Building permits issued for housing recovered slightly in March

In March, 30.700 new housing units were approved for construction, a level that remains 20% below the average level for the 12 months preceding the health crisis.

Over one year, between April 2024 and March 2025, the number of building permits granted shows a decrease of 8% compared to the previous twelve months, to 335.400, indicates the Ministry's Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES).

In detail, building permits for single-family homes increased by 11% in March compared to February, to 11.000, and those for multi-family housing by 4,7% to 19.700.

Pascal Boulanger, president of the Federation of Real Estate Developers (FPI), considers the slight recovery at the beginning of the year in building permits for collective housing "encouraging but far too moderate", reflecting "a stabilisation rather than a restart of the market for the development and production of social housing".

The number of housing starts stood at 22.600 in March, down 6,2% compared to February. Between April 2024 and March 2025, 291.600 housing construction projects began, 1% more than in the previous twelve months.

New construction has been facing a serious crisis for the past two and a half years due to rising construction costs, rising interest rates that have blocked the property purchase plans of many households, and the end of measures to support rental investment.

In a press release, the Ministry of Housing welcomed the "initial positive signals" even though the economic situation remains "still fragile."

To support the revival of new construction, the government launched financial aid in March for "building mayors" to help them with additional costs related to housing construction, such as the construction of new roads and schools.

"Thirteen applications have been submitted in twelve departments, including many rural areas, for a total of 53 projects representing 2.737 housing units, including 1.165 social housing units," the Ministry of Housing indicated, which represents "ten million euros" requested out of a planned budget of 100 million euros.

Another mechanism to boost construction, and in particular home ownership, zero-interest loans (PTZ) have seen "stable momentum, with more than 8.000 PTZ loan offers already declared since the beginning of the year."

Since April 1, the PTZ has been extended to the entire territory and to individual houses.

The ministry emphasizes that estimates of construction starts are likely to give rise to significant revisions.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.