Seven employers’ organizations expressed their “anger” on Monday at the measures presented by the executive. “There is no longer a housing policy”, they accused, calling on the authorities to “measure the extent of the crisis”.
They were hoping for a “electroshock”but discover “scoops”. Many real estate and housing professionals deplored, Sunday June 4 and Monday June 5, a lack of ambition from the government after its first announcements made at the end of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR) on housing. It is “a whole sector” who is “despised”even launched seven employers’ organizations on Monday in a joint statement. “There is no more housing policy”they say.
Behind the objective displayed by the executive to revive construction, to promote the accession of the French to property and rental or to support social housing, the means do not follow, believe the professionals. Before the official presentation of the plan by Elisabeth Borne, Monday afternoon, they expressed their disillusionment, motivated by several reasons listed by franceinfo.
Because the expectations were high
Faced with the violent crisis in the sector, marked in particular by a free fall in the construction of new housing and a blockage in the rental market, there was an urgent need to act. Until Sunday evening, hope remained. Gathered within the CNR, the main players in the field had submitted nearly 200 proposals to the executive. They were “aligned” like never before and “ready to act” for a real “refoundation” housing policy, says the general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert, Monday, on France Inter. But, far from the big night, the government has only retained a series of technical provisions supposed to respond to all aspects of the crisis, without shock measures, according to them.
The account “is not there”notes the head of the association, co-host of the CNR. “After seven months of work and more than 200 people at work”the French Building Federation expressed its “disappointment”while “waiting for an electroshock”. “These are scoops, patching, mending, the use of old devices that have more or less been successful”abounds the National Federation of Real Estate. “It is an accounting and budgetary policy for housing”regrets the Procivis real estate network, in The echoes. “All that for this !”strangles the Federation of real estate developers, quoted by The Parisian.
“I really believed that the government understood the situation, but, obviously, not. (…) We really have the impression of having worked six months for nothing.
Pascal Boulanger, President of the Federation of Real Estate Developersin “The Parisian”
Criticisms also emanate from the world of social housing, largely postponed to a future “pact” between the executive and social landlords. “Absolutely not satisfied”the Social Union for Housing, which federates the HLM movement, denounced “a real discrepancy between the government’s offensive discourse and the measures proposed”. In The echoesits president, Emmanuelle Cosse, “does not see how to write a pact of confidence with the government” after such disappointment.
Because the government planes certain devices
The disappointment of professionals is particularly pronounced regarding two measures, including the new version of the zero-rate loan (PTZ). So far, this device has helped modest or intermediate individuals to buy their main residence, whether it is a house or an apartment. For budgetary reasons, the executive now intends to reserve it for collective housing, to enable “accommodate the greatest number”according to the Minister of Housing, Olivier Klein, interviewed on franceinfo.
Such planing is “a criminal fault”gets carried away Yannick Borde, president of the network of promoters Procivis, in The echoes. He sees a “coup de grace” taken to the construction of small pavilions, as the French Federation of builders of individual houses has also expressed concern, for whom such residences risk being “reserved for the wealthy”. “Excluding the detached house from the PTZ is to punish 66% of modest home buyers”who prefer to buy a house rather than an apartment, pushes the president of the housing division of the French Building Federation, Grégory Monod, on Twitter.
The other measure that is arousing the most reactions is the announced abolition of the Pinel tax niche, already tightened in recent years, but still considered too costly in the eyes of the executive. This tax reduction, intended for individuals who invest in new housing with the aim of renting it, will end on December 31. “We schedule the Pinel shutdown when we need it”deplores the Federation of Real Estate Developers, which pleads for an extension of the system “in order to encourage people to invest” and thus restart the construction.
With the refocusing of the PTZ and the end of the Pinel niche, the government intends to generate savings which will make it possible to finance other measures of the plan, such as the extensions of the Visale, Housing first or MaPrimeRenov’ devices. “Attention danger”warned the president of the cooperative promoter Groupe Gambetta, Norbert Franchon, on Twitter. According to him, by tackling the construction of individual houses and rental investment, the executive “puts an end to 40 years of housing policy”.
Because proposals have been rejected or postponed
The disappointment of professionals also lies in the measures that the executive has chosen to exclude from its plan. “Almost none of the proposals made by the sector have been accepted”, criticizes the president of the French Building Federation, Olivier Salleron. This is the case with the idea of creating a tax status for private lessors, which would have enabled owners to better amortise their rented property. This device could have succeeded the Pinel niche, which the government opposed. “It is the first government in 37 years to remove the individual investor from the housing landscape”worries Yannick Borde, of the Procivis network, in The echoes.
Sector players also deplore the lack of incentives for mayors who would issue new building permits in their municipalities. The Federation of real estate developers proposed in particular to pay the municipalities 50% of the VAT “on any additional built housing”. The idea of capping land sales prices was discarded, despite a “consensus” within the CNR, deplores the Abbé Pierre Foundation.
On sensitive subjects such as the taxation of furnished tourist accommodation such as Airbnb, sometimes deemed too low and accused of aggravating the crisis, major projects will be “open”was content to promise Matignon. “This project is already open, the subject has been ripe for a long time, we expected on the contrary that the government would close it by taking action”regrets the director of studies of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Manuel Domergue, in The world.
Anticipating criticism, the Prime Minister’s entourage stressed on Sunday that “It is not in one go that we solve the entire housing policy”. These ads are “everything but a full stop”, also promised Olivier Klein. But no revolution is expected. In mid-May, on CNews, lhe Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, warned that the Ministry of Housing would be particularly solicited to make savings in the 2024 budget.