the promoter Nexity announces a social plan

Caught up in the crisis affecting the sector, Nexity, one of the leaders in the new construction market, chose on Wednesday to scale back. A shock for its 8,500 employees.

Véronique Bédague, CEO of Nexity, has been warning about the difficulties for months. For the moment, we do not know the outlines of the social plan announced on Wednesday February 28 by the real estate developer. But unions fear hundreds of job cuts, particularly in residential development for individuals. Nexity has announced, as required by law, a process “information-consultation of staff representative bodies”a preliminary step to any social plan.

And Véronique Bédague’s message is clear, it is about reducing costs. She explains that because of “the war in Ukraine, international tensions and inflation, the prices of construction materials (aluminum, copper) have soared and the cost of wages and energy have increased.” As a result, building has become much more expensive, or at prices that are not affordable for buyers and households who would like to have a new property cannot keep up.

Especially since it is difficult to obtain credit. The banks explain that there is an improvement, but they are still very careful before granting a real estate loan. Interest rates remain at more than 4% on average, which reduces the borrowing capacity of households. Therefore, the number of reservations for new housing has fallen. For Nexity, it is 19% less than last year and the promoter is doing better than the entire French market which recorded a drop of 26%. In this context, Nexity’s turnover fell by almost 10% in 2023 and its profit by more than a third.

The sector demands government measures

Behind Nexity, the entire real estate sector is suffering. Olivier Roussat, the director of Bouygues, explained on Wednesday that the shock in construction is such that the market will not recover on its own, that is to say without stimulus measures from the government. For example, professionals would like the executive to support rental investment with tax incentives, so that those who have the means to invest are encouraged to do so, via schemes such as the Sellier, or even the Pinel that the government decided to delete. Complicated to say the least in a context where the executive is seeking 10 billion euros in savings.