Housing. A primary need that is struggling to be satisfied in France in 2023. And the situation is not about to improve. Already subject to multiple constraints – environmental standards, high land prices, rent controls, etc. – the real estate sector is today disrupted by the rise in rates. Our explanations and ways to break the impasse in this six-part special report.
Symbol of entry into adult life, signing the first lease has never been such an initiatory ordeal. The stock of properties for rent has fallen in France by 9% on average over one year and by 23% in large cities, according to the latest SeLoger study unveiled in September. In Rennes (-43%) or Nice (-34%), it’s a massacre. And inevitably, what becomes rare costs more. If the increase in current rents has been capped by the government at 3.5% until the first quarter of 2024, prices for properties newly placed on the market have jumped: + 6.1% in Nice in one year, + 4.9% in Marseille or even + 4.6% in Strasbourg. Subject to rent control, Paris escapes the surge. But not in scarcity: the capital has 68% fewer apartments for rent compared to July 2021. According to Lodgis, an agency specializing in furnished accommodation, you have to wait six months today to find a studio.
This atrophy of the market is the consequence of a formidable domino effect: prevented by high borrowing rates and prices per square meter which do not fall, or very little, thirty-year-olds give up their first-time homeownership project. and do not release their rental for others – students or young couples. As for individuals likely to buy a property to rent it, 69% find the current economic situation dissuasive, according to a recent survey by OpinionWay for the Laforêt network. Worse: this reluctance peaks among those aged 50-64 (75%), traditionally the most inclined to make this type of investment, to generate additional income in retirement. Compared to a Livret A which now yields 3% net, or to term accounts or guaranteed life insurance funds which are similar, the return on rental property is more or less equivalent. With many more hazards: disasters, overdue rents, unpleasant surprises from Bercy… Why risk it?
Competition from furnished tourist accommodation
Charles Marinakis, the president of Century 21 in France, points to another aggravating factor: “Seasonal rentals pollute the private rental market. If the legislator does not do something, the stock will continue to dry up. It is urgent, and this is the only ground on which the State can act.” For the moment, within the framework of the finance bill adopted at first reading in the Assembly by means of 49-3, the executive has contented itself with aligning the taxation of classified tourist furnished accommodation with that of their unclassified counterparts. “A bandage for a hemorrhage,” said Fnaim, the union of real estate professionals, who are calling for seasonal rentals and long-term rentals to be put on an equal footing.
In terms of energy obligations, for example, the discrepancy is obvious: unlike lessors of poorly insulated accommodation who must undertake costly renovation work if they want to continue to rent them year-round, owners of furnished tourist accommodation do not have no constraint of this order. Even the boss of Airbnb in France, Emmanuel Marill, agreed in L’Express last July: “An owner who buys another accommodation and dedicates it to seasonal rental should, in my opinion, respect the regulations which apply to long-term rental.” Patrice Vergriete, the Minister of Housing, said he was ready to launch a mission to “reset” the different rental regimes. The reform, if it sees the light of day, is not expected before 2025.