Since the beginning of its development, in an affluent district of the left bank, in Paris, Alix * thought to have made a bargain. “I found this apartment through an acquaintance, it was never offered online,” she recalls. Close to the Luxembourg Gardens and the Latin Quarter, she found the apartment ideally located. A three-room apartment, just under fifty square meters, furnished, perfect for his young working couple. Rent: 1500 euros. “A bit pricey, but it’s bright, through, perfect for both of us,” she recalls. Three years later, his owner imposed a raise of 70 euros on him.
Surprised by this increase, Alix decides to use the simulator set up by the French administration. “By entering the year of construction of my building (in the 1870s) and my number of rooms, I realized that the legal increased rent was less than 30 euros per square meter, she specifies. that I currently pay is higher”. Doing the math, Alix realizes that, over three years, its owner has therefore earned more than 3,000 euros “in addition” to what should be allowed by the law on rent control which applies, in particular, in Paris. “I was furious, and I almost sent an immediate complaint message,” she says. But Alix prefers to let the night pass, then changes her mind. “I have a good relationship with my landlord: I usually don’t hear from him. Why would I make a complaint? To risk being evicted from my apartment, and finding less well afterwards?” Alix’s story is symptomatic of those of many tenants in cities located in “tense areas” where finding an apartment is an obstacle course.
Seven territories concerned
Entering into force with the Elan law, in 2018, rent control was launched on an experimental basis for eight years, only in cities that request it, and where the tensions of the real estate market are the strongest. The measure is different from the “rent shield”, renewed at the beginning of June by the National Assembly until 2024, and which has made it possible since last summer to limit the general increase in rents to 3.5% within the framework of support measures to purchasing power. At present, rent control is implemented in seven territories: Paris, the Plaine Commune and Est Ensemble, two intermunicipalities of Seine-Saint-Denis, Lyon and Villeurbanne, Montpellier, and Bordeaux. Each year, a decree defines the maximum price per district per square meter, increased by 20% compared to the median rent.
In the midst of the housing crisis, the measure, initially popular with municipalities led by left-wing elected officials, is now also popular on the right: in Annemasse, in Haute-Savoie, the agglomeration, chaired by Gabriel Doublet (Horizons) for example voted last September in favor of the creation of a rent observatory. Like the communities of Cergy (Val d’Oise), Grenoble or even Grand-Orly Seine-Bièvre, these territories are awaiting authorization from the Ministry of Housing to be able to apply the measure. And yet, despite the rent controls implemented in Paris for several years, cases of overruns are still legion. The reason ? Questioned, associations as elected evoke a lack of information of the owners and the tenants, but also a cruel lack of control of the device.
Exceedances of more than 100 euros per month
Just look at real estate classifieds sites to find examples of overruns. To realize this, the calculation is simple: from an offer assembling the number of rooms, its location, and its surface, we can calculate the maximum amount per square meter authorized by law. It is then sufficient to compare it to the amount of the proposed rent without the charges, and thus check whether or not it complies with the regulations.
Let’s take the case of the smallest surfaces, mostly prized by the most precarious audiences. In Paris, a search for a studio on the Se Loger site brings together nearly 2,000 offers. Among them, we find for example, in the Léon-Blum Folie-Regnault district (11th arrondissement), a furnished studio of 27 square meters, rented for an amount of 1350 euros per month. The period of construction of this property not being specified in the advertisement, let us take the date when the price is the highest (that is to say before 1946). Its increased reference rent is 39.50 euros per square meter, i.e. a total of 1067 euros, less than the 1200 euros (excluding charges) displayed on the ad. Another example, in another district: this studio located in the 7th, near the Invalides of 11 square meters, should be worth “only” 489.5 euros per month, and not… 600 euros, as indicated on the announcement. Same thing for this one-room apartment located in the 16th, whose rent of 650 euros (excluding charges) should not exceed 432 euros.
