**Video - Real estate crisis: why are so many construction projects at a standstill?

To meet the need, 460,000 dwellings need to be built in France every year, but by 2023 there will be a shortfall of at least 100,000. Those who want homes are desperate and the construction industry will lose tens of thousands of jobs. The study was carried out by the TF1 television station.

Many months ago, Nathalie and Michelle booked an apartment in Villefranche-sur-Saône, but today they have an appointment with their developer. "We've thought hard and prefer not to enter into the deal, there's too much uncertainty right now," Nathalie announces immediately. "For twenty years it will be a huge cost, we will be paying 1816 euros instead of 1500 euros a month", instead of signing a reservation agreement a year and a half ago. But interest rates have risen since then. Delays and cancelations. As a result, cancelations like Michel and Nathalie's have become more frequent. "We've had four cancellations in two weeks, so we're having a hard time moving through the whole process and can't start building," sighs Séverine Moretto-Ranty in TF1 research.

CEO Utiade Immobilier must sell 35-40% of its homes before construction can begin. Ludovic Scarpari, a real estate developer from the city of Bron, was only able to start construction after more than a year's delay. "We didn't have enough clients, many weren't financed," he explains, "and prices had reached a level where people are struggling to find financing today, with interest rates rising.

We knew that if interest rates changed, we would take a loss, but it happened very quickly. New housing reserves have fallen 40% in a year across France. This is a historic downturn that also did not escape Ludovic. Together with his CFO, Frédéric Murion, they commented on current projects. They both admit that nothing is going "perfectly". "I'm worried", admits the developer, "we knew that if interest rates changed, we would suffer losses, but it happened very quickly". Only six of his projects are on hold, amounting to a year's worth of activity. For each of them, he has obtained building permits and owed money for the purchase of plots.

The supply of social housing is not meeting demand. With all the frozen construction sites across the country, social housing construction is also struggling. The consensus at HLM's annual congress is that demand for housing has soared and waiting times have increased dramatically. Over 300,000 applications in two years is an unprecedented demand, but it is almost impossible to meet it, especially when vacated housing is also being released with great difficulty.