“As soon as I publish an ad, I get 50 requests during the day”

At his Bordeaux real estate agency, Stéphane Lalanne is on the front line of France’s rental crisis: “People are desperate, they call us to help,” notes the manager. In the capital of Gironde, she confirms that the crisis has been ongoing since 2017. “Back then, we usually had 20 to 25 properties to offer, which…

At his Bordeaux real estate agency, Stéphane Lalanne is on the front line of France’s rental crisis: “People are desperate, they call us to help,” notes the manager. In the capital of Gironde, she confirms that the crisis has been ongoing since 2017. “Back then, we usually had 20 to 25 properties to offer, which we rented out within three weeks, she explains. We also had seasons, it was tight in spring and summer but not in winter. Now the whole year is tense. As soon as I publish an ad, I receive 50 requests during the day! »

Low mobility

Now, this observation is valid in most French cities. At the end of 2023, the SeLoger site reported a 36% drop in the number of rental ads offered in two years. A trend also observed by Orpi (-17% in one year), Laforêt Immobilier (-30%) and Guy Hoquet (-35%) networks. How can we explain this lack of supply? Several reasons add up. First, there is an increase in interest rates and a decrease in the purchasing power of real estate, which deprives many families of access to property: “So they remain tenants and do not vacate housing that should have ended up on the rental market,” explains Pierre Madec. , real estate economist at the French Observatory. ais economic conditions (OFCE). Difficulty accessing social housing with long queues causes a similar result. People move less and supply decreases.

Thermal strainers

Among other clarifications, there is the announced ban on the rental of thermal strainers from 2025 for housing with Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE) G, then for F in 2028 “Today, the owners of these properties prefer to sell,” breathes Stéphane Lalan . Faced with the risk of seeing these housing units disappear from the rental market, the government responded.

“We’d rather break the thermometer than put the means to renovate housing that needs renovating.”

The DPE’s “calculation bias” will be reviewed, Christoph Bechu announced, making it possible to remove 140,000 housing units from categories F and G. Bruno Le Maire wants to go further and improve the “Energy Conversion Coefficient”, a component of DPE, and thus exclude “thousands of housing units (…) from thermal CIV status.” The political signal is worrying. ,” roars Pierre Madec. We prefer to break thermometers rather than renovate housing that needs renovating. Far from this particularity: “If we send the message that to reduce taxes “ts, investing in financial investments is more than investing in the rental market. Well, the richest do it,” sighs Pierre Madec. Finally, competition from furnished tourist accommodation such as Airbnb is also crucial, these are favored because they offer “better efficiency and better flexibility than accommodation rented during the year”.