building and real estate professionals appeal to Emmanuel Macron

If we are to believe the Institute of Real Estate and Financial Savings, over the past twenty years, the price of housing has doubled while the incomes of the French have only increased by 35%. Consequences: home ownership is increasingly difficult, it is complicated to find housing at an affordable cost and the number of households waiting for social housing is constantly increasing each year.

>> “I’ve been waiting for seven years…”: Marseille pinned on the lack of new social housing

Professionals warn: if the State does not take the subject head on, it is an economic and social bomb that threatens to explode. Six professional federations sign a column published Monday, May 15 in the newspaper Le Parisien / Today in France. Among the signatories are notably the French Building Federation and the FNAIM for real estate.

Advanced Arguments

In this open letter, the professionals denounce the public policies which, with billions of euros, are supposed to make the problem disappear, but only do so superficially. Via its financial arm, the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, the State undertakes to buy back construction programs, but the investment seems very light compared to the stakes: three and a half billion euros, the equivalent of 17,000 homes. This is very little compared to the million 200,000 annual transactions which represent 250 billion euros.

Faced with growing French demand for housing, the six federations are calling for increased support for local authorities so that they can develop local solutions. The promoters expect the State to have a real will and quantified measures with a precise timetable for rapid implementation, particularly in the face of the challenges of the energy transition.

Job Threats

But they recognize that not everything rests on the shoulders of the state. Banks also have to play the game when it comes to loans.

It is also difficult to precisely quantify the impact at this level if the crisis continues. We are talking about some 150,000 positions in the balance. But overall, it is a real social and societal question that arises and puts public policies in the foreground: housing is today the major concern of young people, students, households and, above all, applicants of jobs ready to play mobility to find or find a job.