Real estate in Nimes: owners can carry out works at home, becoming more law-abiding.

Louis Turdia, who founded his real estateagency 20 years ago with his wife Karin, is also the chairman of the Occitanie syndicate of the Federation of Real Estate Syndicates.

Assessment of laws affecting property owners

He talks about the current market, laws, and their impact on apartment owners. As the chairman of the Syndicate of Occitania of the Federation of Real Estate Syndicates, how do you assess the various laws (Alur, Climate, and Sustainability) that affect owners? These laws follow one after another but are inconsistent with each other. The Climate and Sustainability Law requires apartment owners to create a multi-year work plan according to a schedule. For this, we need collective energy efficiency, and the schedule for this energy efficiency has been postponed by a year. Today, with the requirements for energy audits, we cannot use what the Alur law imposed on us before 2017 for apartments with central heating or cooling systems. People are frustrated by this. They won't do anything because they think the government will cancel its decision in a year. The laws were initially incentivizing before becoming mandatory. The idea is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It is said that real estate is responsible for 44% of climate change. But what do you advise apartment owners? It is necessary for the French to live in decent housing. This used to be defined by three criteria: area, safety, and absence of uninhabitability. Today, two more have been added: energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. I tell my clients that they need to take advantage of these legislative changes. Let's see this as an opportunity to improve winter and summer comfort, the environment, increase property value, and reduce utility bills. The cheapest energy is the energy we do not consume! By carrying out this work, we become more conscientious. Despite their goodwill, some owners will face difficulties in financing this work. What solutions are available?

Opportunities for improvement

We will have an eco PTZ co-ownership. Apartment owners will be able to obtain an interest-free loan. Are there sufficient arguments to persuade them? I am using these opportunities to turn apartment owners 360 degrees towards their buildings. Can't we consider installing photovoltaic panels, creating geothermal systems, or replacing the heating system with a more efficient one that uses biomass? When carrying out facade renovations, could we consider external insulation and the use of bio-organic materials? We should think about rainwater recovery for garden irrigation. We need to start thinking about this now. What percentage of owners have carried out these works in Occitania? Very few... The schedule for general meetings is such that it takes at least three to four years. In the first year, it is necessary to organize a long-term work plan before it is approved at subsequent meetings. The first votes on the works will take place by 2025. The long-term work plan is mandatory for buildings older than 15 years. Collective energy efficiency concerns apartment ownership older than 10 years, i.e., those for which the building permit was submitted before 2013.

The condition of apartments in Nîmes

What is the condition of apartments in Nîmes? It's not too bad, certainly much better than in Bouches-du-Rhône. In Occitanie, less than 7% of residential properties fall into categories G and F, which will be banned from renting out starting January 1, 2025, and 2028, respectively. 23% fall into category E, with a rental ban starting in 2034.

The property exhibition, organized by Ludovic Turdia as the chairman of the Occitanie Syndicate Federation of Real Estate Syndicates in collaboration with FNAIM, will take place on February 29, 2024, at the Museum of Romanity. The program will include conferences and round tables on the topic of energy renovation of apartments, as well as specialists in photovoltaic panels, hybrid heating, lawyers, real estate experts, and representatives from the Nîmes Métropole agglomeration.