Lecornu announces that a planned increase in property tax will be suspended until spring.

"I have asked the relevant ministers to extend this timetable to take us to May or June to allow this departmental approach," or even "municipality by municipality," the Prime Minister said during the question period in the Senate.

This tax was set to increase due to an update to its calculation basis by the Ministry of the Economy. On average, the increase in this tax, paid by some 32 million homeowners, would amount to 63 euros per year for each of the 7,4 million properties concerned.

"We are dealing nationally with a subject which sometimes has absolutely nothing to do with each other from one department to another," explained the head of government, denouncing in passing "the trial" launched by "certain extremists or demagogues" against the local elected officials who perceive it.

"Our system for revaluing rental bases, as it has existed since 1959," has become "obsolete," added Mr. Lecornu, inviting local elected officials "to chart a new course on the revision" of these bases.

The basis for calculating property tax is based in particular on so-called "comfort" elements, such as the presence of running water, electricity, toilets or sinks in the dwelling, included in the "property bases".

However, the presence of each of these elements artificially increases the number of square meters taken into account, and mechanically the amount of the tax.

"When you add rules that may appear completely disconnected from any form of common sense, by definition, they become incomprehensible. And that raises a more serious question, which is the question of consent to taxation," argued Mr. Lecornu.

He was responding to the leader of the Les Républicains group, Mathieu Darnaud, who had denounced this method of calculation as "a masterpiece of cynicism" and reiterated that he wanted "more savings" and "fewer unfair taxes" in the budget.

The leader of the Renaissance party, Gabriel Attal, hailed this as "excellent news for homeowners, something we've been demanding since day one." The head of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, was pleased to have "canceled the scandalous property tax increase" and "ensured respect for the rights of homeowners in France."

The mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and spokesperson for the Horizons party, Arnaud Péricard, welcomed this "decentralization" of the decision.

"Any modernization of local taxes must be done calmly, in consultation with local elected officials. We cannot just throw things around like that, hastily, things that worry our fellow citizens," reacted Antoine Homé, who represented the Association of Mayors of France at a meeting organized in Bercy in the morning.

"We want time to understand the concrete impacts in each department," said Jean-François Debat, Socialist mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse and representative of medium-sized cities.

"The basis of our property tax is totally archaic and largely unfair in relation to the value of the properties, but it is wise to forgo a necessarily very partial reform when we must prepare a fundamental reform," said Boris Ravignon, mayor of Charleville-Mézières.