Paris is not the only city concerned. In Bordeaux, for example, there is a 16 square meter studio on the “individual to individual” site at 570 euros per month excluding charges, in a district where the increased reference amount is 356.80 euros. “The owner applies an additional rent of 213.20 euros”, specifies the platform in the “find out more” tab of the ad. In Montpellier, the same music: for a furnished rental in the Boutonnet district, near the historic center of the city, a 25 square meter studio comes up in the first results. Its increased rent for a furnished apartment, amounting to 560 euros, is exceeded by 120 euros. In theory, these overruns are legal: the Elan law allows landlords to request additional rent if the accommodation has exceptional characteristics (balcony, terrace, etc.). “But in practice, these criteria are vague enough to be used for anything by some: from a refurbishment of an apartment to the presence of a simple equipped kitchen”, points out David Rodrigues, lawyer at the consumer association CLCV.
Nearly 30% of offers off the nails
The CLCV is one of the organizations which, every year, now produces a report on compliance with the system. In July 2022, it thus observed that, for the year 2021, nearly 31% of Parisian advertisements exceeded the dedicated rents. On Plaine Commune, an intermunicipality located in Seine-Saint-Denis where the device is also applied, 40% of the offers were out of the nails. “These figures constitute an improvement compared to previous years, points out David Rodrigues, but which was clearly to be linked to the impact of the health crisis on tourist accommodation. We must now see if the trend continues over the following year” .
In its report published in October, the Abbé Pierre Foundation noted similar rates. Finally, the recent report of the Paris Urban Agglomeration Rent Observatory, published in December 2022, listed an identical figure. Significant data when, unlike other studies, that of OLAP is not based only on online ads. “Part of the rental market is not on the Internet. In fact, not all properties are advertised and adverts have a longer time finding a buyer”, explains Geneviève Prandi, director of OLAP . According to the latter, the dwellings most affected by these rent increases are above all the smallest surfaces. “For a given number of rooms, the smaller the accommodation, the more the chances that the rent will exceed increase,” she continues. This observation is linked to the method of calculating the ceilings: as the latter result in particular from the number of rooms in a property, the fewer rooms a dwelling has, the higher its price per square meter. “However, future tenants are looking for a location, a functional bathroom and kitchen… and then a number of rooms. Once these criteria are met, the surface area is less important” , completes Geneviève Prandi.
A letter to the DGCCRF
The people whose rent is most likely to contravene the regulations are therefore often the most precarious. “Which makes it all the more difficult to challenge your rent, notes Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Abbé Pierre Foundation. Often, tenants do not have the audacity to do so. not even aware of having the opportunity”. The multiple legislative changes – the device was voted in 2014 within the framework of the Alur law, canceled by justice in 2018, then relaunched in 2019 by the Elan law – have not helped neither the owners nor the tenants to see clear. In order to make their task easier, the intermunicipal authorities are now trying to be pedagogical. In Paris, a town hall platform allows them to alert on possible overruns. In February, a month after its launch, Ian Brossat, deputy mayor of the capital, indicated that 142 reports had been recorded. “But that’s not enough: tenants don’t see the point of getting angry with their landlord, notes David Rodrigues. They are often afraid of having premature leave, even if the law protects them. When we reassure them about the subject, they often say to themselves that they do not want to have a bad relationship with their landlord”.
To remedy the problem of excessively high rents, the solution would therefore be to tackle the problem at the root, when the ad is placed on the market. “Through unannounced checks, the responsibility of which would fall to the State, for example”, advances Jean-Claude Driant, professor at the school of urban planning in Paris. Because at present, these evaluations are rare, even non-existent. So much so that in Villeurbanne, not far from Lyon, the mayor wrote a letter in September to the general directorate for competition, consumption and the repression of fraud (DGCCRF), asking them to come and check the work of the platforms and real estate agents through which these advertisements pass. “Since 2021, 2053 users – including 40% of owners! – have challenged us on their personal case. There is a real demand”, insists Cédric Van Styvendael, the mayor of Villeurbanne. For the moment, according to him, the State services are slow to take up the issue. “Nearly 9 months later, the DGCCRF still has not answered me”, annoys the city councilor. In Lyon and Villeurbanne, nearly 19% of the rental stock is above the increased rent.