The real estate market: opportunities to address the housing crisis - Meilleurtaux.com

While the housing sector is facing a serious crisis, real estate professionals and the government are proposing solutions to overcome it. They will soon be voted on in Parliament.

In France, renters are in a difficult situation. The construction sector is suffering and high real estate prices explain the low supply of rental housing. And even when rental opportunities arise, one has to cope with rising rents. Despite the existence of a "rent protection shield" limiting their rise to a maximum of 3.5%, in practice they are rising by more than 6% a year in some French metropolitan areas. This is particularly true of Paris, Nice, Bordeaux and Brest, according to a study conducted by PriceHubble this summer.

The vote on the draft budget for 2024 is just around the corner. To address the situation, the government proposed a number of solutions in June during the presentation of the results of the National Reform Council (CNR) on housing. Among them is the extension of the interest-free loan (PTZ) until 2027, although it was supposed to end in 2023. Many in the industry see these announcements as too restrained. Some, for example, had hoped for a relaxation of mortgage loan criteria.

But as the housing crisis worsens and the vote on the draft budget for 2024 is about two months away, the government has been active behind the scenes. In recent days, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and Housing Minister Patrice Vergriet, among others, have said they want to harmonize the tax policies of furnished tourist and traditional apartments and empty rental properties with the same 40% tax deduction. Currently, furnished tourist accommodations benefit from a 71% tax deduction.

One of the main concerns of real estate professionals, however, remains the issue of energy renovation of residential properties. Especially because the schedule prescribed for landlords to gradually ban rent "heat sieves" is considered unrealistic by industry representatives. As a reminder, landlords must overhaul their Class G, F, and E properties in the energy passporting (DPE) by 2025, 2028, and 2034, or they will not be able to rent them out. Some real estate professionals have proposed measures ranging from easing the timetable for banning "heat sieve" leases, to removing regulatory restrictions on shared ownership and improving financing for the work. If none of these proposals are adopted by government bodies, the Union of Estate Agents (Unis) could turn to "dispossession". "According to the union, it is necessary to distinguish between habitability and energy efficiency, to reconcile several rights - ownership/acquisition, housing and environment - and to combine several timetables: housing urgency, climate urgency, decarbonization by 2030 and the 2050 target," Les Echos reminds us.