Placed in the middle of the volcanoes of Auvergne, the medieval village of Allègre, in Haute-Loire. This municipality of less than 900 inhabitants has been located for ten years in an AVAP zone: an area for the enhancement of architecture and heritage. At the foot of its ramparts, this retiree bought this three-storey house in March for 35,000 euros to live there and set up a bookstore.
A building devoid of insulation and heating whose renovation is essential. But given its historical value, the architect of the buildings of France obliges Bruno Sagères to respect very precise specifications:
“Here are windows with small panes and single glazing, so they are typically thermal sieve windows, unfortunately we cannot put double-glazed windows because otherwise the edges would be too big, in the AVAP it is marked that windows with small panes are needed”, he explains.
And that’s not all: in addition to the requirements on the windows, the specifications of the AVAP d’Allègre require, for example, that the eaves be made of batten boards with fretted ends. The walls must be coated with a natural lime mortar.
Depopulated town centers
Constraints to preserve the exterior appearance of the house which would be prohibitive for many inhabitants according to this owner: “As soon as you touch something like that, it’s very expensive. That explains why people are reluctant to settle in this kind of house and why the majority of houses in the town center are closed”.
The village of Allègre has also lost 10% of its population in 10 years. Could the heritage protection label be responsible for these departures?
In France, a thousand municipalities are concerned. Like that of Thiron-Gardais in Eure-et-Loir where Joëlle Richert bought a house in a protected area to set up her business.
“In Thiron-Gardais, PVC is prohibited and so we have to go with aluminum or wood. So we went with aluminum, which is still 30% more expensive than PVC, and we don’t have could not exactly choose the color, so we had to redo an estimate”she says.
For this house, bought for 60,000 euros, she obtained a work estimate of 16,000 euros, which has since increased by 50% with inflation. And for this project she receives a bonus of 450 euros from the State. Ridiculous, she said.
It would be good if we took into account in the aid that we do not have the same constraints as the others. Our work costs 30 to 40% more.
Joëlle Richer, resident of Thiron-Gardaisat the eye of 8 p.m.
The mayor of Thiron-Gardais denounces him a paradox. When the need for virtuous renovations sometimes becomes a handicap. Here, the mayor bought two houses and started some work.
“This one, we can’t sell it” he confides. “In terms of energy renovation, there is a lot of work to be done. Obviously in terms of access to property today, for a family here, it will not go to this type of property”.
Contacted, the Ministry of Culture recognizes that the restoration of old buildings requires an investment but specifies that the owners can also benefit from tax credits and aid from the region on a case-by-case basis.
Among our sources (non-exhaustive list):
Ministry of Culture website
The list of Remarkable Heritage Sites (SPR)
The town planning rules of the municipality of Allègre
Heritage professions