A landlord in the south of France, Laurent has chosen not to increase the rent of his four tenants because he can afford it.
>> Inflation: the government proposes to cap the increase in rents at 3.5% for one year
This also allows him not to take the risk of unpaid rent, but that does not prevent him from being unfavorable to this proposal. “I find that it is always the landlord who will be asked to make an effort, whereas today we still have a lot of aid that is targeted at tenants, such as APLs. But we, the owners, we still have a big tax burden. Unpaid rent, evictions, squats. It’s good to make a rent shield, but I think landlords should be considered a little more“, he regrets.
It has been four years since Miguel increased the rent of his tenant, a young woman in the Paris region who pays him €600 a month. He wasn’t planning on doing it this year either, because, with inflation, he doesn’t want to burden his tenant’s budget with another increase. “The crisis is so violent. We have to make efforts when we can, we are strangled by gasoline charges, increased gas, shopping, mutual insurance, etc. So for a young tenant it’s even more terrible. We citizens, when we are sensible, we try to make efforts“, he assures.
On BFMTV, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, clarified that this “rent shield” system aimed at capping the increase in rents at 3.5% during
one year is “the best compromise for all“, explaining that he had previously
consulted representatives and associations of consumers, landlords, tenants, and social housing players.
At the same time, the government plans to revalue the APL, also by 3.5%, in order to support the tenants who need it the most. “The APL never covers the rents, the rest to be paid by the tenants will be higher than the evolution of the aid“, points out Jean-Yves Mano, president of the CLCV association on franceinfo. The latter expressed his “disappointment and incomprehension” at the government’s plan to cap rent increases at 3.5% for a year, as it called for a “rent freezefrom July 1.