What percentage of vacant housing is one-fifth vacant in Paris? Check the facts before introducing new taxes and regulations.

In Paris, almost one in five dwellings (19%) is vacant, amounting to 262,000 dwellings, according to the latest census data and a study by the Atelier parisien d'urbanisme (Apur).

According to the latest census data, the empty dwellings include empty apartments (9%) and secondary houses and temporary housing (10%), which remain empty for most of the year. Between 2011 and 2020, the proportion of empty apartments increased markedly, exacerbating the strain on the housing stock and leading to a decline in Paris's population.

There are no obvious specific problems with vacant housing in Paris, and the problem only affects temporarily occupied dwellings through accidental occupancy or secondary homes.

The Apur study considers that the low proportion of primary residences is itself a problem and lists a series of action measures based mainly on administrative (planning documents protecting not only residential properties but also their use as primary residences) or repressive measures (tax increases, better control of tourist rentals).

"Atelier de Paris Urbanisme" (Apur)

a structure with public partners and support (City of Paris, government, large public companies), has just published a study on "uninhabited housing" in the capital. The category "unoccupied housing" is not a statistical category of the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), but combines three types of housing: empty apartments, secondary homes and temporary housing (housing used occasionally for professional reasons).

This may help to reduce demand for housing by rationalizing supply and reducing the level of unoccupancy of dwellings that are not primary residences.

Decentralization

Decentralization in practice (locating economic and social activities outside the metropolitan area) could indeed help reduce demand pressures in the capital and probably alleviate Parisian housing problems in all their aspects. Since the 1980s, however, France has almost completely abandoned its ambitions and public policies on territorial development.