Emmanuel Macron recommends a "double shock" to respond to the housing crisis

"In my eyes, we need a double shock. First, a simplification and a reduction in the time to produce new housing," he said in an interview with the weekly Challenges posted online Wednesday evening.

"Then look at how to develop a lot more intermediate rental housing to lower prices, because the housing crisis is there," he adds, without further details.

The Head of State also recommends "supporting" the construction of housing in "areas where there is tension on employment", noting that the lack of housing and their high cost constitutes one "of the brakes on back to work".

And he calls for concerted action, "via a conference of the parties", stressing that "we (cannot) expect everything from government reform".

The housing crisis is due in particular to a rise in rates and more restricted access to credit. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, construction costs have also skyrocketed for developers and builders.

"You also have mayors, placed at the head of large metropolises, who no longer want to build", also underlines the Head of State.

Emmanuel Macron also deplores an inefficient "public overspending system". “The truth is that we have a lot of help and we have created a paradise for real estate investors,” he says.

“But it is not at the heart of the crisis that you have to remove the engine and redo it,” he observes, however.

The number of building permits has been falling steadily since August, prompting growing calls from the housing world for government action.

On May 9, Olivier Klein must announce the measures he is taking from the proposals of the housing section of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR), a series of consultations wanted by Emmanuel Macron.

The President of the Republic will then arbitrate, in turn, between the proposals selected for each thematic section.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne already announced at the end of April an extension beyond 2023 of the zero-rate loan, which allows buyers under certain conditions to borrow to finance the purchase of their main residence.