on the premises, with a view to ending the practice of charging a supplementary fee in these situations. Failing that, the High Commissioner stressed the need to introduce more formal rules to govern these fees (presently based solely on usual internal practice), in order to make them more transparent and predictable for professionals.

The entire recommendation is available on the site in french version only.