Is the new Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE) likely to cause the collapse of the real estate market?

Since the entry into force of the new Energy Performance Diagnosis, the rental of G-class accommodation is now prohibited. Buyers and sellers wonder about this device and its impact. To take stock, the Order of Expert Surveyors brought together Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert, Member of Parliament for Isère, Vice-President of the Committee for Sustainable Development and Regional Planning and President of the HQE-GBC association. , Robin Rivaton, CEO of Stonal, essayist and economist, as well as Xavier Prigent, Vice-President of the Superior Council of the Order of Surveyors.

What is the Energy Performance Diagnosis?

The Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE) provides information on the energy and climate performance of a property and restores it in the form of energy labels classified from A to G. The system fixes the energy decency of a dwelling - expressed in final energy per square meter of living space per year - to 450 kWh/m2. Beyond this threshold, the property is qualified as an energy sieve. Now mandatory for the sale or rental of real estate, the DPE must be integrated into the lease with the other diagnoses.

The Government has also put in place a timetable to encourage the renovation of the least well-classified housing: ban on the rental of energy strainers (G+ labels) from 1 January 2023, G labels from 1 January 2025 and energy labels F and E in 2028 and 2034.

Since January 1, 2023, the most energy-intensive homes are therefore supposed to be withdrawn from the market until their owner carries out renovation work to improve their energy performance.

A policy of energy renovation of the residential real estate stock necessary...

It is estimated that the residential sector is today one of the largest consumers of energy in France. The energy crisis that hit Europe this winter, causing in particular higher bills and supply difficulties, means improving the thermal performance of the residential stock.

For Deputy Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert: “It is a law of reason. RTE reminded us that we are currently unable to cover the massive electrification of uses and this phenomenon is set to increase over the next few years. Today we must act to reduce our consumption and this requires devices such as the DPE. »

The Deputy also sees a strengthening of the power of the tenant in this new instrument, "since he can demand that the owner carry out work in order to make his accommodation decent". If Robin Rivaton and Xavier Prigent also recognize that it was necessary to s tackling the energy renovation of the residential building stock, they believe that the new DPE is still imperfect.

... But which is likely to have a strong impact on the real estate market

“Surveyors have the technical skills in building pathology and others to carry out real estate diagnoses. Since the establishment of lead diagnostic obligations in 1998 and then asbestos in 2006, the profession has gradually invested in this market", reminds Xavier Prigent, "it is therefore quite logical to see expert surveyors interested in the new ECD". Previously, the value of a property depended mainly on two criteria: one relating to the aesthetics of the property and the other to its location. "But this law brings out a new criterion, called environmental, whose impact on the value of a property is not yet very well measured", analyzes Xavier Prigent. Robin Rivaton believes that the new DPE is already having an impact on the price of housing located in relaxed areas "the most efficient housing is necessarily more interesting, and its value increases logically". We are talking about green value. Conversely, energy sieves will lose their attractiveness and, for Xavier Prigent, it is already possible to observe a “brown discount” on the value of certain goods.

For Xavier Prigent: “There is also a difference to be made between an asset manager and a small owner who has bought a property to supplement his retirement. They do not have the same means and the device risks having a perverse effect for this second category of people, high-performance renovations are expensive. The State accompanies the owners but it is necessary to reinforce the devices intended for the precarious owners, by working the third-party financing or the zero remains dependent for example. »

Robin Rivaton believes that this device will automatically lead France to deprive itself of a stock of available housing : "even if it is an accompaniment and support system, with significant subsidies at stake, the timetable associated with the new DPE is very tight and will necessarily lead to the exit of available housing from the market even that we are experiencing a particularly tense context".

The Order of Expert Surveyors pleads for a contextualized approach

The profession shares the Government's objectives in terms of energy renovation. However, it considers that the system lacks flexibility and that uniform application would risk producing counterproductive effects. "The question of the energy renovation of housing does not arise in the same way in mountain areas or in very dense urban areas", adds Xavier Prigent.

The inadequacy of the new DPE to housing with small surfaces, studio type, less than 40 or 30 m2, emerged in particular during the debate. These properties, despite the work undertaken, remain qualified, with regard to the calculation methods of the new DPE, as inefficient in terms of energy and risk being massively removed from the rental stock.

To avoid this, Xavier Prigent, the Vice-President of the Superior Council of the Order of Surveyors-Experts, notably proposed to Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert to amend the Climate-Resilience Law to authorize the Government to derogate from the new DPE by regulation, either by excluding dwellings smaller than a certain surface area of ​​the device, or by adapting the calculation of energy performance to the specificities of these small dwellings.

To view the replay of the Great Debate, click here.