More increases, more increases. After the announced explosion of the property tax in Paris in 2023 (+52%), it is the condominium fees that are also rising in the capital, by almost 7% (6.86%) in 2021.
This figure was revealed on Monday November 21 on the occasion of the publication of the annual study by the National Federation of Real Estate (FNAIM) of Greater Paris, which sifted through nearly 104,000 lots (15% of the total condominium lots in Paris), i.e. 3,724 buildings in Paris. The charges have thus cost the 1.2 million inhabitants who live in condominiums in Paris more than 38 euros per square meter in 2021, or more than 2159 euros per lot (or 180 euros per month).
After an initial slight drop in condominium fees in 2019, which accelerated in 2020, the year 2021 therefore marks a reversal of the trend. “It’s not a spectacular increase, even if the increases are never pleasant to see”, comments to L’Express Olivier Princivalle, deputy president of the FNAIM du Grand Paris, who recalls that the condominium charges are ” still below the 2013 level. “In a normal economic context, we could have had a stagnation in the level of these charges or even a continuation of the drop recorded in 2020”, he notes.
The sharp increases in energy prices in question
The item experiencing the most marked increase in 2021 is that of heating, energy and fuel: 437.88 euros per unit in 2021 compared to 367.41 euros per unit in 2020, i.e. +19.18%. This is explained by a surge in energy prices, even before the start of the war in Ukraine. The increase, much higher in 2022, and probably in 2023, will therefore “continue to cause concern” and will have “monumental consequences” on the cash flow of condominiums, warns Olivier Princivalle, specifying that a third of them are collectively heated in Greater Paris. “We must find lasting solutions to regulate the cost of energy”, he underlines.
The maintenance contract, particularly for elevators, is the second item which recorded a significant increase: 155.25 euros per lot in 2021 compared to 139.70 euros per lot in 2020, i.e. +11.13%. “These maintenance contracts had been renegotiated downwards for years by the condominium trustees. But they have undergone a significant increase because they are indexed to the building index (BT) which is itself indexed to the cost of materials. , on the rise”, explains the deputy president of the FNAIM du Grand Paris.
In descending order of increases by item of expenditure follow water (254.73 euros/batch in 2021 against 236.76 euros/batch in 2020, i.e. +7.59%), tax and duty maintenance contracts (79 .59 euros/batch in 2021 against 74.81 euros/batch in 2020 i.e. +6.39%) as well as electricity (139.72 euros/batch in 2021 against 132.18 euros/batch in 2020 i.e. +5, 7%).
“The increase in charges will be much greater in 2022”
The trend should therefore not be reversed this year. Quite the contrary. “The increase in condominium fees will be much higher in 2022”, already predicts Olivier Princivalle. The hardest part is yet to come, she also believes with of the world the president of the Social Union for Housing (USH), Emmanuelle Cosse. “Half of social housing, that is to say 2.5 million of them, is collectively heated. Some of the occupants are for the moment spared from the increases, thanks to energy contracts taken out before the price spike. But the majority of landlords will have to renew their contracts in 2023”, warns the former Minister of Housing under François Hollande. As Olivier Princivalle reminds us, some buildings still benefit from energy contracts taken out for “a period of two or three years”, while new contracts are renegotiated upwards by energy suppliers.
Professionals in the sector fear the rise in unpaid co-ownership charges, a point which will be particularly observed by the FNAIM du Grand Paris in the current context of inflation. “For the moment, we are not seeing an increase in unpaid bills,” observes Olivier Princivalle. Another indicator related to the economic context that will be monitored by the FNAIM: investments in works. The works/expenses ratio is 1.62 euros in Paris in 2021, compared to 1.96 in 2020, while Parisian condominiums invest nearly 2.5 billion euros each year in the economic activity of the building.
In order not to blow up their budget, the co-owners could be increasingly forced to carry out arbitrations to the detriment of maintenance work, which will cost more and more inflation. Olivier Princivalle fears that the energy renovation work of housing “will be impacted” by these various increases, including those of the property tax, an increase which according to him “dissuades the owners from investing” and which “does not solve the problem of the price real estate and the availability of housing” in the capital, he regrets. “We have always been used to finding solutions but here we are caught off guard because the phenomena (Editor’s note: which lead to an increase in condominium fees) are completely beyond our control. It’s a very uncomfortable situation”, he regrets.