Rent control: Mayors of major cities ask the government to extend the scheme

In an opinion piece published Thursday in Le Monde, these elected officials argue that ending rent control would severely weaken households facing the housing crisis.

"At a time when all the indicators of poor housing are flashing red, allowing this system to shut down would have disastrous consequences for thousands of tenants, some of whom will simply no longer have the means to live decently," they write.

A system being tested in 69 French cities

Rent control was introduced by the Alu law of 2014 and then strengthened by the Elan law of 2018. It allows local authorities located in high-demand areas to cap rents in order to limit abuses in the rental market.

Since its launch, nearly 700 volunteer municipalities have participated in this experiment, which is currently being implemented in 69 French cities.

For the signatories of the op-ed, this mechanism has helped to contain rental inflation in several large urban areas.

"In all the cities concerned, the price increase was moderate and significant sums were recovered by tenants who were victims of illegal rents," the authors point out.

Paris, Lyon, and Lille are cited as examples of rent control.

Elected officials are highlighting the results observed in Paris. According to a study conducted by the Paris Urban Planning Workshop (APUR) and the economic research laboratory Cesaer, Parisian tenants have "avoided an increase of nearly 1.000 euros per year" thanks to rent control.

Similar results were also observed in "Lille, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Bordeaux and Montpellier", compared with municipalities not benefiting from this system.

The signatory mayors consider that this regulation is an essential lever to preserve access to housing in metropolitan areas where real estate pressure remains very high.

"Faced with structural inequality, in large, tense cities, between tenants and owners, the role of the law is to bring back some reason by lowering abusive rent levels," the officials added.

A bill already adopted by the National Assembly

The debate on making rent control permanent is now in the hands of Parliament.

A bill introduced by Socialist Party MP Iñaki Echaniz from the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region was adopted in December by the National Assembly. The text aims to make this system permanent after several years of experimentation.

This adoption followed an evaluation report concluding that rent control was "beneficial." However, the bill has not yet been placed on the Senate's agenda.

Furthermore, a new report entrusted to two economists must be submitted to Parliament "before May 26", Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun told senators at the end of March.

The government remains reserved on rent control.

While the government is awaiting the conclusions of experts before making a decision, Housing Minister Vincent Jeanbrun has already expressed reservations about this mechanism.

"Personally, I am not in favor of rent control. Economic literature teaches us that such a mechanism normally results in a reduction of supply," he told the Senate.

The minister, however, assured that on this subject "there will be no ideology on the part of the government".

Whether or not to maintain rent control is now a major issue for local authorities facing rising property prices and difficulties in accessing housing in major French cities.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.