“It’s a disappointment and a misunderstanding”, according to the consumer association CLCV

The government’s plan to cap rent increases at 3.5% for one year is “a disappointment and a misunderstanding”, indicates Sunday June 26 on franceinfo Jean-Yves Mano, president of the association CLCV (Consumption housing framework of life). The consumer association asked for a “rent freeze” from 1 July in order to cope with inflation for households. A solution that would have allowed the government to “freeze the APL (personalized housing aid) and thus save a billion euros”according to Jean-Yves Mano.

For the president of CLCV, this cap on the increase in rents for one year rather than the freezing of rents shows that “the landlord lobby is stronger than the tenant lobby”. “It is an unbalanced compromise in favor of landlords since the income of landlords will thus increase to the detriment of those of tenants”he adds. “Tenants are drowned in price increases” while these 3.5% rent increases “would save between 18 and 25 euros per month for owners”deplores the association.

Jean-Yves Mano sees in this proposal “a measure that goes against a search for consensus” at a time when Emmanuel Macron “must look for positive signs vis-à-vis the opposition to get the purchasing power support law passed”. The president of the consumer association asks the deputies of the National Assembly “to try to reverse the rent freeze which will be extremely useful to tenants”. 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.