Video - Real estate: the rental market is getting tighter.

Personalize your TF1 Info experience and create your own newscast. Real estate in France is experiencing one of the most serious crises in the last thirty years. In addition to sales and purchases collapsing, the rental market is also suffering. The 20 o'clock news on TF1 explains why.

In Rennes (Ile-et-Vilaine)

a real estate agent received 130 emails in one morning regarding one apartment. In the end, he left only five applications to be screened to avoid the fuss. The lucky ones who were the fastest and most available got to visit the apartment. In Rennes, students are very familiar with this situation. Ads are so rare that some people instruct their relatives to visit the apartments instead. Aunt Naissen visits the apartments instead of her niece as she is busy with her studies. She's been wasting her money on rent through Airbnb for two months now. And Anna has been sleeping on her friend's couch for three months.

Thermic screening apartments and tourist furnished apartments

Why is there such a shortage of rental housing on the market? The first explanation is that apartments that could be vacant remain occupied by renters who cannot afford to buy. "With interest rates rising, first-time buyers can no longer afford to buy, so they stay in rentals," confirms Jean-Yves Pensemin, a real estate agent in Rennes. The government plans to extend the conditions for interest-free loans to make it easier to access property, but that's not the only problem.

"Thermal screening apartments will be taken off the rental market," continues Jean-Yves Pensemin. Housing that is rated G, the lowest energy diagnostic score, must be renovated in order to be rented after January 1, 2024. But many owners prefer to sell rather than do the expensive work. The phenomenon of furnished tourist apartments is also contributing to the crisis in the rental market. In a city like La Rochelle, one in three apartments in the city center is an Airbnb. To alleviate the market situation, the government plans to introduce additional taxes on this type of real estate.