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Shortages and soaring commodity prices are slowing housing construction. Some construction sites are sometimes at a standstill, awaiting supplies. Report.
Building your house is a long and winding project, even more so recently, with the Covid-19 epidemic and the war in Ukraine. Raw materials are running out and construction delays are piling up. Near Cognac, in Charente-Maritime, a father has had his 150 square meter house built since last November. But for the past few days, the construction site has been slowing down. “Even by anticipating, there is a brake that is observed on the constructions“, says his entrepreneur. He will therefore not be able to move for this summer.
The war in Ukraine accentuates the shortage of paint and wood. “In two or three months, we will be at the end of our stock [de ferrailles] and we will have had trouble providing our customers“, says a manager of a store. For craftsmen too, it is difficult to find materials: rarer, they become more expensive. In one year, the price of wood has increased by 7.5%, aluminum by 19.7%. If the shortages persist, professionals predict 50,000 fewer new homes this year.